McNeil Named Student-Athlete of the Week
February 01, 2016 02:25 PM | General
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Following a career-best indoor mark and a record-setting mark in the Mountaineers’ top-five performance list, sophomore Shamoya McNeil has been named the West Virginia University Student-Athlete of the Week, presented by University Apartments.
The Portland, Jamaica, native, jumped an impressive 12.72 meters in the triple jump to place second on the second day of the Penn State National Invitational, at State College, Pennsylvania, on Jan 30. She improved from her previous best indoor mark by .20 meters, which bumped her up to the No. 1 spot on WVU’s top-five indoor performance list.
McNeil is ranked No. 5 in the women’s Big 12 Conference indoor performance list on the Track and Field Results Reporting System (tfrrs.org).
The Mountaineers visited PSU for the second time this season, as the team opened its season at the Nittany Lion Challenge on Jan. 16. McNeil jumped 12.39 meters in the triple jump at the event where she climbed the top-five performance list to No. 3.
This Week in Women’s Basketball: West Virginia resumes action on Tuesday, Feb. 2 at Texas Tech in a 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT contest … the game is televised nationally on FS2 … WVU returns home to host Kansas State for the annual Play 4Kay pink game on Saturday, Feb. 6 … tipoff is slated for 1 p.m. ET … the game airs locally on WTRF Channel 7 Wheeling, WBOY Channel 12 Clarksburg, WVNS Channel 59 Beckley and WOWK Channel 13 Charlest … a free ticket courtesy of WVU Medicine is available online at WVUsports.com/pink ... adtionally, the first 5,000 fans in the door will receive a free WVU Medicine pink rally towel … Mountaineer fans also will be able to donate to Morgantown’s own Betty Puskar Breast Cancer Center at the game.
Last Week in Women’s Basketball: No. 24-ranked West Virginia dropped a pair of close contests to No. 21 Oklahoma (57-54) and No. 4 Baylor (71-61) … WVU held a 16-point lead at OU in the first half, but the Sooners outscored WVU 24-10 in the third quarter and held on in the final period to secure the victory … four Mountaineers reached double figures, as sophomore Teana Muldrow led WVU with 16 points … the Mountaineers led Baylor by eight points in the first quarter, but the Lady Bears used a 15-1 second quarter run to take a five-point lead … despite the Mountaineers’ efforts to chip the game to five points in the second half, BU held on for its eighth consecutive win with a 71-61 victory … freshman Tynice Martin led West Virginia with 17 points, while Lanay Montgomery had a team-best 10 rebounds.
Notes: West Virginia (16-6, 5-4 Big 12) needs one more victory to match the regular-season win total from 2014-15 … the Mountaineers finished 2014-15 regular season with a 17-14 overall record and a 7-11 mark in Big 12 conference play … West Virginia leads the conference and ranks seventh nationally with 6.2 blocks per game … WVU’s field goal percentage defense of 34.2 is 17th nationally … the Mountaineers have scored 30 or more points off the bench in nine consecutive games … WVU’s 31.6 points per game off the bench leads the Big 12 … senior Bria Holmes is the Big 12 Conference’s active career leader with 1,781 points … Holmes’ 16.8 points per game ranks third in the Big 12 … Lanay Montgomery ranks second in the Big 12 with a 59.5 field goal percentage and 2.9 blocks per game … Montgomery is two blocks away from reaching 200 deflections in her career … Teana Muldrow remains second on the team with 11.0 points per game, while freshman Tynice Martin follows with 9.6 ppg.
Coach Mike Carey after Saturday’s loss to Baylor: “I thought we played hard, but we didn’t play smart. This game was going to be won in the paint and that’s exactly how it was won. We just didn’t do a good job. When Lanay (Montgomery) was out there, we didn’t do a good job guarding. We were in foul trouble with Teana (Muldrow) in the first half. That hurt us. They are a good team, and I think we’re a good team. I just think they can bring more bodies off the bench than we can, especially inside.”
This Week in Tennis: West Virginia travels to Akron, Ohio, on Sunday, Feb. 7, for a match against the Zips … the match is set to begin at 10 a.m. … the Mountaineers hold an 8-4 all-time series advantage against the Zips.
