Puskovitch Named Student-Athlete of the Week

February 05, 2024 12:02 PM | General, Golf, Men's Swimming & Diving, Rifle, Women's Basketball, Gymnastics, Women's Swimming & Diving, Tennis, Track & Field, Wrestling

VSR Feb. 5, 2024

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - After qualifying for the Open Water National Team for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, senior Ivan Puskovitch of the West Virginia University men's swimming team has been named the WVU Student-Athlete of the Week, presented by University Apartments.

Puskovitch placed 14th in the men's 10km (1:48:54.40) event at the 2024 World Aquatics Championship in Doha, Qatar, on Feb. 4. He became the fifth American male in history to qualify for the Olympics in open water swimming since the event was added to the Olympics in 2008.

Puskovitch is the first male from the WVU swimming and diving program to qualify for the Olympics. He also will be the first Mountaineer to represent the U.S. in swimming at the Olympics.

Puskovitch will compete in the men's 5km event at the World Aquatics Championships on Feb. 7, at 5 a.m. ET.

The World Aquatics Championships will air on NBC. Final results can be found at worldaquatics.com.

The 2024 Paris Olympic Games are from July 26 through August 11.

This Week in Women's Basketball: The Mountaineers are set for two contests this week … WVU opens play with a 7 p.m. ET meeting with Texas Tech on Tuesday, Feb. 6, at the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown … the game will serve as Girls & Women in Sports Day and the Black History Month Celebration … the Mountaineers then take to the road for a matchup with Baylor in Waco, Texas, inside Foster Pavilion … tipoff is set for 3 p.m.

Last Week in Women's Basketball: West Virginia collected two wins on the week to secure its sixth straight conference win … WVU opened the week on Jan. 30, with a 84-43 win over UCF at the WVU Coliseum … the 41-point victory matched the largest Big 12 win in program history … West Virginia then went on the road and defeated BYU, 76-69, in Provo, Utah, at the Marriott Center on Feb. 3.

Notes: West Virginia leads the nation in steals per game (14.8) and turnover margin (9.44) … the Mountaineers are riding a six-game winning streak in conference play … it is the longest win streak in Big 12 play since the 2020-21 season when they strung together nine wins.

This Week in Rifle: West Virginia is set to close out the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 10, when it hosts No. 3 Kentucky at the WVU Rifle Range inside the Shell Building … the match is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. ET and also will serve as senior day … on the line is the Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) regular-season title as both the Mountaineers and Wildcats come into the competition undefeated in conference action.

Last Week in Rifle: West Virginia did not compete.

Notes: WVU has defeated 12 teams ranked inside the top 16 of the CRCA Poll and are a perfect 12-0 overall and 5-0 in the GARC … the Mountaineers hold the highest aggregate (4742.4) and smallbore (2361.8) average in the nation and sit third in air rifle (2380.5).

This Week in Swimming and Diving: West Virginia is off until 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.

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

Notes: Senior Ivan Puskovitch is in Doha, Qatar, competing at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships ... Puskovitch is competing in the open water competition from Feb. 3-8 ... he placed 14th in the men's 10km on Feb. 4 ... he placed higher than any other male from the United States or North America ... he became the fifth American male in history to qualify for the Olympics in open water swimming since the event was added to the Olympics in 2008 ... Puskovitch is the first male from the West Virginia University swimming and diving program to qualify for the Olympics ... he will also be the first Mountaineer to represent the U.S. in swimming at the Olympics.

This Week in Tennis: West Virginia will play host to Cleveland State and Radford on Saturday, Feb. 10 ... the Mountaineers will face Cleveland State at 10 a.m. ET and Radford at 3 p.m. ... both matches will take place at Summit Tennis Academy in Morgantown.

Last Week in Tennis: WVU defeated Indiana, 5-2, on Feb. 2, and lost to VCU, 4-3, on Feb. 3, at Summit Tennis Academy.

Notes: Freshman Maya Bordereau and redshirt sophomore Maja Dodik have been dominant as a pair this season, going 5-0 in doubles play ... Bordereau has been tremendous in singles play as she is 5-1 this season ... graduate student Love-Star Alexis is tied with Bordereau for most wins on the team in singles play (five) as she is also 5-1 overall ... junior Tatiana Lipatova is 3-0 in singles ... junior Momoko Nagato is 4-1 in singles ... West Virginia is 26-10 in singles as a team this season.

This Week in Indoor Track & Field: West Virginia will send split squads on Friday, Feb. 9, and Saturday, Feb. 10, to the Marshall Invitational in Huntington, W. Va., and the David Hemery Valentine Invitational in Boston, Mass.

Last Week in Indoor Track & Field: West Virginia competed at the Sykes and Sabock Challenge on Feb. 3, at the Multi-Sport Facility & Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track in University Park, Pa. … the team was led by redshirt senior Sarah Tait who finished second in the women's mile with a time of 4:35.55, placing herself third on the program list … redshirt junior Cassandra Williamson secured the second-place spot on the all-time list in the women's 800 meters with a time of 2:05.83 … freshman Kishay Rowe finished fourth in the women's 500 meters with a 1:13.54 finish, placing her third on the all-time list … in the field, the team was led by redshirt freshman Annishka McDonald who finished first in the women's high jump at the 1.73-meter mark … freshman Sophia Ludwig finished sixth in the triple jump, leaping for 11.78 meters.

Notes: After collecting Big 12 weekly honors on Jan. 31, senior Ceili McCabe ranks first in the conference in the women's mile and first in the Mid-Atlantic Regional rankings.

