Mountain State Times

Tucker and Vanderheyden Named Student-Athletes of the Week

enior Mary Tucker of the WVU rifle team and junior Mikenna Vanderheyden of the WVU track and field team have been named the WVU student-athletes of the week presented by University Apartments after shooting a perfect 600 in air rifle and a record setting 600-meter performance, respectively.
 
Tucker shot a 600 in air rifle to help lift the Mountanieers to victory in their NCAA Qualifying Match against Virginia Military Institute. Her performance marked the third perfect relay of her career.
 
Vanderheyden crossed the finish line in the 600-meter at the Penn State Tune Up with a time of 1:31.81. Her performance also is good enough for her personal best. The 600-meter program record was previously set by sophomore Cassandra Williamson earlier this season.
 
This Week in Women's Basketball: WVU (16-9, 7-7 Big 12) is set for two games this week … West Virginia opens the week on Wednesday, Feb. 22, as it travels to Lubbock, Texas to take on Texas Tech … Wednesday's contest against the Red Raiders is set for 8 p.m. ET, and will be broadcast on Big 12 Now … the Mountaineers close out the week at home on Saturday, Feb. 25, where they will take on Kansas State … Saturday's contest against the Wildcats is set for 6 p.m., inside the WVU Coliseum and will be broadcast on Big 12 Now.
 
Last Week in Women's Basketball: West Virginia started the week with a home win before falling on the road… WVU opened the week with a win over Kansas 62-60 at the WVU Coliseum on Feb. 15, before falling to No. 17/22 Texas on Feb. 19… fifth-year senior guard Madisen Smith led the WVU offense for the week, averaging 14.5 points per game as her eight 3-point field goals were the most in the Big 12… Smith and redshirt sophomore guard Kyah Watson led the Mountaineers in assists with 3.5 per game… redshirt sophomore forward Isis Beh recorded four steals on the week to lead WVU while her 10 rebounds also paced the Mountaineers.
 
Notes: Smith made her 131st career start against Texas, moving into a tie for second in program history with Linda Stepney (2012-15)… Smith also surpassed her 500th career assist, 400 career field goals made and 300 career rebounds in the win over Kansas…  sophomore guard JJ Quinerly led WVU in scoring for the 12th time this season in the loss to Texas while recording 10+ points for the 20th time … WVU is 17-5 all-time against Texas Tech and is 17-7 all-time against Kansas State.
 
This Week in Wrestling: West Virginia is off this week.
 
Last Week in Wrestling: The Mountaineers earned a pair of dual victories over Clarion on Feb. 17 and Lock Haven on Feb. 19 ...  With the team score tied heading into the final match of the dual, redshirt junior Michael Wolfgram scored a pin at heavyweight to lift WVU to a 24-18 victory over Clarion… WVU responded with an 18-0 run after Clarion took a 9-0 lead to open the contest by winning the first two matches at 125 and 133 pounds … against LHU, redshirt senior Alex Hornfeck's 13-0 major decision over Ashton Eyler sparked West Virginia to a 34-9 win over Lock Haven … Hornfeck's dominance at 157 pounds kick-started a 25-0 run in which West Virginia won six straight to end the dual ... the redshirt senior delivered a takedown in the first period and then pulled off a reversal and scored a four-point nearfall by leaning back to put Eyler's shoulders to the mat in the second period ... he added four more points on a takedown-two-point nearfall combination to seal the bonus-point win in his final regular-season match for the Mountaineers … three bouts later, redshirt junior Anthony Carman came back from as much as a four-point deficit to claim a 9-5 decision over LHU's Colin Fegley at 184 pounds ... down 4-1 entering the third period, Carman pulled off a reversal to get within one ... Fegley escaped to take a two-point lead with a minute remaining in the bout, before Carman fought through the Bald Eagle holding on to his right leg to secure his first takedown of the match and force a 5-5 tie at the 27-second mark ... like Hornfeck, the Glen Dale, West Virginia, native used his leverage by leaning back to gain four points via a nearfall to seal the win … redshirt freshman Jordan Titus (141), redshirt sophomore Austin Cooley (197), and redshirt junior Michael Wolfgram (HWT) combined for nine points off three decisions on top of outscoring their opponents 22-7. 
 
Notes: The Mountaineers' end their regular season with a 10-5 record and 2-5 against the Big 12 … with the win over Lock Haven, the Mountaineers match the 1972 squad as the only other team to finish 10-5 in program history, as well as join the 1963, 1982, 1987 and 1988 squads as the sixth team to conclude its regular season with 10 dual wins … head coach Tim Flynn earned his 254th win against LHU to pass Ron Gray, who registered a combined 253 wins coaching at Kent State and Franklin & Marshall from 1968-1996, to move into sole possession of 37th place among the all-time winningest Division I wrestling coaches … 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 … the list of Mountaineers included fifth-year senior Killian Cardinale (No. 6 – 125), junior Peyton Hall (No. 11 - – 165), redshirt junior Michael Wolfgram (No. 23 – HWT), junior Sam Hillegas (No. 26 – 149), redshirt sophomore Austin Cooley (No. 28 – 197), redshirt senior Alex Hornfeck (No. 29 - 157), redshirt junior Anthony Carman (No. 29 – 18 RPI), and redshirt freshman Jordan Titus (No. 31 – 141) … senior Scott Joll rounds out the group at No. 33 within the RPI at 174 pounds … the third NCAA Coaches' Ranking is set to be released on Thursday, Feb. 23.
 
