Marsh Named Student-Athlete of the Week
February 29, 2016 04:46 PM | General
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Following his record-setting performances at the 2016 Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championship, senior Andrew Marsh has been named the West Virginia University Student-Athlete of the Week, presented by University Apartments.
In addition to his Big 12 title in the men’s 100 backstroke, the Bemus Point, New York, native also won five silver medals and a bronze at the conference championship.
The Big 12 champion brought home a gold medal in the men’s 100 backstroke, setting a Big 12 and WVU record with an NCAA A qualifying and career-best time of 45.41. He bested Texas’ Taylor Hill previous Big 12 record in the 100 back by .24 seconds. Hill’s record was set in 2009. Marsh is the first Mountaineer to hold a championship record in any event.
Marsh’s performance in the 100 butterfly set a WVU school record with a 46.59 in the prelims before a 46.91 in the finals. He beat the previous record held by Bryce Bohman in 2014 (46.76) by 0.17 seconds. In the men’s 400 freestyle relay, Marsh also swam the first leg of the relay in 42.77, recording a team record for the Mountaineers.
The senior won five silver medals as part of the men’s 200 medley relay, the 800 free relay, 400 medley relay, the 200 freestyle relay and the 400 freestyle relay teams. Marsh won a bronze medal in the men’s 100 freestyle with an NCAA B qualifying time of 1:59.19.
The West Virginia men placed second in the Big 12 conference, posting their best finish at the conference championship meet since they joined the Big 12 in 2012-13. WVU coach Vic Riggs was named the Men’s Coach of the Meet for the second time in three years.
This Week in Baseball: The Mountaineers’ 11-day, three city roadtrip continues Monday when they take on the Arizona Diamondbacks ... the exhibition contest against the MLB club will begin at 3:10 p.m. ET/1:10 p.m. MT in Scottsdale, Ariz ...WVU then travels to Hawaii for a four-game series against the Rainbow Warriors.
Last Week in Baseball: West Virginia began its roadtrip with a three game sweep of UNLV ... WVU posted a 9-6 victory on Friday before a 13-1 win on Saturday and a 9-4 victory on Sunday ... the offense exploded for 31 runs on 40 hits as starters Ross Vance and BJ Myers allowed just one earned run in the final two games.
Notes: West Virginia swept UNLV on the road and improved to 5-1 on the season, WVU’s best start to the season since 2006, when WVU also started the year 5-1 ... the WVU offense exploded for 31 runs on 40 hits on the weekend with eight home runs ... KC Huth led the offensive explosion, going 7-11 on the weekend with his first two home runs of the year, four RBIs and a 1.182 slugging percentage ... freshmen Darius Hill and Jimmy Galusky each added six hits, including both hitting their first career home runs ... Galusky went 5-5 in Sunday’s win ... sophomore Kyle Davis and freshman Cole Austin joined Huth in hitting two home runs ... senior starter Ross Vance gave up one run on three hits with eight strikeouts in seven innings on Saturday, while Sunday’s starter, sophomore BJ Myers, matched him with seven innings of three hit ball allowing no earned runs and striking out four ... freshmen Braden Zarbnisky and Andrew Zitel each posted their first career hits, while freshman Marques Inman added his first career RBI.
This Week in Gymnastics: The No. 25-ranked Mountaineers return to the WVU Coliseum and play host to Ohio State and Bowling Green on Sunday, March 6, at 2 p.m.
Last Week in Gymnastics: WVU (6-6, 0-3) enjoyed a season-best showing at the 2016 Unite for Her Pink Invitational in Philadelphia on Feb. 26, scoring a season-best 196.225 and defeating Penn State (195.675), West Chester (193.475), Temple (191.625) and Southern Connecticut (188.7) … the Mountaineers collected six career-high scores and one season-best mark, as well as three individual scores of 9.9 or better … freshman Kirah Koshinski won vault outright with a career-high 9.925 .. senior Melissa Idell tied for the balance beam win with a career-high 9.9 … freshman Jaquie Tun paced on bars and finished second overall with a career-high 9.875, while junior Alexa Goldberg tied for second on floor (9.9) and finished third in the all-around with a 39.1 … WVU scored a season-high 49.025 on bars … the team also tallied 49.25 on floor, its best road mark of the season, 49.05 on vault and 48.9 on beam.