This Week in Gymnastics: West Virginia completes its three-meet road swing with a trip to Bowling Green for its first quad meet of the season … joining the Mountaineers at BGSU will be Eastern Michigan and Fisk … competition inside the Stroh Center in Bowling Green, Ohio, is slated for 1 p.m. ET on Feb. 11.

Last Week in Gymnastics: WVU fell to BYU, 196.475-193.5, in its Big 12 Conference opener inside the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah, on Feb. 2 … the Mountaineers (3-4, 0-1 Big 12) were forced to overcome obstacles throughout the meet, with their highest event score of the night coming on floor exercise with a 48.95 … West Virginia added scores of 48.075 on vault, 48.225 on the uneven bars and 48.25 on balance beam … a season-high 9.85 from senior Kiana Lewis paced the vault lineup, and freshman Amber Lowe led the bars squad with a 9.725 … freshman Julia Brown's 9.75 was the squad's top score on beam, and a 9.825 from Lewis paced the floor rotation.

Notes: After making her career debut on beam, junior Brooke Alban tallied her first career performance in the all-around … scoring a 38.725, she took first place in the final event standings … elsewhere, Lewis tied for first place on vault … 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 … fifth-year senior Abbie Pierson returns for her fifth season of competition at West Virginia, as she leads the team with 52 meets competed in her career.

This Week in Wrestling: West Virginia does not compete this week.

Last Week in Wrestling: No. 17 WVU fell to both No. 4 Iowa State (30-6) and No. 18 Northern Iowa (26-12) in its final road trip of the regular season … in the first battle against ISU, redshirt sophomore Jordan Titus, ranked No. 11 in the country at 141 pounds, cut the deficit in half with a 11-3 major decision over Sam Hrabovsky after Iowa State took the first two matches (8-4) … four bouts later, redshirt juniors Dennis Robin and Austin Cooley collected back-to-back wins at 184 pounds and 197 pounds, respectively ... Robin claimed a 15-5 major decision over Tate Naaktgeboren, while Cooley captured a 10-4 decision over No. 29 Julien Broderson to round out the night … following the loss to the Cyclones, the Mountaineers dropped its final road and Big 12 dual to the Panthers of UNI … junior Jett Strickenberger gave West Virginia an early 3-0 lead after scoring a 9-6 decision over No. 28 Trever Anderson in the opening bout at 125 pounds … after a pair of bonus-point victories by UNI in the next two matches at 133 and 141, true freshman Ty Watters blanked Cael Rahnavardi for a 8-0 major decision at 149 pounds to pull the Mountaineers to within two (9-7) … senior Peyton Hall added a 21-5 tech. fall at 165 pounds to tie the dual up at 12-12, before the Panthers closed out the day on a 14-0 run to seal the win … this also marked junior Tristan Kemp's first dual action of his college career for West Virginia at heavyweight and freshman Mason Mill's debut in the starting lineup as well.

Notes: WVU stands at 9-5 overall and 2-5 in the Big 12 … eight members of the squad appeared in the first NCAA coaches' ranking for the 2024 Division I Wrestling Championships, including No. 31 Jett Strickenberger (125), No. 10 Jordan Titus (141), No. 7 Ty Watters (149), No. 31 Caleb Dowling (157), No. 9 Peyton Hall (165), No. 15 Brody Conley (174), No. 29 Dennis Robin (184) and No. 31 Michael Wolfgram (HWT) … this is the first of four rankings to determine the 330 wrestlers across 10 weight classes who will clash for a spot on the podium from March 21-23 at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.

This Week in Golf: The Mountaineers are off and will return to competition at the Gators Invitational on Feb. 17-18, at the Mark Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville, Fla.

Last Week in Golf: The team shot 27-under-par for the second best 54-hole score in school history in its first tournament of the spring at The N.I.T. in Tucson, Ariz. on Jan. 29-30 … WVU's 27-under-par in the tournament was one shot off the school record that was set at the Lake Las Vegas Intercollegiate in 2022 … in the third round on Jan. 30, West Virginia shot 14-under-par, the second-lowest round in school history … in Las Vegas in 2022, WVU shot a school record 17-under-par in the third round … the Mountaineers posted rounds of 282-281-274=837 to finish tied for seventh place in the 18-team field … WVU's total of 837 ties for the fifth-best total score in school history … West Virginia tied with No. 36 SMU and No. 51 Fresno State … the Mountaineers finished ahead of San Diego, No. 84 Saint Mary's, Santa Clara, No. 38 Loyola Marymount, Wyoming, No. 69 Iowa State, New Mexico State, No. 49 TCU and No. 59 Stanford … sophomore Kaleb Wilson led the way for the Mountaineers, tying for 15th place at 11-under-par … Wilson shot 70-68-67=205 for his best score at WVU … his final round 67 was a career-best round at WVU … junior Max Green tied for 33rd at 6-under-par with rounds of 71-68-71=210 … senior Jackson Davenport posted rounds of 70-73-69=212 to finish tied for 46th at 4-under-par … junior Todd Duncan was 1-under-par with rounds of 75-72-68=215, and senior Oli Ménard was 2-over-par with rounds of 71-77-70=218 … four West Virginia University golfers wrapped up play at the Thomas Sharkey Individual Collegiate in Statesboro, Ga., on Feb. 3-4 … fifth-year senior Trent Tipton finished in 14th place with rounds of 75-68-75=218 (+2) … freshman Harrison Thompson tied for 27th place with rounds of 75-74-74=223 (+7), while senior Will Stakel tied for 29th place with rounds of 74-75-75=224 (+8) … junior Pierce Grieve shot 81-74-72=227 (+11).