Last Week in Tennis: West Virginia notched its first two victories of the spring season, as the team bested Toledo, 6-1, and Cleveland State, 6-1, in its home opener on Jan. 29, at Ridgeview Racquet Club.
Notes: Sophomore Habiba Shaker holds a team-best 3-0 mark at the No. 2 singles slot, while senior Hailey Barrett and Shaker hold a team-best 3-0 mark at the No. 1 doubles slot … freshman Paula Goetz recorded a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Toledo’s Colleen O’Brien on court three to tally her first singles victory in Mountaineer uniform … with the win over Toledo, West Virginia improved to 8-1 all-time against the Rockets … West Virginia met Cleveland State for the first time in head-to-head competition on Friday, as the team now holds a 1-0 all-time series advantage.
Coach Miha Lisac following Friday’s doubleheader against Toledo and Cleveland State: “Overall, I thought we did fairly well in singles. We played consistent, and we responded to certain situations fairly well. Overall, I was pleased with how the girls reacted in today’s matches, and they all had great performances individually.”
This Week in Gymnastics: The No. 23-ranked Mountaineers hit the road for two Big 12 Conference matches … WVU will compete at Iowa State on Friday, Feb. 5, at 7:30 p.m. ET, inside Hilton Coliseum … the squad will then travel to Norman, Oklahoma, and face No. 2-ranked Oklahoma on Sunday, Feb. 7, at 2:45 p.m. ET, at the Lloyd Noble Center … FOX College Sports Central will carry the meet.
Last Week in Gymnastics: WVU (2-2, 0-1) did not compete last week.
Notes and Quotes: The Mountaineers are nationally ranked for the second straight week and only dropped one spot following an open weekend … this marks the first time since the 2013 season WVU has been ranked in consecutive weeks … Kirah Koshinski was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week for the third straight week on Jan. 26, becoming the first Mountaineer to earn three straight Big 12 awards … WVU is 3-4-1 all-time against ISU and 1-10 against OU … the Mountaineers went 1-0-1 against the Cyclones in 2015 and 0-1 against the Sooners.
This week in Track and Field: The Mountaineers will split to compete at the Armory Track and Field Invitational in New York City Feb. 5-6. Events will begin at noon on Friday, Feb. 5 and at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 6 … WVU also will compete at the Akron Invitational in Akron, Ohio, on Feb. 5-6. Events will begin at 3 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 5 and at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 6.
Last Week in Track and Field: The Mountaineers competed at the two-day Penn State National Invitational in State College Pennsylvania, Jan. 29-30 … on the first day sophomore Meghan Jean-Baptiste represented WVU … she leaped through the 60 meter hurdles in 8.94 to place 26th where she improved .14 seconds from her previous time of 9.08 … Jean-Baptiste was just .10 seconds shy of advancing to the semifinal round … the second day of competition saw multiple season-and career-best times … Sophomore Amy Cashin placed second in the women’s 1,000 meter run with a time of 2:49.61 ... Sophomore Millie Paladino raced her way to fourth place in the women’s one mile, finishing in 4:47.67, and senior Savanna Plombon placed ninth in the event with a career-best time of 4:53.44 … in the women’s triple jump, sophomore Shamoya McNeil jumped a personal best indoor mark of 12.72 meters … in the women’s 1,000 meter run, sophomore Rebecca Wendt finished second with a season-best time of 2:55.64, and senior Kelly Williams shortly followed in third (2:55.93) … Freshman Candace Jones placed third in the women’s mile run in 5:03.49 … Sophomore Maddie Gardner placed sixth in the women’s pole vault with an indoor best of 3.70 meters, while senior Tori Bertrand placed eighth (3.70 meters).
Notes: WVU finished the weekend’s competition adding two career-best times/marks and two season-best times … Sophomore Bria Welker finished 10th in the 500 meter dash with a time of 1:17.29 … Senior Marsielle McBeam placed seventh in the women’s high jump, marking 1.73 meters … Plombon improved on her one mile time by 2.02 seconds … McNeil climbed to the No. 1 spot on the top-five WVU indoor performance list after improving from her previous best indoor mark by .20 meters … Wendt improved her 1,000 meter run time by .62 seconds … Gardner improved on her pole vault by .18 meters.
