Thrasher Named Student-Athlete of the Week

Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks

February 25, 2019 03:11 PM | Baseball, General, Golf, Men's Swimming & Diving, Rifle, Women's Basketball, Gymnastics, Women's Swimming & Diving, Tennis, Track & Field, Wrestling

Varsity Sports Report

By: WVU Athletics Communications

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Following an outstanding showing at the 2019 Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) Championship, senior Ginny Thrasher of the Mountaineer rifle team has been named the WVU Student-Athlete of the Week, presented by University Apartments.

A native of Springfield, Virginia, Thrasher helped the No. 4 Mountaineers claim their 10th straight and conference-best 13th championship crown on Feb. 23 at the University of Akron's Stile Athletics Field House in Akron, Ohio. WVU finished first in smallbore (2342) and air rifle (2373).

Thrasher won air rifle on Saturday with a 249.4 showing in the event final. She also finished second in smallbore on Saturday with a 460.3 showing. Thrasher shot a team best, season-high 591 in the smallbore open competition and entered the final in first place. She also qualified for the air rifle final in second place with a 596 total. The air rifle title was Thrasher's third in as many seasons. She leaves WVU with five career conference titles.

Prior to the championships, Thrasher was named the 2019 GARC Shooter of the Year and Outstanding Senior. The honors bring her career conference awards to four, as she was named the 2016 GARC Rookie of the Year and the 2017 GARC Shooter of the Year.

This Week in Women's Basketball: WVU hits the road for a pair of Big 12 contests… the team travels to Lawrence, Kansas, on Wednesday for a tilt with the Kansas Jayhawks… tipoff is set for 8 p.m. ET at Allen Fieldhouse… from there, the Mountaineers travel to Manhattan to wrap up their season series with Kansas State… the two will meet on Saturday in an 8 p.m. ET game at Bramlage Coliseum.

Last Week in Women's Basketball: West Virginia went 1-and-1 on the week… on Wednesday, WVU downed Oklahoma State, 77-54, in Stillwater, Oklahoma… Senior forward Naomi Davenport and redshirt junior guard Tynice Martin each had a 20-point performance, putting up 24 and 22 points, respectively… freshman guard Madisen Smith scored in double figures for the fourth-straight game, adding 11 points and five assists… on Saturday, the Mountaineers suffered an 80-69 setback to Oklahoma at the WVU Coliseum… Martin led the way with 22 points, while Davenport added 19.

Notes: The Mountaineers' win at Oklahoma State was their 10th Big 12 win of the season… it marked the program's first 10-win season since 2015-16 and the third since joining the Big 12 in 2012-13… the triumph was WVU's first at Gallagher-Iba Arena since 2015… Martin and Davenport's 20-point performances marked the second time this season two Mountaineers have posted 20-point efforts in the same game… Davenport heads into this week with 981 career points, just 19 shy of scoring 1,000… she would be just the second two-year JUCO transfer to score 1,000 points in two seasons in program history.

This Week in Gymnastics: The No. 24-ranked Mountaineers compete at No. 23 Ohio State with Temple on Saturday, March 2, at 4 p.m., in Columbus, Ohio.

Last Week in Gymnastics: WVU (15-6, 0-3) went 2-1 over the weekend, finishing first at Pitt on Feb. 22 with a 195.65 mark and falling to No. 1 Oklahoma, 197.15 – 195.35 on Feb. 24 at the WVU Coliseum … on Friday, the Mountaineers finished first on vault (49.075), uneven bars (48.95) and floor exercise (49.0) and third on balance beam (48.625) … WVU defeated the Panthers (195.425) and Ball State (195.025) … senior Kirah Koshinski won vault outright with a career-high-matching 9.95, aided by a 10.0 mark from one judge, her first career 10.0 vault score … she also tied for the floor win (9.9) … senior Jaquie Tun tied for first on bars (9.85), and freshman Taylor Sell finished a team-best fourth on balance beam (9.775) … junior Abby Kaufman earned her first career all-around win with a 39.0 showing … on Sunday, WVU finished second to OU on each event, scoring 49.1 on floor, 48.925 on bars, 48.75 on beam and 48.575 on vault … Koshinski earned the team's lone event win and tied for first on floor with a 9.925 showing … Koshinski and Tun tied for seventh on vault with 9.75s … Tun paced the team and finished fourth on bars with a 9.85, the second-best score awarded … freshman Esperanza Abarca anchored the beam lineup and placed a team-best fourth with a 9.825 … Kaufman finished third in the all-around with a 38.875 score.

