Tucker Named Student-Athlete of the Week

Mary Tucker at 2024 NCAA Rifle Championship

March 11, 2024 11:57 AM | Baseball, General, Golf, Men's Swimming & Diving, Rifle, Gymnastics, Women's Swimming & Diving, Tennis, Track & Field, Wrestling

VSR March 11, 2024

By: WVU Athletics Communications

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Following her performance at the 2024 NCAA Division I Rifle National Championship, senior Mary Tucker of the West Virginia Rifle team has been named the WVU Student-Athlete of the Week, presented by University Apartments.

Tucker claimed the individual smallbore national title and was named the Most Outstanding Performer at the championship. Tucker led all competitors with a total aggregate score of 1193. Tucker placed third in the air rifle competition as WVU's junior Gavin Barnick won the discipline.

Tucker and Barnick became the first shooters for West Virginia to win both disciplines at the national championships since 2017. It also marked the sixth time West Virginia has had two shooters claim individual titles at the same national championships.

As a team, West Virginia placed second with a total aggregate score of 4729.

This Week in Women's Basketball: The Mountaineers do not compete … West Virginia will await the NCAA Tournament Selection Show on Sunday, March 17, which will air on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET.

Last Week in Women's Basketball: West Virginia competed at the 2024 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship last week, advancing to the quarterfinals as the No. 6 seed in the tournament … WVU opened play in the second round, defeating No. 11 seed Cincinnati, 70-55, on March 8 … the Mountaineers then fell to No. 3 seed Kansas State the following day in a close, 65-62, result.

Notes: The Mountaineers entered the Big 12 Championship as the No. 6 seed, marking the fourth time WVU had earned the seed … WVU is 5-3 all-time as the No. 6 seed and 12-10 all-time in tournament play.

This Week in Baseball: West Virginia plays four games this week, beginning with a neutral site game against Marshall at GoMart Ballpark in Charleston on Tuesday, March 12 … first pitch against the Thundering Herd is set for 6 p.m. ET … the Mountaineers will return home for their final non-conference series of the season against Ohio State this weekend … first pitch on Friday, March 15, is set for 6:30 p.m., Saturday for 4 p.m., and Sunday for 1 p.m.

Last Week in Baseball: The Mountaineers won its first Big 12 series of the season against BYU, taking two of three games to go to 9-7 on the season … WVU won the opener on March 7, 10-4, behind eight strong innings from junior Aidan Major … sophomore Ellis Garcia hit his first home run of the season in the victory … the Cougars won the first game of a doubleheader on March 8, 4-1, before West Virginia came back to win the nightcap, 2-0 … senior Derek Clark made his season debut on the mound and threw 5.0 scoreless innings with seven strikeouts … sophomore Robby Porco, sophomore Gavin Van Kempen and graduate student Hambleton Oliver tossed four scoreless innings in relief.

Notes: West Virginia has now won its first Big 12 series of the season for the fourth straight year … it was the first time the Mountaineers have ever played a team from Utah … the Mountaineers already have two shutouts on the season through the first 16 games … for the second straight start, Major set a new career-high in innings pitched with 8.0 … freshman Spencer Barnett hit his first collegiate home run in game two of the series … freshman Michael Perazza collected his first-career hit on Friday before tallying two hits in the final game of the series … sophomore Sam White hit .455 in the three-game series with two RBI and two runs scored… the Mountaineer pitching staff struck out 38 batters over the course of the three games, the most since striking out 40 against Oklahoma in 2021.

This Week in Rifle: The season concluded with the 2024 NCAA Division I Rifle National Championship.

Last Week in Rifle: West Virginia finished in second place at the 2024 NCAA Rifle National Championship … WVU posted a score of 4729 with marks of 2353 in smallbore and 2376 in air rifle … junior Gavin Barnick won the air rifle individual national title as senior Mary Tucker claimed the smallbore individual title … Tucker was also named the Most Outstanding Performer at the event.

Notes: WVU defeated 12 teams ranked inside the top 16 of the CRCA Poll and is a perfect 13-0 overall and 6-0 in the Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) … 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.

Last Week in Wrestling: True freshman Ty Watters claimed the 149-pound championship and six others landed on the podium to lead the West Virginia University wrestling team to one of its greatest overall performances at the Big 12 Championship … West Virginia scored 97.5 points to finish sixth in the overall team standing at the annual two-day showcase … it marked the team's highest point total since joining the Big 12 as well as matched the program's best finish at the postseason spectacle since the conference expanded from four schools to 10 in 2016 (6th – 65.5 team points) … No. 3 seed Watters battled No. 4 seed Jordan Williams of Oklahoma State, who escaped with a 8-7 victory over No. 1 seed Casey Swiderski of Iowa State in the closing minute of the semifinal bout on March 9 … the true freshman started the championship bout by securing the first takedown in less than minute and then added another one after pulling off an escape to hold a 7-0 lead early in the second period … he eventually came away with the victory over Williams due to an injury default … six other Mountaineers solidified their spot on the podium as well. Junior Jett Strickenberger (125) claimed third, senior Peyton Hall (165) finished fourth, redshirt freshman Brody Conley earned fifth, redshirt freshman Jordan Titus (141) and redshirt senior Michael Wolfgram both finished sixth, and redshirt junior Dennis Robin (184) completed the day in seventh.