Coach Sean Cleary after the PSU National Invitational: “Today was a little bit of everything,” said coach Sean Cleary. “We had some great performances that we are proud of and will continue to work on, as well as some that we would like to forget. It’s very important that we come home from this trip and make the right moves before Big 12s arrive. We need four of five more ladies to emerge and be ready for the championship portion of our season. To be ready for that, we must embrace the next 30 days as they are the most important days of the year thus far.”
This week in Swimming and Diving: The West Virginia divers will compete at the James Madison Diving Invite in Harrisonburg, Virginia on Saturday, Feb. 6, at 9 a.m ... the Mountaineers then have three weeks off from competition before they compete for the Big 12 title at the 2016 Big 12 Championship, Feb. 24-27, in Austin, Texas at 8 a.m.
Last Week in Swimming and Diving: WVU competed twice this weekend, beginning with Senior Night on Friday … the Mountaineer men led from the first race and never looked back to earn a 200-77 victory over Villanova, while the WVU women were in a tight competition throughout the meet with Iowa State, but the Cyclones prevailed in the final race for a 158-141 win … Villanova beat the WVU women, 175-122 … against Villanova, the WVU men won every race, including taking the top six spots in one event, the top five finishes in both diving events, 1-2-3-4 finishes in six competitions and 1-2-3 finishes in three races ... the next afternoon, WVU faced a tough test at Ohio State, where the men fell to OSU, Michigan and Buffalo, while the women lost to the Buckeyes and Wolverines ... both the OSU and UM men and women are ranked in the top 25.
Notes: Seniors Ross Glegg, Andrew Marsh and Max Spencer and sophomore James Koval each posted two individual victories on Friday, while senior Chase Williams, juniors Nate Carr and Nathan Howells and freshman Merwane Elmerini all earned a victory in the pool ... Sophomores Alex Obendorf and Michael Proietto earned the two diving wins ... the WVU men also earned two relay wins, with Carr, Spencer, Marsh and Glegg in the 400 medley relay, and Marsh, Glegg, junior Frank Csonka and Elmerini in the 200 freestyle relay … for the women, senior Lindsay Schmidt and junior Emma Skelley posted victories against both Villanova and Iowa State ... before the meet, the Mountaineers recognized their 15 seniors: Morgan Emter, Kelsey Frantz, Aidan Fumagalli, Jaimee Gillmore, Ross Glegg, Jay Hickey, Jake Iotte, Natalie Johnsen, Emma Luigard, Andrew Marsh, Courtney Miller, Katie Murto, Lindsay Schmidt, Max Spencer and Chase Williams ... WVU competed against No. 6 Michigan’s men and women, No. 15 OSU women and No. 25 men and Buffalo on Saturday.
Coach Vic Riggs from Saturday’s meet at OSU: “Today I put the teams in a difficult position, and I feel that they responded to it well,” said coach Vic Riggs. “For the women, we took a different approach and raced one or two events to take the mental approach of preparing for those events for Big 12’s. The men just weren’t as sharp as they needed to be in order to beat Buffalo. However, both teams competed very hard. We had several people swim faster than last night. Today’s situation will definitely help us prepare for the third day of the Big 12’s, and that was the goal.”
This Week in Rifle: The No. 1-ranked Mountaineers (10-, 6-0 GARC) return to the WVU Rifle Range this week, as they play host to No. 3 Kentucky on Saturday, Feb. 6 ... Competition will begin at 8 a.m.
Last Week in Rifle: In front of 300 Mountaineer fans, West Virginia defeated No. 10 N.C. State, 4719-4654, on Jan. 30, at the WVU Rifle Range and the WVU Indoor Track … the squads competed in two venues, shooting smallbore in the WVU Rifle Range before moving to the WVU Indoor Track for the air rifle competition … Saturday was the first time the Mountaineers held a rifle competition in Morgantown outside of the Range … the team bested the Wolfpack in smallbore, 2346-2320, and air rifle, 2373-2334 … Saturday’s match was the Mountaineers’ first competition since shooting an NCAA-record 4740 in a win over Akron on Jan. 17.