Notes: WVU swept Pitt this season with three wins over the Panthers … sophomore Sydney Marler set two career highs on bars over the weekend, scoring 9.8 on Friday and 9.825 on Sunday … WVU hit 24-for-24 routines on Friday, and the team total was the Mountaineers' second-best score of the season and top mark earned away from Morgantown … WVU's 15 victories are the most for a team since earning 21 in coach Jason Butts' first season in 2012 … Kaufman scored a career-high matching 9.8 on vault Friday … Abarca tallied a career-high matching 9.825 on bars in both meets … WVU reenters the Road to Nationals Rankings for the first time since Jan. 7.

This Week in Track & Field: The Mountaineers are off this week.

Last Week in Track & Field: WVU earned a total of seven Big 12 honors by six individuals in four events at the 2019 Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championship, from Feb. 22-23, in Lubbock, Texas … redshirt freshman Hayley Jackson reached the podium twice during the two-day meet at Texas Tech's Sports Performance Center … on Friday, Jackson helped WVU's distance medley relay team (also comprised of redshirt senior Bria Welker, redshirt sophomore Sarah Wills and freshman Mikenna Vanderheyden) earn a third-place finish in 11:40.42 … Jackson also placed fourth in the women's mile with a time of 4:51.24 on Saturday … redshirt senior Madelin Gardner tied for fourth place in Friday's women's pole vault with a mark of 4.13 meters (13 feet, 6.5 inches), while redshirt junior Faith Penny recorded an eighth-place finish in the women's high jump with a season-best mark of 1.68 meters (5 feet, 6 inches) on Saturday … the Mountaineers finished with 15.5 team points.

Notes: WVU's third-place finish in the distance medley relay was its best in a conference meet since 2013 … Gardner, who was named the Big 12 Women's Athlete of the Week on Feb. 20, tied her career-best finish in the pole vault at a conference meet (2018 outdoor meet) … Gardner enters the week ranked No. 1 in the Big 12 and tied for No. 9 nationally in the pole vault … led by Gardner, WVU ranked No. 16 in the pole vault in the USTFCCCA's #EventSquad Rankings last week … Jackson enters the week ranked No. 39 nationally in the women's mile … WVU will now await the announcement of the Division I Indoor Track and Field Championship qualifiers, which is set to be released on Tuesday, Feb. 26, at 10 p.m. ET … the national meet commences from March 8-9, in Birmingham, Alabama.

This Week in Wrestling: WVU (4-14, 3-6 Big 12) will take a week off from competition before heading to the 2019 Big 12 Wrestling Championship from March 9-10 … the event will be held at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Last Week in Wrestling: Five Mountaineers came away with wins, as West Virginia capped its 2018-19 regular season with a 22-19 loss at Big 12 foe South Dakota State on Sunday, held at Frost Arena, in Brookings, South Dakota … redshirt junior Devin Brown (125), redshirt sophomore Matthew Schmitt (133) and redshirt freshman Noah Adams (197) each notched a bonus-point victory in their respective weight classes ... redshirt senior Christian Monserrat (149) and junior Brandon Ngati (HWT) also recorded wins for the Mountaineers ... No. 16 Monserrat extended his win streak to five, as he took down No. 17 Henry Pohlmeyer in the 149-pound bout for his team-leading 20th win of the season.

Notes: 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 … Monserrat (149), Ngati (HWT), Schmitt (133), sophomore Nick Kiussis (165) and Adams (197) 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. 4-ranked Mountaineers do not compete this week as they prepare for the 2019 NCAA Rifle Championships, set for March 8-9 at the WVU Coliseum … tickets are on sale now at NCAA.com/tickets.

