MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – After a record-breaking performance in the women's pole vault, redshirt senior Madelin Gardner of the West Virginia University track and field team has been named the WVU Student-Athlete of the Week, presented by University Apartments.
 
Gardner, a two-time All-American, broke the indoor school record in the pole vault at the Penn State Tune-Up, on Feb. 16, in University Park, Pennsylvania, earning a first-place mark of 4.38 meters (14 feet, 4.5 inches). The performance, which also broke the Penn State meet and facility records, topped Gardner's previous WVU-best jump of 4.37 meters from the Akron Invitational in 2018.
 
The Williamstown, West Virginia, native ranks No. 1 in the Big 12 Conference and tied for No. 7 nationally in the pole vault. She has registered jumps of 4.30 meters or better five times this indoor season and has claimed five victories.
 
This Week in Women's Basketball: West Virginia again plays home and away in a pair of key Big 12 games … the Mountaineers travel to Stillwater, Oklahoma, on Wednesday to wrap up their series at Oklahoma State … tipoff is set for 7 p.m. inside Gallagher-Iba Arena … WVU returns home on Saturday for a 4 p.m. tilt with Oklahoma … game time is set for 4 p.m. at the WVU Coliseum and will air on AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh … the Mountaineers will host their annual "I Belong" Day to celebrate diversity and inclusion at West Virginia University.
 
Last Week in Women's Basketball: The Mountaineers picked up a pair of league wins on the road and at home … on Wednesday, West Virginia battled for a 75-72 win at Texas Tech … freshman guard Madisen Smith led the way once again with 20 points … senior forward Naomi Davenport added 18 points and had the go-ahead jumper for WVU with just 11 seconds to play … redshirt junior guard Tynice Martin netted 16 points in the win … WVU then made it two in a row with a 79-65 win over TCU on Saturday … led by Martin's 21 points, four Mountaineers finished in double figures … Davenport added 15 points and had a team-best 10 rebounds for a double-double.
 
Notes: With her 20-point performance at Texas Tech on Wednesday, Smith became the first WVU freshman to score 20 points in back-to-back games since Kate Bulger did so in November of 2000 … Smith also posted a career-high eight assists against TCU, tying for sixth-most in program history by a WVU freshman … Davenport had 15 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double on Saturday against TCU … it was her sixth double-double of the season and the 11th of her career … it also marked Davenport's 10th consecutive game in double-figure scoring, a streak that dates back to Jan. 13 at Oklahoma … with 938 career points, Davenport sits just 62 shy of her 1,000th career point. 
 
This Week in Gymnastics: The Mountaineers will compete twice in three days this week … first up, WVU travels to Pittsburgh on Friday, Feb. 22, for a tri meet at Pitt with Ball State at 7 p.m. inside Fitzgerald Field House … WVU will then conclude the weekend back home at the WVU Coliseum on Sunday, Feb. 24, against No. 1 Oklahoma, at 2 p.m. … it's the Wendy M. Roach Invitational, and a pre-meet cheer clinic will be held from 11 a.m. – noon … registration is free for all participants under 13 … clinic participants will receive free admission to the meet, and pizza will be provided. 
 
Last Week in Gymnastics: The fifth-best floor score in program history pushed WVU (13-5, 0-3) to a second place, 195.575 showing on Feb. 17, at the WVU Coliseum …. Utah State scored 196.075 and finished first, while Pitt placed third with a 195.1 total and Cornell finished fourth with a 193.075 score … senior Kirah Koshinski's winning, career-best 9.975 floor routine helped WVU tally a season-high 49.5 total on the event … WVU also finished first on uneven bars with a season-best 49.175 score … the Mountaineers scored 48.925 on vault and finished second and 47.975 on balance beam for a fourth-place showing … Koshinski also finished a team-high third on vault with a 9.825 score … senior Jaquie Tun won bars with a season-best 9.875 … sophomore McKenna Linnen and freshman Esperanza Abarca paced WVU on beam and finished fourth with 9.75 totals … junior Abby Kaufman scored a career-best 39.225 and placed second in the all-around.
 
