WVU Rifle Named Student-Athletes of the Week

February 26, 2024 11:29 AM | Baseball, General, Golf, Men's Swimming & Diving, Rifle, Women's Basketball, Gymnastics, Women's Swimming & Diving, Tennis, Track & Field, Wrestling

VSR Feb. 26, 2024

By: WVU Athletics Communications

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University rifle team has been named the WVU Student-Athletes of the Week, presented by University Apartments.

WVU claimed the program's 16th Great America Rifle Conference Championship over the weekend. Along the way, the Mountaineers set an NCAA record for aggregate score at the event with a 4759. The mark surpassed the previous record of 4758 set by TCU last season.

West Virginia added winning marks of 2366 in smallbore and 2393 in air rifle at the event. The score in air rifle set a new WVU program record.

Up next, West Virginia will compete at the 2024 NCAA Championships are slated for March 8-9, at the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown.

This Week in Women's Basketball: The Mountaineers are set for two contests this week… WVU opens play with a 7:30 p.m. ET meeting with Oklahoma State on Tuesday, Feb. 27, on the road in Stillwater, Okla. … the Mountaineers then return home for a matchup with TCU at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 2, inside the WVU Coliseum … The contest will serve as the regular season finale and senior day for Lauren Fields, Tavy Diggs and Jayla Hemingway.

Last Week in Women's Basketball: West Virginia dropped two contests last week against AP ranked teams … it is the first time this season the Mountaineers have lost two consecutive games… West Virginia opened the week with a loss on Feb. 21, to No. 10 Kansas State, 73-64, in overtime on the road … WVU then fell to No. 24 Baylor, 66-65, on Feb. 24, inside the WVU Coliseum.

Notes: West Virginia leads the nation in turnover margin (9.44) and sits second in steals per game steals per game (14.2)… WVU forced 24.2 turnovers per game which is good for third in the nation… WVU produced a seven-game win streak in Big 12 play, the longest win streak in conference play for WVU since the 2020-21 season when it strung together nine wins … JJ Quinerly scored her 500th point this season to become the 28th player in program history to reach the mark.

This Week in Baseball: The Mountaineers have their home opener on Wednesday, Feb. 28, against Canisius … first pitch from Wagener Field at Monongalia County Ballpark is set for 3 p.m. ET … WVU will be back on the road this weekend for a four-game series at Western Kentucky … game one on Friday, March 1, is set for 4 p.m. … Saturday, March 2, will be a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. while Sunday, March 3, will get started at 1 p.m.

Last Week in Baseball: The Mountaineers went 3-3 in six games this past week against Stetson and Charlotte … the week began with a doubleheader split at Stetson, falling in game one, 5-4, before winning the second game, 7-5 … against Charlotte, the Mountaineers won the first two games by scores of 12-8 and 8-1 before dropping the final two games, 3-2, and 6-5.

Notes: Junior Aidan Major struck out a career-high nine batters against Charlotte … sophomore Logan Sauve hit .409 for the week with three home runs, two doubles, seven RBI and eight runs scored … Sauve went 4-for-4 against Charlotte on Saturday with two home runs and five RBI … Sauve joined sophomore Benjamin Lumsden as Mountaineers to hit two home runs in game this season … sophomore Skylar King hit .421 which included his first-career home run against Charlotte … King also stole five bases to lead the Mountaineers … freshman Spencer Barnett had his first-career hit against the 49ers on Saturday … the Mountaineers will open the home slate against Canisius for the sixth time in the last seven seasons.

This Week in Rifle: West Virginia is off this week … the Mountaineers return to action when they host the 2024 NCAA Rifle National Championship inside the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown from March 8-9.

Last Week in Rifle: The Mountaineers competed at the 2024 Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) Championship on Feb. 24-25 … WVU set an NCAA record for aggregate score at the event with a 4759 … the mark surpassed the previous record of 4758 set by TCU last season … WVU added marks of 2366 in smallbore and 2393 in air rifle … the score in air rifle set a new program record … Matt Sanchez took first place in smallbore as Mary Tucker finished in second place … Tucker added another second place finish in air rifle as Gavin Barnick took third place … Barnick finished in second place in aggregate scoring while Tucker finished in third.

Notes: The Mountaineers hold the highest aggregate and smallbore average in the nation and sit second in air rifle… WVU claimed the GARC regular season title with its perfect record … it marked the 15th title in program history … WVU also won its 16th GARC Tournament Championship this season.