Notes: WVU’s point total is the 20th-best score in program history and the team’s first 196.0+ mark of the year … the score was the Mountaineers’ first 196.0+ road mark since earning 196.475 in its win at the 2012 EAGL Championships … the wins were the squad’s first on the road this year, and WVU’s victory over PSU was its first in the 45-meet series since 2008 … Goldberg has now scored 39.0 or better in four straight meets.
This Week in Women’s Basketball: No. 22 West Virginia (22-8, 11-6 Big 12) concludes the 2015-16 regular season with a visit to Iowa State on Tuesday, March 1, in an 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT tipoff in Ames, Iowa … with a victory, WVU can clinch the No. 3 seed for the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma … the tournament beings on Friday, March 4 with the first round and concludes with the finals on Monday, March 7 … Chesapeake Energy Arena, the home of the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder, will be the host site of the 2016 championship … WVU will play either as a No. 3, No. 4 or No. 5 seed on Saturday … tipoff between the No. 4-seed and No. 5-seed game is set for Noon ET/11 a.m. CT and televised on FOX Sports Net, while the No. 3-seed and No. 6-seed will play at 9:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. CT on FSN.
Last Week in Women’s Basketball: West Virginia picked up a pair of wins with victories over TCU (83-72) and No. 22 Oklahoma State (82-48) last week … the Mountaineers bounced back from a 13-point second half deficit and outscored TCU 32-8 in the final 13 minutes to win the contest … Bria Holmes scored 22 of her season-high 32 points in the second half of the victory … West Virginia picked up its largest margin of victory win in a Big 12 game this season with an 82-48 win over the Cowgirls on Saturday … Holmes tallied a team-high 27 points, while freshman Tynice Martin netted a season-best 20 points in the win … the victory gave the Mountaineers sole possession of third place in the Big 12 with one game remaining … following the game, Holmes was proposed to by longtime boyfriend Oterrious Diggins during a live television interview.
Notes: West Virginia finished with a 13-2 record at home this season … WVU has finished with an 80 percent or better record at home in seven of the last eight seasons … Holmes’ 27 points against Oklahoma State allowed her to reach the 500-point plateau for the third consecutive time, becoming the first Mountaineer to achieve that feat … with WVU’s win over the Cowgirls, WVU has knocked off at least two AP Top-25 teams in seven consecutive seasons and 10 of the last 11 seasons … the Mountaineers lead the nation with 193 total blocked shots and are 14th nationally with a 34.5 field goal percentage defense … WVU’s 11 Big 12 wins are the second-highest since joining the league in 2012 … with a win on Tuesday, WVU can clinch its second-highest seed for the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship.
Coach Mike Carey about Tuesday’s game at Iowa State: “It will be packed. There will be 7,000 or 8,000 at the game. They will have a great crowd. It will be Senior Night, and they’ll have it all going for them. We have to go there and be ready to play.”
This Week in Women’s Tennis: West Virginia will hit the road once again, as the team travels to College Park, Maryland, for a nonconference match against the Terrapins on Saturday, March 5 ... the match is set to begin at noon.
Last Week in Women’s Tennis: West Virginia (6-3) edged Cornell (5-5) in a 4-3 battle to tie the all-time series record at two apiece, on Feb. 27, in Ithaca, New York, inside the Reis Tennis Center … West Virginia defeated Cornell for the first time since 1995 … the Mountaineers captured the doubles point and three singles victoried over the Big Red to claim the match.
Notes: Sophomore Habiba Shaker leads the team in singles play with an overall record of 8-1 … sophomore Carolina Lewis and freshman Paula Goetz have five wins each, followed by senior Hailey Barrett and sophomore Lyn Yuen Choo with four victories apiece … the doubles tandem of Barrett and Shaker holds a team-best 8-1 mark at the No. 1 slot this season.
Coach Miha Lisac after the match at Cornell: “It was a good team win today. We handled the crowd and the match well enough to come away with a win. It was very important for us to take the doubles point going into singles. Cornell fought through the end, and they made it a battle. They brought a crowd today, and it definitely wasn’t easy to play against. However, we handled the situation well enough to beat a good team in a hostile environment.”