Notes: WVU's aggregate total is its second-best score of the season … all five counting floor scorers were career-best marks of 9.85 or better … WVU's floor showing was its best since scoring 49.575 on March 5, 2016 … Koshinski is the eighth WVU gymnast to earn 9.975 on floor and the first since Kristen Macrie did so on Feb. 2, 2002 … Kaufman and freshman Rachel Hornung earned career-best scores of 9.8 on vault … Kaufman and freshman Kendra Combs earned career-high 9.85s on bars, while Abarca earned a career-best 9.825 … Tun finished second on floor with a career-high matching 9.925 … Kaufman and Linnen tallied career-best 9.875s and tied for fourth place, and junior Erica Fontaine placed eighth with a career-high matching 9.85.
 
This Week in Track & Field: The Mountaineers travel to Lubbock, Texas, for the 2019 Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championship, from Feb. 22-23.
 
Last Week in Track & Field: West Virginia closed the 2018-19 indoor regular season in a big way, as redshirt senior Madelin Gardner broke the indoor school record in the women's pole vault at the Penn State Tune-Up, on Feb. 16, in University Park, Pennsylvania … Gardner jumped 4.38 meters (14 feet, 4.5 inches) in the event victory, breaking her own previous WVU-best mark of 4.37 meters from the Akron Invitational in 2018 … WVU earned a total of 10 top-five finishes at the meet, including redshirt senior Bria Welker (200, 400 meters) and freshman Mikenna Vanderheyden (600 meters) who earned second-place finishes … additionally, freshman Charlotte Wood claimed a second-place finish in the women's U20 6k race at the 2019 NACAC Cross Country Championships in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago on Saturday … Wood, who represented Team Canada, crossed the finish line in 22:10.0 … redshirt freshman Hayley Jackson finished fourth in the women's mile (4:40.72) at the JDL DMR Invitational in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on Saturday.
 
Notes: Gardner's performance was not only an indoor school record but also a meet and facility record … Gardner ranks No. 1 in the Big 12 and tied for No. 7 nationally in the pole vault … led by Gardner, WVU ranked No. 21 in the pole vault in the USTFCCCA's #EventSquad Rankings last week … Jackson's performance in the mile was a lifetime best and slots her No. 37 nationally in the event … the Mountaineers finished ninth at the Big 12 Indoor Championship last season in Ames, Iowa … Shamoya McNeil earned All-Big 12 honors with her third third-place finish in the women's triple jump (12.85 meters), while Amy Cashin found a spot on the all-conference team after finishing fifth in the women's 3,000 meters (9:32.42) … WVU's distance medley relay team, comprised of Cashin, Sarah Wills, McKenna Smith and Candace Jones, also garnered All-Big 12 honors with its fourth-place finish in 11:28.20 … earlier in the week, WVU's cross country team was named an All-Academic Team by the USTFCCCA.
 
This Week in Wrestling: The regular season will come to a close on Sunday, Feb. 24, in Brookings, South Dakota, where West Virginia (4-13, 3-5 Big 12) and South Dakota State (2-9, 1-6 Big 12) square off in a 7 p.m. ET match ... the Jackrabbits, who finished 12th at the 2018 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, holds a 3-0 lead in the all-time series. 
 
Last Week in Wrestling: West Virginia did not compete.
 
Notes: The Mountaineers have faced 10 teams ranked inside the USA Today/NWCA Coaches' Top-25 Poll this season … redshirt senior Christian Monserrat (149) has a team-leading 19 wins on the year … the Methuen, Massachusetts, native also leads the team with 15 dual wins and 51 match points … the second NCAA Division I Wrestling Coaches' Panel Rankings and the first edition of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) were released on Feb. 14 …junior Brandon Ngati (HWT), redshirt sophomore Matthew Schmitt (133), sophomore Nick Kiussis (165), redshirt freshman Noah Adams (197) and Monserrat (149) each appear in the top 33 of both lists … Ngati comes in at No. 29 in the RPI and is ranked at No. 30 in the heavyweight division of the coaches' panel rankings, moving up two spots from his previous rank of No. 32 in the rankings released on Jan. 25 … Schmitt sits at No. 15 in the coaches' panel rankings and is ranked at No. 16 in the RPI at 133 pounds … Kiussis appears at No. 20 in the RPI and is ranked 22nd overall in the coaches' panel rankings at 165 pounds … Adams comes in at No. 14 in the RPI and is ranked at No. 24 in the coaches' panel rankings at 197 pounds, moving up eight spots from his previous rank of No. 32 … Monserrat appears at No. 17 in the RPI and is ranked 18th overall in the coaches' panel rankings at 149 pounds … the final rankings will be used in determining qualifiers for the 2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, which will be held in Pittsburgh, at PPG Paints Arena, from March 21-23 … wrestlers must have 17 matches against Division I opponents to be eligible for the RPI rankings … forfeits do not count towards that total … wrestlers in each weight class will be measured by winning percentage, RPI and coaches' rankings to earn allocation spots for their qualifying tournaments for the championships.
 
