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Muhammad Named Student-Athlete of the Week
April 03, 2017 02:07 PM | General
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Coming off an NCAA National Championship-qualifying performance at the 2017 NCAA Morgantown Regional Championships on April 1, junior gymnast Zaakira Muhammad has been named the WVU Student-Athlete of the Week, presented by University Apartments.
A native of Pennsauken, New Jersey, Muhammad finished fourth in the all-around with a 39.325 score, the highest qualifying mark earned by a gymnast nationally. Muhammad also placed third on floor with a season-high matching 9.9 score, as well as ninth on vault (9.825), 11th on uneven bars (9.85) and 18th on balance beam (9.75).
The 19th WVU gymnast to individually qualify for the national championships, and the first to do so since 2014, Muhammad will rotate with Alabama and compete in the second semifinal session at the 2017 NCAA National Championships on April 14, at 8 p.m., inside Chaifets Arena in St. Louis, Missouri.
The fifth-seeded Mountaineers scored a program regional-record 196.325 and finished in third place Saturday evening. It was the team’s top placement since finishing third at the 2007 NCAA Southeast Regional in Morgantown.
This Week in Baseball: West Virginia returns home for five games this week, beginning with in-state rival Marshall on Tuesday, April 4, at 6:30 p.m. ET, and Morehead State on Wednesday, April 5, at 5 p.m. … WVU then plays host to Kansas at Monongalia County Ballpark for its first home weekend series in Big 12 play … first pitch of Friday’s opener is set for 6:30 p.m., while Saturday’s contest will begin at 4 p.m. and Sunday’s game will start at 1 p.m. …tickets for all five games are still available at 1-800-WVU GAME, WVUGAME.com or at the Mountaineer Ticket Office in the WVU Coliseum or on game day at Monongalia County Ballpark … Tuesday and Wednesday’s games are Dollar Days, where tickets and select concession items are just $1 … all five games this week will be streamed for free on WVUSports.com and broadcast on the Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG on various affiliates throughout the state, online at WVUsports.com, on the Mountaineer Gameday App and the TuneInRadio App … links to live streams, radio broadcasts and live stats for each game can be found on the baseball schedule page on WVUsports.com.
Last Week in Baseball: West Virginia went 3-1 last week with a win at Pitt in the Backyard Brawl before a series victory at No. 23 Oklahoma State … the 8-4 win at Pitt on March 28 was highlighted by a two-run suicide squeeze in the fourth inning and five unearned runs in the fifth as WVU improved to 105-88 all-time in the rivalry and 8-4 in the last 12 games … West Virginia opened the series at Oklahoma State with a 3-2 loss on March 31 … WVU rebounded with a 5-3, come-from-behind victory on April 1, rallying with two runs in the ninth inning and two in the 10th to upset the Cowboys … the Mountaineers won the series the following day, breaking out for nine runs on 10 hits in a 9-8 win to secure their third consecutive series win and third series win this year against a top-25 team.
Notes: Following a 3-1 week, West Virginia improved to 15-10 on the season and is tied for second in the Big 12 with a 4-2 record … the Mountaineers are 6-2 against top-25 teams, all on the road, and 7-3 in their last 10 games … the Mountaineers improved to 105-88 all-time against Pitt and WVU has won two in a row and eight of the last 12 in the rivalry … starter Isaiah Kearns pitched 3.2 innings, allowing no runs on two hits with three strikeouts and two walks, and improved to 3-0 in the win at Pitt … starter BJ Myers struck out a career-high-tying 10 batters in 6.0 innings, allowing three runs on five hits in the opener at Oklahoma State on March 31 … on April 1, Cole Austin hit his team-high-tying fourth home run of the year and eighth of his career to tie the game at 3-3 in the ninth inning … Braden Zarbnisky scored the eventual game-winning run and also earned the win, pitching 1.2 innings and retiring all five batters he faced … Zarbnisky is tied with Kearns and Myers with a team-high three wins … starter Michael Grove had his second quality start in as many weeks, allowing three runs on five hits with nine strikeouts and no walks in 7.0 innings … WVU pitchers faced the minimum three batters in eight of the 10 innings … offensively, runners reached in all but the sixth inning for WVU … in the series-clinching win on April 2, Chase Illig hit his first career grand slam and third home run of the season and had a career-high four RBIs … Illig’s grand slam was WVU’s first this season … reliever Ryan McDonald earned his first career win, pitching 3.1 innings and allowing four runs on four hits with three strikeouts and no walks … making his first career start, Kade Strowd pitched 4.1 innings, allowing two runs on two hits with three strikeouts and five walks … Zarbnisky got the final out of the game and earned his first career save … earlier in the week, senior Jackson Cramer was named one of 30 candidates for the Senior CLASS Award, which recognizes senior student-athletes who have shown a commitment in four areas: community, classroom, character and competition ... pitchers combined to allow one earned run on six hits in 7.0 innings.
This Week in Rowing: The team returns to the water on Saturday, April 8, when it will take on Big 12-foes Alabama and Tennessee at the first ever Big 12 Duals in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Last Week in Rowing: The Mountaineers were off last week.
Notes: Saturday’s race will be the second of three times this spring that the Mountaineers will compete in Oak Ridge, Tennessee ... WVU opened the spring season at the Cardinal Invitational and will compete at the Big 12 Championships in Oak Ridge on May 13 and 14.
This Week in Gymnastics: The Mountaineers (13-10, 3-3) do not compete this week.