This Week in Wrestling: West Virginia is off, prior to the team heading to Tulsa, Okla., to compete at the Big 12 Championship on March 9-10.

Last Week in Wrestling: WVU was off.

Notes: WVU ended the regular season 10-5 for the second year in a row and marks the first time Mountaineer wrestling has claimed double-digit wins in back-to-back seasons since 1990 and 1991 … nine Mountaineers rank among the top 33 of their respective weight classes in the second coaches ranking and/or RPI leading up to this year's NCAA Championships, including junior Jett Strickenberger (No. 31- 14 RPI) at 125 pounds, redshirt sophomore Jordan Titus (No. 11 - 15 RPI) at 141 pounds, true freshman Ty Watters (No. 6 - 19 RPI) at 149 pounds, senior Caleb Dowling (26 RPI) at 157 pounds, senior Peyton Hall (No. 8 – 22 RPI) at 165 pounds, redshirt freshman Brody Conley (No. 25 - 20 RPI) at 174 pounds, redshirt junior Dennis Robin (No. 30 - 22 RPI) at 184 pounds, redshirt junior Austin Cooley (31 RPI) at 197 pounds and redshirt senior Michael Wolfgram (19 RPI) at heavyweight … the third NCAA Coaches' ranking, along with allocations for each conference, is set to be released on Thursday, February 29.

This Week in Swimming and Diving: West Virginia will compete in the 2024 Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championships ... the championships will be held at the Aquatic Center at Mylan Park in Morgantown from Feb. 27-March 2 ... preliminaries will take place at 10 a.m. ET, each day of the championships ... finals will take place at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 27, and 6 p.m., for the rest of the championship.

Last Week in Swimming and Diving: West Virginia did not compete.

Notes: This marks the third time West Virginia will host the Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championships ... this will be the first meet for the Mountaineers since senior day against Villanova and Iowa State (women's team only) on Jan. 27, in Morgantown ... last season at the championships, the men's team (2-2, 1-0 Big 12) placed third and the women's team (2-3, 1-1 Big 12) placed fourth ... the Mountaineers collected 16 total medals last year, with senior Jacqueline McCutchan earning the lone gold medal in the 100 backstroke event ... senior Danny Berlitz has led the men's swimming team throughout the season ... most recently, Berlitz won two individual events (200-yard backstroke and 400-yard individual medley) against Villanova ... the midseason addition of Olympic qualifier senior Ivan Puskovitch has been profitable for WVU as he won the 1650-yard freestyle event against Villanova, and the 500-yard freestyle and 1000-yard freestyle against Pitt on Jan. 13 ... sophomore Mia Cheatwood returns to the Big 12 Championships after being part of two relay teams that set school records at last year's championships ... Cheatwood has been a leader for the women's swimming team, most recently winning two individual events against Villanova (100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard breaststroke) ... in the diving well, program-record holder senior Sara Haggerty returns to the championships after placing 10th on the 3-meter springboard last year ... junior Sarah Krusinski also returns, as she finished sixth on platform at the 2022 championships ... junior Glenn Eloriaga also will compete for the Mountaineers ... in 2023, he earned the bronze medal on the men's platform and placed eighth on the 3-meter springboard.

This Week in Tennis: West Virginia will play host to TCU at 5 p.m., on Friday, March 1, and Baylor at 10 a.m., on Sunday, March 3 ... the match against TCU will be West Virginia's first Big 12 Conference match of the 2024 season.

Last Week in Tennis: WVU improved to 11-1 after sweeping a doubleheader against Navy, 5-2, and Mount St. Mary's, 6-1, on Feb. 24, in Morgantown.

Notes: West Virginia's 11-1 record is its best start through 12 games since 1986 when the team began 12-0 ... senior Momoko Nagato won both of her singles matches over the weekend to improve to 10-1 on the year ... she has the best overall record on the team in singles play ... redshirt sophomore Maja Dodik is dominating in her second season for the Mountaineers as she is 10-2 in singles ... freshman Maya Bordereau sits at 7-3 on the year ... the doubles team of Bordereau and Dodik is 9-1 this season.