This Week in Rifle: The No. 1-ranked Mountaineers shoot for their 10th consecutive Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) Championships title on Feb. 22-23, at the University of Akron's Stile Athletics Field House in Akron, Ohio.  
 
Last Week in Rifle: WVU (13-0, 8-0 GARC) shot a 4690 total in an NCAA Qualifying Match on Feb. 16, at the Bill McKenzie Rifle Range inside the WVU Shell Building … WVU shot 2325 smallbore and 2365 air rifle … a pair of underclassmen paced the Mountaineers, as sophomore Sarah Osborn won air rifle with a 594 (100-98-100-100-100-96) and freshman Jared Eddy won smallbore with a career-high-matching 583 (194 kneeling, 198 prone, 191 standing).    
 
Notes: Based on Saturday's score, the Mountaineers have qualified for the 2019 NCAA Championships, set for March 8-9 at the WVU Coliseum … the complete championship field will be announced Tuesday, Feb. 19, at 5 p.m., at NCAA.com … senior Ginny Thrasher is the reigning GARC smallbore and air rifle champion.
 
This Week in Swimming & Diving: The Mountaineers are off this week … WVU next competes at the 2019 Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championship, from Feb. 27-March 2, in Austin, Texas.
 
Last Week in Swimming & Diving: WVU did not compete.
 
Notes: Entering the conference meet, sophomore David Dixon ranks No. 17 nationally in the men's 200 butterfly (1:42.95), redshirt senior Tristen Di Sibio sits at No. 37 nationally in the men's 100 breaststroke (53.52) and junior Morgan Bullock ranks No. 38 in the nation in the women's 200 butterfly (1:57.31) … Di Sibio (200 breaststroke) and senior Jake Armstrong (100 breaststroke) are set to defend their Big 12 individual championships at the conference meet … both teams finished second at the Big 12 Championship last season.
 
This Week in Tennis: WVU (4-1, 0-1 Big 12) travels to upstate New York for two weekend matches against Niagara on Friday, Feb. 22, and Buffalo on Saturday, Feb. 23 ... action is slated to take place in Williamsville, New York, each day starting at 1 p.m. ET.
 
Last Week in Tennis: The Mountaineers opened their home slate with a 5-2 victory over Cleveland State on Friday and a 4-3 victory over Akron on Saturday ... sophomore Anne-Sophie Courteau led the Mountaineers with four wins this weekend between singles and doubles play ... freshman Anastasiia Bovolskaia and junior Sofia Duran were tied for second on the team with three wins on the weekend.
 
Notes: The Mountaineers own a 115-108 record over 2019 opponents, including a 1-0 record against Niagara and a 4-2 record against Buffalo ... in its first and only meeting against Niagara in 2015, West Virginia defeated the Purple Eagles, 6-1 ... in last year's regular-season meeting, WVU defeated Buffalo, 4-3 ... through five matches this season, the Mountaineers own a 19-11 record in singles and a 16-12 record in doubles ... Courteau leads West Virginia with eight wins ... Bovolskaia is second on the team with seven wins while Duran is third on the team with six wins.
 
This Week in Golf: West Virginia competed at the Florida Gators Invitational on Saturday and Sunday at the Mark Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville, Florida … the team finished in eighth place, shooting 278-286-297=861 for 21-over par … No. 3 Vanderbilt took the team title at one under, while No. 33 Florida was the runner-up at even par … No. 29 Liberty took home third place at two over … junior Etienne Papineau led the way with a T-15th finish … he shot 69-70-72=211 to finish at one-over par … senior Max Sear tied for 26th place at 69-70-75=214.  
 