This Week in Track and Field: West Virginia is idle this week, and will be off from competition until it kicks off the 2016 outdoor season with the Wake Forest meet in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on March 18-19.
Last Week in Track and Field: The West Virginia University track and field team concluded its indoor campaign at the 2016 Big 12 Indoor Championship in Ames, Iowa, on Feb. 26-27, hosted by Iowa State at the Lied Recreation Athletic Facility ... Texas won the Big 12 title, while the Mountaineers finished ninth ... sophomore Shamoya McNeil recorded a career-best triple jump of 12.82 meters, moving to the No. 2 spot on WVU’s all-time record list ... sophomore Meghan Jean-Baptiste competed in the pentathlon - 60-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump and 800 meters, scoring a total of 3,264 points ... her first event was the 60-meter hurdles, where she leaped a season-best time of 8.81 to place sixth ... sophomore Jillian Forsey placed seventh in the 5,000 meters, crossing the finish line in 16:34.53 ... senior Hannah Stone placed fourth in the final high jump, marking 1.71 meters to match her season high at the Akron Invite on Feb. 6 ... freshman Faith Penny placed seventh in the high jump with a season-best mark of 1.66 meters ... junior Amy Cashin placed second in the mile with a time of 4:48.21 ... sophomore Rebecca Wendy raced in the 1,000 meters, placing seventh in 2:53.71 ...to wrap up the championship, sophomore Millie Paladino placed sixth in the 3,000 meters with a time of 9:28.008.
Notes: Seven Mountaineers earned All-Big 12 honors for finishing in the top eight in the final events: senior Hannah Stone, junior Amy Cashin, sophomores Shamoya McNeil, Rebecca Wendt, Millie Paladino and Jillian Forsey and freshman Faith Penny.
Coach Sean Cleary after the Big 12 Indoor Championship: “We had some very good moments this weekend. Our pole vaulters were competing at their career-high heights. We had two All-Big 12 performers in the high jump. The triple jump saw another All-Big 12 performance. Meghan (Jean-Baptiste) competed hard in the multi events and will return in a year with the experience required to contend for All-Big 12 honors. Our distance runners did a nice job earning honors in the 1,000, mile, 3000 meters and the 5,000 meters. We clearly need to fill a few more holes in a meet of this caliber, but I am very proud of each and every single performance this weekend. That is a comment that coaches can rarely make.”
This Week in Swimming and Diving: Mountaineer divers, Lindsay Schmidt, Averly Hobbs, Julia Calcut, Madelyn Woods, Austin Smith, Emmott Blitch, Logan McHenry, Michael Proietto and Alex Obendorf will travel to Annapolis, Maryland, to compete at NCAA Zone A Diving Championships on March 7-9: ... WVU’s swim team will remain idle from competition this week.
Last Week in Swimming and Diving: The West Virginia University swimming and diving team concluded the 2016 Big 12 Championship as the men finished second and the women finished fourth at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin, Texas, on Feb. 24-27 ... throughout the four-day championship, the Mountaineers won a gold medal, six silvers and nine bronze medals … senior Andrew Marsh had a record-setting performance in the men’s 100 backstroke and the 100 butterfly … the Big 12 champion brought home the gold medal in the men’s 100 back to set a new Big 12 and WVU record with a time of 45.66 … his performance in the 100 butterfly set a WVU school record with a 46.59 in the prelims before a 46.91 in the finals … he beat the previous record held by Bryce Bohman in 2014 (46.76) by 0.17 seconds … freshman diver Austin Smith set a school record on the men’s platform with a prelim score of 322.55 to advance to the finals, where he placed fourth with a score of 291.45.
Notes: The West Virginia men posted their best finish at the conference championship meet since joining the Big 12 in 2012-13. WVU coach Vic Riggs was named the Men’s Coach of the Meet for the second time in three years ... divers Woods and Smith earned their qualifying marks to compete at the NCAA Zone Diving Championships on March 7-9.
