MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 25-ranked West Virginia University gymnastics team closes its 2016 regular season with a pair of matches against Pitt.
The Mountaineers (8-6, 0-3) play host to the Panthers (5-13, 2-4 EAGL) in their home finale at the WVU Coliseum on Friday, March 11, at 7 p.m. WVU will then travel to Pittsburgh for a dual meet on Sunday, March 13, at 2 p.m., at Fitzgerald Field House.
Friday is a “Dollar Night,” and all tickets, hot dogs, popcorn and Coca Colas will be available for $1 each. Tickets are available now at
WVUGAME.com and also will be sold at the Coliseum Blue Gate.
Friday also is “Senior Night,” and Mountaineer seniors Melissa Idell, Jaida Lawrence and Audrey Tolbert will be honored following the competition.
“There’s definitely been a buzz inside Cary Gym this week because we are competing against Pitt this weekend,” fifth-year Mountaineer coach Jason Butts said. “We’re also looking forward to competing twice in one weekend for the second time this year. This should be a much easier trip than the one we had in February. We actually really like competing at Pitt – it almost feels like we have two home meets this weekend.
“Friday night is such a great chance for our fans to come out and enjoy gymnastics one final time in Morgantown this year. We have a great group of seniors this season, and we would love to shower them with support Friday. Beginning to end, this should be an entertaining meet.”
The Mountaineers enter the final weekend of the regular season at an all-time high, having scored 196.0 or better in back-to-back meets, including a season-best 196.8 in wins over Ohio State (195.975) and Bowling Green (195.725) on March 6 at the WVU Coliseum. The mark, the best score earned under Butts, matches the program’s seventh-highest team total. It was the highest score earned by the Mountaineers since 2004. Additionally, the team earned a season-best 49.575 floor score, matching the third-best mark in program history and the highest floor total for WVU since 2001.
“We’re just going to focus on hitting 24-for-24 routines Friday night,” Butts added. “I’ve had so many people ask me if we can score better than 196.8. Can we? Yes, but that cannot be our focus. We just need to hit, and then the scores will fall where they will. We’re still seeing some mistakes in competition, and we need to knock those out.”
WVU and Pitt meet for the 70th time on Friday. Former foes in the East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL), the Mountaineers pushed their all-time series lead to 55-12-2 with a 194.975-194.875 win on Feb. 28, 2015, at Fitzgerald Field House. Both teams defeated North Carolina (193.5) and Temple (191.225).
In their last meeting in Morgantown, the Mountaineers scored a 194.45-194.125 victory in front of 2,468 fans in a Beauty and the Beast Meet at the WVU Coliseum on Feb. 14, 2014.
Ranked in the Road the National’s top-25 standings for the third straight week, the Mountaineers own a 195.665 regional qualifying score (RQS). The squad also ranks nationally on vault (No. 16, 49.04 RQS) and floor (No. 19, 49.135).
Freshman Kirah Koshinski, the reigning Big 12 Conference Newcomer of the Week, ranks No. 20 nationally on vault with a 9.875 RQS. She owns the team’s top vault score, posting a career-high 9.925 at the Unite for Her Pink Invitational in Philadelphia on Feb. 26. Sophomore Zaakira Muhammad follows Koshinski in the polls and ranks No. 27 with a 9.87 RQS. Additionally, junior Alexa Goldberg ranks No. 36 nationally on the uneven bars with a 9.685 RQS.
Goldberg and Muhammad finished 1-2 in the all-around last week, scoring 39.325 and 39.275, respectively. The mark was a career high for Goldberg, who also tied freshman Tiara Wright for first on bars with 9.9s, a career-best score for Wright. Muhammad paced the Mountaineers on beam with a 9.85 career-high mark. Koshinski and Idell tallied career-best 9.95 floor scores and tied for the event win. Additionally, Koshinski, Muhammad and sophomore Amanda Bowman finished in third place on vault with 9.825s, a career-best mark for Bowman.
Pitt ranks No. 50 nationally with a 193.64 RQS. The Panthers show a season-high score of 195.25, earned in wins over Towson and Penn in Towson, Maryland, on Feb. 12. Senior Lindsay Offutt is the top-ranked gymnast on every event but vault and sits as high as No. 28 nationally in the all-around (39.23 RQS) and No. 32 on floor (9.885 RQS).
Most recently, the Panthers scored 193.475 and finished fourth in a five-team meet at Maryland on March 6. Offutt finished first on floor with a season-high 9.9 and in the all-around with a 39.35 mark, the fourth-best score in program history.