Last Week in Rifle: WVU (13-0, 8-0) claimed its 10th straight and conference-best 13th Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) Championship crown with a 4715 score, earned over two days at the University of Akron's Stile Athletics Field House in Akron, Ohio … the team total was the Mountaineers' second-best score of the season … WVU won smallbore on Feb. 22 with a 2342 score and air rifle on Feb. 23 with a 2373 total … a pair of Mountaineers won the individual titles, with junior Morgan Phillips winning smallbore (461.0) and senior Ginny Thrasher winning air rifle (249.4) … the title was the first career win for Phillips and the fifth conference title for Thrasher … on Friday, Thrasher finished second in smallbore with a 460.3 finals showing … sophomore David Koenders finished fifth in smallbore with a 419.8 total … four Mountaineers qualified for the air rifle final on Saturday … junior Milica Babic finished second (248.3), freshman Verena Zaisberger placed third (225.9) and Phillips finished fourth (205.3).

Notes: The GARC regular-season champions as well, WVU has swept the conference team titles 10 times since 1998 … WVU swept the conference individual titles in back-to-back seasons for the second time in program history (2010-11) … Thrasher shot a team best, season-high 591 on Friday and entered the smallbore final in first place … Zaisberger entered the air rifle final in first place after shooting a career-best 598 in the open competition … Thrasher's air rifle title was her third consecutive … five Mountaineers counted toward the team totals: Thrasher, Babic, Koenders, Phillips and sophomore Sarah Osborn … prior to the championship, Thrasher was named the GARC Shooter of the Year and Outstanding Senior … she is the fifth different Mountaineer to claim the honors in the same season … Koenders was named the Mountaineers' GARC Scholar Athlete … five Mountaineers claimed 15 All-GARC honors.

This Week in Swimming & Diving: The Mountaineers compete 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. 22 nationally in the men's 200 butterfly (1:42.95), redshirt senior Tristen Di Sibio sits at No. 53 nationally in the men's 100 breaststroke (53.52) and junior Morgan Bullock ranks No. 59 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, as the two teams combined to win two gold, 16 silver and 12 bronze medals at the four-day meet … the Mountaineer men tallied 947.5 team points at the conference meet last season, the most since joining the league in 2012-13 … last week, 29 members of the swimming and diving team were named to the Academic All-Big 12 Team, including senior Marah Bieger and sophomore Kayla Gagnon, who were nominated with 4.0 grade-point averages … the WVU men last competed in a 173-122 loss at Penn State on Jan. 18, while the women's team last competed in a 152-148 loss at Iowa State on Jan. 26.

This Week in Tennis: WVU (6-1, 0-1 Big 12) travels to Richmond, Virginia, on Saturday, March 2, for a macthup with VCU ... the Mountaineers are scheduled to begin play at 10 a.m. ET ... Following its match against VCU, WVU heads south to Norfolk, Virginia, on Sunday, March 3, to square off against Old Dominion ... WVU is scheduled to begin Sunday's match at 10 a.m. ET.

Last Week in Tennis: The Mountaineers claimed a pair of wins over Niagara and Buffalo in Williamsville, New York ... on Saturday, WVU defeated Niagara, 7-0, to earn the first clean sweep over an opponent since 2015, when it defeated UMBC, 7-0, in Morgantown ... on Sunday, despite being swept in doubles play, West Virginia swept Buffalo in singles play to win, 6-1.

Notes: The Mountaineers own a 117-108 record over 2019 opponents, including a 2-4 record against VCU and a 1-9 record against Old Dominion ... last season, WVU was defeated by VCU, 2-4, and Old Dominion, 0-4, in Morgantown ... in the latest Oracle/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings, Old Dominion checks in at No. 19, marking the first ranked opponent that the Mountaineers have faced this season ... West Virginia owns a 31-11 record in singles play and a 11-9 record in doubles play ... sophomore Anne-Sophie Courteau leads the team with an 11-2 record (6-1 in singles, 5-1 in doubles) ... freshman Anastasiia Bovolskaia is second on the team with a 10-3 record (6-1 in singles, 4-2 in doubles).

This Week in Golf: West Virginia is off until March 23-25 when the team travels to Charleston, South Carolina, for the Hootie at Bulls Bay.

Last Week in Golf: WVU tied for third at the Seminole Intercollegiate in Tallahassee, Florida … the Mountaineers shot 284-285-285=854 as a team, finishing 10-under-par … junior Etienne Papineau tied for sixth place to lead the way … he carded a 54-hole total of 66-73-74=213 to finish the tournament three-under-par … teammates Matthew Sharpstene fired a 67 in the final round to finish tied for 12th place at two-under with a 214.

