MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – After winning the women's 10,000 meter and 3,000-meter steeplechase Big 12 Championships, freshman
Joy Naukot and graduate student
Sarah Tait have been named the WVU Student-Athletes of the Week, presented by University Apartments, respectively.
With a time of 33:30.84, Naukot becomes the second Mountaineer in program history to win the 10,000 meters at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships. The freshman joins alumnae Kaitlyn Gillespie, who took the conference title in 2015 with a time of 33:45.56.
Tait clinched the steeplechase conference championship with a meet record time of 9:44.72. With the time, she knocks down a record that has been held since 2010, by Colorado's Emma Coburn.
The Mountaineers await seeding for the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds, which will be held May 28-31
st by North Florida at Visit Jax Track at Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida.
This Week in Baseball: West Virginia heads to the Big 12 Tournament in Arlington, Texas ... as the No. 1 seed, the Mountaineers will open play on Thursday, May 22, against the winner of No. 8 Cincinnati and No. 9 Texas Tech ... first pitch from Globe Life Field on Thursday is set for 1:30 p.m. ET.
Last Week in Baseball: The Mountaineers clinched the Big 12 regular season championship ... WVU went 0-3 on the week, losing all three games to Kansas ... the Mountaineers fell on Thursday, 3-0, despite getting 8.0 strong innings from redshirt senior
Griffin Kirn who struck out 10 while allowing just two runs ... in game two, WVU fell, 8-5 ... senior
Kyle West had four hits including his ninth home run of the season ... junior
Ellis Garcia hit his first home run of the season in the game ... in game three, the Jayhawks completed the sweep with a 7-0 win ... graduate student
Jack Kartsonas allowed one run with eight strikeouts in 7.0 innings.
Notes: West Virginia earned its second Big 12 title in three years and first outright championship ... it is the 21st overall conference title and 16th regular season title in program history ... the Mountaineers went 5-1 against Texas Tech and Cincinnati this season, their two possible opponents in Thursday's contest ... WVU celebrated Senior Day on Saturday with
Tyler Hutson,
Jack Kartsonas,
Grant Hussey,
Jace Rinehart,
Griffin Kirn, and
Kyle West being recognized.
This week in Track and Field: West Virginia finished 13
th out of 16 teams at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships on May 15-17, at Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence, Kansas … WVU returns home with two Big 12 Champions in Naukot and Tait … Naukot clinched the Big 12 title in the women's 10,000 meters on Thursday night, with a time of 33:30.84 … Tait went on to take the 3,000-meter steeplechase win on Friday, notching a meet record time of 9:44.72.
Last week in Track and Field: The Mountaineers are off.
Notes: Naukot ranks No. 8 nationally in the 10,000 meters, as well as No. 1 in the Big 12 conference and No. 2 in the Mid-Atlantic Region … Tait checks in at No. 7 nationally in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, as well as No. 34 in the 5,000 meters and No. 38 in the 1,500 meters … additionally, freshman
Naomi Kemboi ranks No. 32 nationally in the 5,000 meters.
Last Week in Rowing: West Virginia finished sixth at the Big 12 Championship on Sunday, May 18, in Sarasota, Florida.
Last Week in Golf: The golf team finished the 2024-25 season with a Top 5 finish at the
GOLFWEEK National Golf Invitational (NGI) Championship at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club in Maricopa, Arizona … the Mountaineers shot Even par for the tournament with rounds of 287-281-296=864 to finish in fifth place … freshman
Ryan Leach paced the Mountaineers with a ninth-place finish after shooting 73-67-73=213 (-3) …
Westy McCabe posted a Top 15 finish, tying for 12
th place with rounds of 70-72-73=215 (-1) …
Nick Turowski and
Harrison Thompson tied for 28
th place at +3 … Turowski recorded rounds of 71-71-73=219, while Thompson was 71-71-77=219 …
Carson Kammann finished +11 with rounds of 73-74-80=227 … junior golfer
Kaleb Wilson completed play earlier in the week at the NCAA Regional at Poplar Grove Golf Course in Amherst, Virginia … Wilson shot rounds of 71-76-74=211 and finished tied for 55th place … Wilson, a native of Knoxville, Tennessee, became the second NCAA individual qualifier in school history … in 2021, Mark Goetz became the first WVU golfer to qualify for an NCAA Regional and finished second … last year, Wilson competed at the NCAA Championship as part of WVU's team qualification … last fall, Wilson won his first collegiate tournament at the Nemacolin Collegiate Invitational and was the only golfer to shoot under par in all three rounds (71-68-70=209) to finish -7.