Last Week in Gymnastics: Seeded fifth, WVU scored a program regional-record 196.325 and placed third at the 2017 NCAA Morgantown Regional Championships on April 1, inside the WVU Coliseum … second-seeded Michigan finished first with a 197.35 score, and top-seeded Alabama placed second with a 196.625 mark … both teams qualified through to the National Championships … junior Zaakira Muhammad scored 39.325 and placed fourth in the all-around … the top all-arounder not on an advancing team, Muhammad qualified for the 2017 NCAA National Championships … WVU finished second on uneven bars with a season high, program-regional record score of 49.35 … WVU also finished second on vault with a 49.05 total, third on floor (49.225) and fourth on balance beam (48.7) … senior Alexa Goldberg placed second on bars with a season-high 9.925, and Kirah Koshinski placed second on floor with a 9.925 mark … Koshinski also paced on vault and placed fourth overall with a 9.85 score, the second-highest mark awarded … senior Brooklyn Doggette anchored the balance beam lineup with a team-best 9.775 score.
Notes: WVU’s final score was a season-best mark … the team’s finish was its best placement since 2007, when the squad also finished in third place at a Morgantown Regional … WVU competed in front of 2,314 fans, the 10th-best attendance mark in program history … Muhammad is the 19th WVU gymnast to individually qualify for the NCAA National Championships and the 16th to do so in the all-around … the top all-around qualifier, Muhammad was paired with Alabama and will rotate with the Crimson Tide and compete in the second semifinal session on Friday, April 14, at 8 p.m. ET, at Chaifets Arena, in St. Louis, Missouri.
This Week in Track and Field: West Virginia will travel to Fairfax, Virginia, this weekend, to compete at the Mason Spring Invitational on Saturday, April 8.
Last Week in Track and Field: Junior Maggie Drazba of the West Virginia University track and field team notched a top-10 finish at the Stanford Invitational as the lone competitor for the Mountaineers in Stanford, California, on Friday, March 31, at Cobb Track … making her outdoor season debut on Friday, Drazba placed 10th in the women’s 10,000-meter run, section two, with a career-best time of 34:04.26 … she shed 1:46.14 minutes off of her previous best, set at the 2015 Big 12 Outdoor Championship.
Notes: Friday’s race in California was Drazba’s first outdoor season competition since 2015, where she qualified to compete at the NCAA East Preliminary Regionals in the 5,000 meters … the St. Marys, West Virginia, native last competed in the 10,000 meters at the 2015 Big 12 Outdoor Championship, where she placed 10th with a time of 35:50.40.
Coach Sean Cleary about Maggie Drazba competing at the Stanford Invite: “Maggie ran a very good race. Running very controlled through four miles before racing for home. This performance puts Maggie at number six on the WVU all-time list behind five All -Americans. Maggie will leave Stanford with an NCAA qualifying mark in addition to being very confident”
This Week in Tennis: The Mountaineers (4-11, 0-5 Big 12) will travel to Texas this weekend for a pair of matches against No. 33 TCU (10-7, 2-3) on Friday, April 7, and No. 6 Texas Tech (18-3, 6-0) on Sunday, April 9 ... Friday’s match is slated to begin at 6:30 P.M. ET, and will take place at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center in Fort Worth, Texas ... first serve for Sunday’s contest is set for a 12:30 p.m. ET start from the McCleod Tennis Center in Lubbock, Texas.
Last Week in Tennis: WVU dropped a pair of matches last week against No. 21 Texas on Friday, March 31, and No. 15 Baylor on Sunday, April, 2 … the Longhorns were able to take the doubles point and win the first three contests in singles play to close out the 4-0 victory … West Virginia opened Sunday’s match with a 1-0 deficit after conceding the doubles point and was unable to secure a singles win as the Lady Bears would go on to take the 4-0 decision.
Notes: The Mountaineers will face three ranked singles opponents and three pairs of ranked opponents in doubles play this weekend ... WVU is 1-6 this season when facing ranked opponents ... Habiba Shaker leads WVU with an 8-5 record at the No. 1 slot … Paula Goetz and Lyn Yuen Choo pace the Mountaineers with a 4-3 record in doubles play ... Goetz has won a team-high eight singles matches.
This Week in Golf: West Virginia travels to Greenville, North Carolina, for the East Carolina Intercollegiate … the ECU Pirates will host the event at Brook Valley Country Club, a par-72, 6,708-yard course … in addition to the Mountaineers, the Pirates will welcome Coastal Carolina, Florida Gulf Coast, Georgetown, George Washington, High Point, Loyola, Maryland, Old Dominion and Western Kentucky to the event … WVU is paired with Western Kentucky and George Washington in the first round.
Last Week in Golf: The Mountaineers did not compete last week.
Notes: Alan Cooke, Max Sear, Chris Williams, Tristan Nicholls and Etienne Papineau will represent the Mountaineers at the tournament … Avery Schneider and Drew Dewald will compete as individuals … Cooke, Sear, Nicholls and Papineau will all compete in their 10th tournament of the season, while Williams enters his ninth … Schneider and Dewald will each compete in their fourth event … at last weekend’s Furman Intercollegiate, Cooke went bogey-free to tie the school record of 66 in the final round …he moved up 50 spots in the final 18 holes to record a top-25 finish, tying for 23rd … Cooke ranks second on the team with a 73.04 scoring average … Sear leads the Mountaineers with a 73.00 scoring average with three rounds in the 60s … he previously tied the program’s low round with a 66 at the VCU Janney Shootout in October.
Coach Sean Covich on competing at the East Carolina Intercollegiate: “We’re looking forward to competing at East Carolina this week. We have the opportunity to play a lot of our guys this week, which I am really excited about. It’s a chance for everyone to get some tournament reps in as we enter the last month of the season.”
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