Notes: A Mountaineer took both discipline wins, as senior Meelis Kiisk shot 589 (193 kneeling, 200 prone, 196 standing) smallbore and freshman Ginny Thrasher shot 597 (100-99-99-100-99-100) air rifle … both marks were nearly career bests for the shooters, with Kiisk missing his personal record by one shot and Thrasher falling just two-shots short of her own … three Mountaineers shot a program-record 200 prone: Kiisk, senior Garrett Spurgeon and sophomore Elizabeth Gratz … Thrasher finished with a match-best 1182 aggregate total … Spurgeon and Kiisk tied for second place with 1181 marks, and senior Michael Bamsey placed fourth with a 1175 total … with the win, WVU improved to 17-0 all-time against the N.C. State.
This week in Wrestling: West Virginia will host No. 16 Pitt on Sunday at the WVU Coliseum … “SuperBrawl Sunday” is slated for a 1 p.m. start … Admission for the match will be just $1.
Last Week in Wrestling: The Mountaineers dropped pair of matches to top-10 opponents … WVU fell 32-3 to No. 10 Virginia Tech on Friday evening at Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg … No. 7 Jacob A. Smith won an 8-2 decision over Dylan Cook to claim the Mountaineers’ lone win of the match … on Sunday, West Virginia won three matches in a 24-9 loss to No. 3 NC State … despite a third-period injury, Bubba Scheffel came back to tie the bout then upset No. 15 Pete Renda in sudden victory at 184 pounds … No. 13/14 Zeke Moisey won a 7-2 decision over No. 24 Sean Fausz at 125 pounds and Ross Renzi claimed a 4-1 win over Nicky Hall at 174 … No. 15/16 Dylan Cottrell came close to upsetting No. 4 Tommy Gantt, but dropped a 10-8 decision in sudden victory.
Notes: The first NCAA Coaches’ Panel Rankings were released on Thursday, with five Mountaineers ranking in the top 33 of their respective weights … Zeke Moisey ranks at No. 13 at 125 pounds with a 21-7 mark, defeating four ranked opponents this season … Dylan Cottrell is 14th at 157 pounds, topping three nationally ranked foes on his way to a 21-5 mark ... freshman Connor Flynn is 27th at 165 pounds after having his redshirt pulled in early December … Bubba Scheffel is No. 30 with a 14-8 mark at 184 pounds and Jacob A. Smith rounds out the WVU crew at No. 8 at 197 with a 20-6 mark … the Coaches’ Panel Rankings are used as part of the selection process to determine qualifiers for the 2016 NCAA National Championships in New York.
Coach Sammie Henson after last week’s matches: “It’s been a tough month. We’ve had a good stretch here and today, our guys battled. They fought,” said coach Sammie Henson. “They were wanting to win for the team; for each other. That’s what you call a team. I feel that we were very much a team today.”
This Week in Rowing: The West Virginia University rowing team is idle until the start of its spring season.
Last Week in Rowing: The Mountaineers were idle last week.
Notes: The rowing novice team swept Duquesne, Pitt and Carnegie Mellon to conclude the fall season on Saturday, Nov. 7, on the Allegheny River … the novice 8 ‘A’ boat raced to a first-place finish with a time of 11:11.86, five seconds ahead of Pitt … the Novice 8 ‘B’ boat also won, finishing in front of Pitt with a time of 10:37.8 on a course approximately 200 meters shorter than the first novice 8 competition … in the last two races of the day, West Virginia finished first with a time of 11:40.8 in the Novice 4 ‘A’ race, followed by another first-place finish in the Novice 4 ‘B’ race … the Head of the Occoquan was the first regatta of the season for the novice team on Saturday, Oct. 31 … eight of the Mountaineers’ 10 boats posted top-10 finishes on the Occoquan Reservoir … WVU’s four medals came with first-and second-place finishes in the Women’s Collegiate Novice 4+, a bronze-medal finish in the Women’s Collegiate Novice 8 and a fifth-place finish in the Women’s Championship 4+ … the WVU rowing team also had a strong showing in its fall season opener at the Head of the Ohio, on Saturday, Oct. 3 … the Mountaineers placed first and third in the Women’s Open 4+ and second in the Women’s Open 8 … to open the day, West Virginia finished second in the Women’s Open 8, as it faced 12 boats to take a silver medal back home to Morgantown.
This Week in Golf: The Mountaineers are taking a winter hiatus and return to the course on Feb. 15, when they travel to Houston, Texas, for the President’s Day Challenge … the event will be hosted by Rice.
Last Week in Golf: WVU was idle last week.
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