This Week in Indoor Track & Field: The Mountaineers will have a bye week before heading to the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship … the championship is slated for March 8-9 and will be held at the TRACK at New Balance in Boston, Mass. … the final list of meet participants will be released by the NCAA on Tuesday, Feb. 27 … the championships will be streamed live on the ESPN family of networks while live results can be found on WVUsports.com.

Last Week in Indoor Track & Field: West Virginia competed in the Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championship on Feb 23-24, at the Sports Performance Center in Lubbock, Texas ... the meet was highlighted by West Virginia's conference victory in the women's distance medley relay … the team of redshirt senior Sarah Tait, freshman Kishay Rowe, redshirt senior Mikenna Vanderheyden and senior Ceili McCabe won the Big 12 title with a time of 11:18.08 … McCabe also placed third overall in the women's mile with a time of 4:38.57 … Vanderheyden secured fourth in the women's 1,000 meters with a time of 2:48.12 … redshirt junior Cassandra Williamson shattered the women's 800 meters program record with an altitude adjusted time of 2:04.44, placing sixth to earn All-Big 12 honors.

Notes: With the performance at the Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championship, the team collected seven All-Big 12 honors … West Virginia also added conference honors in the women's distance medley relay ... Tait, Rowe, McCabe and Vanderheyden collected All-Big 12 Honors after claiming the conference title in the event ... the win marks the first gold medal for WVU in the DMR at the Big 12 Indoor Championship since 2021.

This Week in Gymnastics: WVU prepares for its first double weekend of the season … the two-meet stretch begins on the road in a quad meet at Penn State with Ball State and Towson on Friday, March 1 … competition inside the Nittany Lions' Rec Hall in University Park, Pa., is set for 6 p.m. ET … the Mountaineers cap the weekend at home in another quad against Pitt, Towson and Western Michigan … it's West Virginia's annual alumni meet, with competition tabbed for 2 p.m., inside the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown.

Last Week in Gymnastics: West Virginia recorded a season-high 195.55 team score in a dual meet against No. 1 Oklahoma inside the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla., on Feb. 23 … the Mountaineers recorded solid scores on every event, led by a 49.125 on floor exercise … they also added scores of 48.975 on vault, 48.75 on the uneven bars and 48.7 on balance beam … the top-ranked Sooners took first place in the dual, recording a program-record score of 198.675 to take the top spot … on bars, freshman Amber Lowe's 9.825 led the lineup, while fifth-year senior Abbie Pierson led the way with a 9.825 on vault … West Virginia kept it up on floor, as Pierson and Lowe recorded 9.85's to pace the squad … finishing out on beam, sophomore Emma Wehry led the way with a 9.85.

Notes: The 2024 campaign marks the 50-year anniversary of the Mountaineer gymnastics program, as West Virginia will celebrate 50 years of varsity status, dating back to 1974 … Pierson returns for her fifth season of competition at West Virginia, as she leads the team with 55 meets competed in her career … this week's Road to Nationals rankings mark the first week of the season that rankings are based on National Qualifying Score (NQS) … WVU sits at No. 51 nationally with an NQS of 194.925.

This Week in Golf: West Virginia will finish play at the Dorado Beach Collegiate in Dorado, Puerto Rico, on Monday, Feb. 26, and Tuesday, Feb. 27 … the Mountaineers will then be off until March 15-17, at the Schenkel Invitational in Statesboro, Ga.

Last Week in Golf: West Virginia tied a school record by shooting a 17-under-par in the first round of the Dorado Beach Collegiate on Feb. 25 … WVU's 17-under-par ties the school record for lowest round vs. par set at the Lake Las Vegas Intercollegiate in 2022 … West Virginia's round of 271 on Sunday ties the school record set at the Lake Las Vegas Intercollegiate in 2022 and at the Ka'anapali Collegiate Classic in 2019 … earlier this season, WVU posted the second-lowest, 18-hole total in school history at 14-under-par in The N.I.T. in Tucson, Ariz., … all eight Mountaineers shot under par in today's first round … as a group, the Mountaineers recorded 41 birdies and three eagles … on Feb. 25, in Raleigh, N.C., three golfers wrapped up play in the Wolfpack Individual Invitational at Lonnie Poole Golf Course … Carson Kammann led the way for the Mountaineers with rounds of 74-73=147 (+5) … Westy McCabe recorded rounds of 78-76=154 (+12) and Pierce Grieve posted rounds of 81-75=156 (+14).