Notes: The Mountaineers matched the 2016 and 2022 squads for the most wrestlers on the Big 12 podium in WVU history with seven … Watters joins former West Virginia standouts Dylan Cottrell (2017), Noah Adams (2020) and Killian Cardinale (2022) as the fourth Mountaineer to reach the top of the Big 12 since WVU moved to the conference in 2012 and third to do it during head coach Tim Flynn's tenure … he also became the first true freshman as well as the first Mountaineer at 149 pounds to secure a Big 12 championship … Watters, Strickenberger, Hall and Conley have all clinched a trip to the NCAA Championships in Kansas City, while Titus, Robin and Wolfgram look forward with anticipation for the NCAA committee's announcement of who will be awarded one of the remaining 47 at-large bids on Tuesday, March 12 … final brackets and seeding are set to be announced on Wednesday, March 13, via NCAA.com at 8 p.m. ET … WVU concluded the regular season 10-5 for the second year in a row and marked the first time Mountaineer wrestling has claimed double-digit wins in back-to-back seasons since 1990 and 1991.

This Week in Swimming and Diving: Five divers from the West Virginia University men's and women's swimming and diving teams will compete at the 2024 NCAA Zone A Diving Championships from March 11-13 at DeNunzio Pool in Princeton, New Jersey.

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

Notes: The five divers who will compete at the zone diving championships include junior Glenn Eloriaga, freshman Owen Recker, sophomore Abigail Sullivan, junior Sarah Krusinski and senior Sara Haggerty ... Recker, Sullivan and Krusinski will each compete in the 1-meter, 3-meter and platform events ... Eloriaga will compete in the 3-meter and platform ... Haggerty will compete in the platform event ... sophomore Mia Cheatwood qualified to compete in the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke events at the 2024 NCAA Division I Women's Swimming and Diving National Championships ... the championships will take place at Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens, Ga., from March 20-23.

This Week in Tennis: West Virginia will play host to Cincinnati on Friday, March 15, at 1 p.m. ET in Morgantown.

Last Week in Tennis: West Virginia lost both road conference matches ... the Mountaineers fell to No. 7 Texas, 7-0, in Austin, Texas, on March 8, and lost to No. 20 Oklahoma, 6-1, in Norman, Oklahoma, on March 10.

Notes: West Virginia's 11-1 record through 12 matches was its best record to start the season since 1986 when the team began 12-0 ... junior Tatiana Lipatova won the first match in singles play of the season for the Mountaineers in Big 12 play against Oklahoma with a 6-4, 6-4 win ... two players on the team lead the way with double-digit wins in singles: senior Momoko Nagato (10-4) and redshirt sophomore Maja Dodik (10-4) ... West Virginia is 50-36 in singles and 22-18 in doubles overall this season.

This week in Indoor Track & Field: West Virginia will open then 2024 outdoor season at the USF Alumni Invitational on March 15-16, at the USF Track and Field Stadium in Tampa, Florida.

Last Week in Indoor Track & Field: Redshirt junior Ceili McCabe set a program record and personal best time in the women's mile on March 9, at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship in Boston, Massachusetts … McCabe ran for a time of 4:29.26 to place sixth.

Notes: McCabe claimed first team All-America honors in her first appearance in the event on the championship level.

This Week in Gymnastics: WVU prepares to cap the regular season with a trip to Minneapolis, Minnesota, for a quad meet against Minnesota, Northern Illinois and Air Force on Sunday, March 17 ... the meet is slated for 3 p.m. ET, inside U of M's Maturi Pavilion.

Last Week in Gymnastics: West Virginia earned a 195.55-195.325 win over Rutgers inside the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown on Senior Day on March 10 … the Mountaineers claimed first place after posting back-to-back 49.0+ scores on balance beam and floor exercise to close the meet … WVU recorded scores of 48.725 on vault, 48.5 on the uneven bars, 49.1 on beam and 49.225 on floor … in the all-around, fifth-year senior Abbie Pierson tallied a 39.125 total on all four events to finish in first place in the final standings … she also earned event wins on vault (9.8) and floor (9.9) … senior Kiana Lewis shared the vault title with Pierson … on bars, freshman Amber Lowe finished in second (9.775), followed by junior Anna Leigh in third (9.75) … freshman Julia Brown earned her first career event win on beam (9.875), while sophomore Emma Wehry finished behind her in third (9.825) … four Mountaineers finished on the floor podium, with Pierson taking first, Lowe coming in second and Lewis and Brown tying for third.

Notes: The Mountaineers' team totals on beam and floor marked their second 49.0+ beam score and sixth on floor this season … Brown earned new career-high scores on beam and floor against Rutgers … she also added her first two podium finishes of her career … 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 58 meets competed in her career … with the total, she is now tied for No. 2 in program history in career meets competed … the Kensington, Pennsylvania, native also cracked the program's top 10 in career points, ranking No. 9 with over 1,800 career points … WVU sits at No. 51 nationally in this week's Road to Nationals rankings with a National Qualifying Score (NQS) of 195.27.

This Week in Golf: The golf team will return to action March 15-16, at the Schenkel Invitational in Statesboro, Georgia … four other individuals will compete March 17-19, at the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate in Cookeville, Tennessee.

Last Week in Golf: Did not compete.