Coach Vic Riggs after being named coach of the Big 12 Championship: “It’s very humbling to be named Coach of the Meet, but it’s a team effort. I am honored to be a part of such a great staff. Mike Grapner, our diving coach, has done an amazing job in five years in growing the diving program. Associate head coach Damion Dennis has done a wonderful job with the sprinters and is a huge part of why these kids are here. Liz Illiff has done a great job working with the team and Rick West’s impact was felt immediately when he arrived last summer. I couldn’t ask to work with a better group of people and am blessed and honored to be this program’s head coach.”
This Week in Rifle: The No. 1-ranked Mountaineers will have two weeks of preparation before the team defends its three consecutive and nation-best 17 national titles at the 2016 NCAA Championships, hosted by Akron on March 11-12, at the Stile Athletics Field House, in Akron, Ohio.
Last Week in Rifle: West Virginia (12-0, 8-0 GARC) shot a two-day total of 4702 to capture its seventh straight Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) Championship, on Feb. 28, at the Patricia C. Lamar National Guard Readiness Center, in Oxford, Mississippi … the Mountaineers shot a winning 2335 smallbore on Saturday, and a winning 2367 air rifle on Sunday to solidify their victory.
Notes: West Virginia now owns a conference-best 11 GARC Championships and is the first team to ever win seven straight GARC titles … No. 2-ranked Kentucky finished second overall with a 4677 aggregate score, followed by N.C. State in third with a two-day total of 4651 … the Mountaineers represented four of the eight shooters in the individual smallbore final … freshman Ginny Thrasher shot a career-high 591 (197 kneeling, 200 prone, 194 standing) smallbore in the open relay and 459.5 in the final for the discipline win …Thrasher is the fifth different Mountaineer to win the GARC smallbore title, and the first since GARC Shooter and Senior of the Year Petra Zublasing won in 2013 … WVU has now won six GARC individual smallbore titles … three Mountaineers shot alongside Thrasher in the team smallbore final … freshman Will Anti shot a career-high 590 (195 kneeling, 199 prone, 196 standing) and finished second with a final score of 455.5, while junior Jean-Pierre Lucas shot 583 (196 kneeling, 198 prone, 189 standing) and placed third with a 446.3 final score … senior Garrett Spurgeon shot 582 (193 kneeling, 197 prone, 192 standing) in the open relay and 425.2 in the final to place fourth … two shooters also represented West Virginia in the individual air rifle final … Thrasher scored 596 in the open air rifle relay and 205.9 in the final for second place overall … Lucas shot 593 for sixth place and 104.6 in the air rifle final for fifth place overall … the WVU counting squad consisted of Spurgeon, Lucas, Thrasher, senior Patrick Sunderman and sophomore Elizabeth Gratz … of note, Thrasher finished first overall with a two-day total of 1187 … in addition, all eight members of the rifle team collected a combined 26 all-conference honors at the banquet prior to the GARC Championships … for the third time in his career, 10-year coach Jon Hammond was named the 2016 GARC Coach of the Year … Spurgeon earned GARC Senior of the Year and GARC Shooter of the Year honors … Spurgeon also was the only Mountaineer to earn three first-team honors, as the Canton, Missouri, native scored All-GARC smallbore, air rifle and combined score recognitions for the second time in his career … Thrasher earned her first conference honors, as she took home the GARC Rookie of the Year award … Gratz also was named WVU’s GARC Scholar Athlete of the Year … in addition, seniors Meelis Kiisk and Michael Bamsey shot at the 2016 Rifle/Pistol/Running Target European Championship, in Gyor, Hungary, inside the Audi Arena … Kiisk shot 617.9 to place 46th, while Bamsey shot 614.6 to place 60th in the men’s 10m air rifle open relay competition … with a 614.6 score, the Cardiff, Wales, native qualified for a spot on the Great Britain 10m air rifle men’s team.
This Week in Wrestling: The Mountaineers will travel to Kansas City, Missouri, to compete at the 2016 Big 12 Championship at the Sprint Center on March 5-6.
Last Week in Wrestling: West Virginia was idle from competition.
This Week in Golf: WVU is off until March 11, when the Mountaineers travel to Tallahassee, Fla., for the Seminole Intercollegiate … the event will be hosted by Florida State March 11-13.
Last Week in Golf: The Mountaineers were idle from competition last week.
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