Notes: In addition to the No. 41 Mountaineers, three other ranked teams competed in the tournament … No. 5 Wake Forest took home top honors at 13-under-par … No. 30 Florida State was second at 12 under … WVU tied with Jacksonville for third and finished ahead of No. 29 Louisville, who was fifth at nine-under-par … Etienne Papineau's first-round score of 66 was a career low … he finished ahead of three of the field's six nationally ranked golfers, including No. 10 Eric Bae (Wake Forest) and No. 12 Kengo Aoshima (Wake Forest) … the 2018-19 season marks the fourth straight year WVU has competed at the event.

This Week in Baseball: A home game against Towson has been added to the schedule, and WVU will now host the Tigers on Wednesday, Feb. 27, at 2 p.m. ET … admission will be free for all fans at Monongalia County Ballpark … the Mountaineers then travel to Corvallis, Oregon, for a series at No. 6 Oregon State … for the second time in program history, and second time in the last three years, the Mountaineers will play at the defending NCAA champions … the series begins on Friday, March 1, at 8:35 p.m. ET/5:35 p.m. PT … on Saturday, first pitch at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field is set for 4:35 p.m. ET, while the series concludes on Sunday at 4:05 p.m. ET.

Last Week in Baseball: West Virginia began the week with a 5-4, walk-off win against Canisius on Tuesday before a series win at Georgia Southern … in the win over Canisius, pinch hitter Tristen Hudson delivered the game-winning hit with a two-out single to score pinch runner TJ Lake … the Mountaineers never trailed, but withstood a pair of rallies by the Golden Griffins, who tied the game at 3-3 in the sixth inning and 4-4 in the ninth … Nick Snyder made his first career start and gave up no runs on four hits with six strikeouts and Sam Kessler picked up the win, his first of the season, at Georgia Southern … Alek Manoah took a no hitter into the fifth inning as WVU opened the series with a 5-1 victory … Manoah struck out eight batters and allowed one unearned run on two hits with two walks in 6.1 innings to earn the win, while Kessler got the save and limited GSU to three hits with five strikeouts in the final 2.2 innings … the next day, WVU opened a doubleheader with a 3-1 win, as the Mountaineers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning and Jackson Wolf and Beau Lowery combined to hold the Eagles to one run on five hits … in his second quality start, Wolf allowed a run on three hits with two strikeouts in a career-best 7.1 innings to improve to 2-0 on the year, and Lowery collected his first career save as he held GSU to no runs on two hits in 1.2 innings … Kade Strowd took a perfect game into the fifth inning and allowed one unearned run on two hits, but WVU could not complete the sweep in a 1-0 loss in Saturday's nightcap … Strowd and a pair of relievers held the Eagles to one unearned run on three hits, all infield singles, with 10 strikeouts and a walk … Strowd allowed just one unearned run on two hits with eight strikeouts and a walk in 6.2 innings and threw 97 pitches, 74 for strikes … in his first four innings, Strowd threw 41 pitches, all but six for strikes.

Notes: West Virginia (4-3) has won three of its last four games … WVU has scored first in five of its first seven games and has scored in the first inning three times … the Mountaineers travel to Oregon State this weekend, and will face the defending national champions for the second time in the last three years … in 2017, WVU went 2-0 at Coastal Carolina, a year after the Chanticleers won the NCAA crown … Tuesday's 5-4, walk-off win over Canisius was the first February home game in program history … against Canisius, Austin Davis had four stolen bases, the second-most in program history, behind Babe Barna's five against Saint Vincent on May 22, 1937 … Marques Inman hit his second home run of the season and team-high-tying 11th of his career, while Ivan Gonzalez hit his first home run of the season and seventh of his career on Feb. 19 … in the series at Georgia Southern, every Mountaineer starter had a quality start, and the WVU pitching staff held GSU to three runs, two unearned, on 13 hits in the three-game series … Alek Manoah held GSU hitless for 4.2 innings and did not allow a runner to reach second base when he was on the mound in Friday night's win … Kade Strowd was perfect for 4.2 innings and held the Eagles to one unearned run on two hits in 6.2 innings pitched.