Last Week in Golf: The Mountaineer return to Florida for the Seminole Intercollegiate … Florida State will host the event at Golden Eagle Golf Club in Tallahassee on Saturday and Sunday.
 
Notes: Etienne Papineau's 15th-place finish is his second top-15 finish of the season … WVU entered the tournament ranked No. 38 in the nation … including the Mountaineers, seven of the 15 teams in the field ranked in the Golfstat top-100 … Max Sear (No. 53) and Matthew Sharpstene (No. 85) were two of the 12 nationally-ranked golfers in the 86-player field … this weekend marks WVU's fourth straight season at the Seminole Intercollegiate.
 
This Week in Baseball: A home game against Canisius has been added to the schedule, and WVU will host the Golden Griffins on Tuesday, Feb. 19, at 2 p.m. ET … admission will be free for all fans at Monongalia County Ballpark … the Mountaineers then return to the Peach State this weekend for a three-game set at Georgia Southern, from Feb. 22-24 … the series in Statesboro, Georgia, begins on Friday, Feb. 22, at 6 p.m. ET … first pitch at J.I. Clements Stadium on Saturday is set for 3 p.m., while the series concludes at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday … Friday's game will be streamed on ESPN+, while live video of Saturday and Sunday's contests will be available at GSeagles.com … an audio broadcast and live stats of each game of the series can also be found at GSeagles.com
 
Last Week in Baseball: West Virginia opened the 2019 season at the Atlanta Challenge and went 1-2 in Atlanta … the season began with a 5-3 loss at Kennesaw State on Feb. 15 and followed with an 8-2 win at Georgia State and a 5-4 loss in 11 innings at Georgia Tech on Saturday … due to inclement weather expected in Atlanta on Sunday, WVU's contest at Georgia Tech was moved up to Saturday night, and the Mountaineers' opening weekend featured three games, totaling 29 innings, in a 31-hour span against three different teams in three ballparks … in WVU's 5-3 loss at Kennesaw State on Opening Day, WVU right-hander Alek Manoah struck out a career-best 13 batters and allowed one unearned run on five hits with no walks in 6.0 innings … West Virginia led 3-1 in the middle of the sixth, but KSU rallied with a three-run seventh inning … catcher Ivan Gonzalez had two RBIs, while first baseman Marques Inman and second baseman Tyler Doanes each had two hits … The next day, WVU won at Georgia State, 8-2 … West Virginia scored two runs in the first inning but were held hitless until a four-run sixth inning, and the pitching staff held GSU to two runs on six hits … the Mountaineer offense benefited from seven walks, while catcher Paul McIntosh and shortstop Tevin Tucker each had their first hits as Mountaineers and drove in a team-high-tying two runs … lefty Jackson Wolf picked up the win and allowed one run on four hits in 5.0 innings … WVU closed the Atlanta Challenge with a 5-4 loss in 11 innings at Georgia Tech later on Saturday … West Virginia trailed 3-0 after two innings and 4-0 after six, but rallied with three runs in the seventh and another in the eighth to tie the game and send it to extra innings, however, Georgia Tech won it in the 11th on a bases-loaded single … the Mountaineers scored three two-out runs in the seventh with the help of a throwing error before first baseman Marques Inman homered to lead off the eighth, tying the game at 4-4.
 
Notes: West Virginia (1-2) has added a home game against Canisius on Tuesday, the earliest home game in program history and the first at home in the month of February … Alek Manoah's career-best 13 strikeouts on Feb. 15 are the most by a Mountaineer since 2016, when Michael Grove had 13 strikeouts twice and Chad Donato had 13 once … Marques Inman's home run in Saturday's finale was the first by a Mountaineer this season and the 10th of Inman's career … Darius Hill and Tyler Doanes had hits in every game at the Atlanta Challenge, while Ivan Gonzalez and Paul McIntosh each recorded RBIs in two of WVU's three games … sophomore Paul McIntosh and freshmen Ryan Bergert, Austin Davis, Phillip Dull, Brock Helverson Gabe Kurtzhals, Beau Lowery, Zach Ottinger and Tevin Tucker all made their Mountaineer debuts this weekend … McIntosh and Tucker started all three games, while Davis made one start, and all three recorded their first career hits in Saturday's win at Georgia State … McIntosh had his first RBI on Friday, while Tucker's first RBI came in Saturday's win.