This Week in Swimming & Diving: The West Virginia University men's and women's swimming and diving teams travel to Austin, Texas, to compete in the Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championships on Feb. 22-25.
 
Last Week in Swimming & Diving: WVU was off last week.
 
Notes: The Mountaineer men's and women's swimming teams last competed against Villanova on senior day, where the women defeated the Wildcats 194-100, and the men won, 207.5-83.5 … the WVU men's and women's diving teams competed against Penn State on Feb. 4 where women collected four NCAA Zone-qualifying scores … sophomore Sarah Krusinski qualified on the 1-meter and 3-meter, and added two PR's … freshman Abigail Sullivan qualified on the 1-meter and platform … three more Mountaineer divers qualified for NCAA Zones earlier in the season, including senior Marian Tiemeier (1-meter), senior Owen Johns (1-meter, 3-meter, and platform), and sophomore Glenn Eloriaga (3-meter and platform).
 
This Week in Tennis: The West Virginia University women's tennis team (6-3, 0-0 Big 12) returns to Morgantown for a doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 25, against Youngstown State at 10 a.m., followed by Morgan State at 3 p.m.
 
Last Week in Tennis: West Virginia traveled to Blacksburg, Virginia, for a pair of matches beginning on Feb. 18 where the Mountaineers defeated Radford, 6-1, before falling to Virginia Tech, 0-4, on Feb. 19 … during doubles play against the Highlanders, sophomore Michaela Kucharova and junior Momoko Nagato won 6-0, while sophomore/senior pair Camilla Bossi and Ting-Pei Chang won 6-3, to clinch the doubles point for WVU … Bossi, Chang, Kucharova, and redshirt freshman Maja Dodik all claimed victories in two sets during singles … Nagato clinched the match for West Virginia winning, 6-3, 6-2 … sophomore Catherine Wassick suffered WVU's only loss of the day, 4-6, 0-6 … against Virginia Tech, Nagato and Kucharova claimed West Virginia's only victory of the day during doubles, 6-0 … Dodik and Wassick fell, 0-6, while Bossi and Chang also fell, 0-6, during doubles play … during singles play, Wassick, Chang, and Kucharova fell in two sets for Virginia Tech to clinch the match … Bossi, Nagato, and Dodik were unfinished in the second set.
 
Notes: Virginia Tech now holds the all-time advantage over the Mountaineers, 21-4, since the series began in 1983 … WVU is set to face-off against Morgan State for the first time since 2004, when West Virginia won 6-0 … during last year's competition, WVU defeated Youngstown State, 5-2 … the Mountaineers lead the all-time series against the Penguins, 5-0.
 
This Week in Track and Field: The West Virginia University track and field team begins postseason competition at the Big 12 Indoor Championships hosted by Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.
 
Last Week in Track and Field: The WVU track and field team wrapped up the regular season, competing at the Penn State Tune Up in University Park, Pennsylvania … junior Mikenna Vanderheyden crossed the finish line in the 600-meter at 1:31.81, setting a program record and a personal best … the distance medley relay team consisting of redshirt senior Mikaela Lucki, senior Tessa Constantine, sophomore Cassandra Williamson and sophomore Ceili McCabe won the race with a time of 11:00.51.
 
Notes: Williamson previously set the program record for the 600-meter earlier this season and remains at second on the school's all-time list … the distance medley relay team set the program record earlier season.
 
This Week in Rifle: The No. 3 West Virginia University rifle team hosts the Great America Rifle Conference Championships in the WVU Shell Building on Friday, Feb. 24 and Saturday, Feb. 25.
 
Last Week in Rifle: The Mountaineers traveled to Lexington, Virginia to face off against Virginia Military Institute on Feb. 18 … the Mountaineers defeated VMI 4741-4564 … West Virginia claimed victory in air rifle 2387-2322 and won smallbore 2354-2342 … senior Mary Tucker shot a perfect 600 in air rifle … Saturday marked the third perfect relay of her career.
 
Notes: West Virginia qualified for the National Championship after defeating VMI … WVU continues to hold the third highest aggregate average with 4732.286 points … The Mountaineers are also third in air rifle average (2382.429) and smallbore average (2349.857) … Tucker continues to lead the nation in aggregate average 1190.637 points per match … the Sarasota, Florida, native is second in the NCAA in air rifle average (598.273) and second in smallbore average (592.364).
 
This Week in Gymnastics: The Mountaineers head back on the road, competing in their first double weekend of the season … first up, WVU travels to Norman, Oklahoma, to take on Big 12 Conference foe No. 1 Oklahoma on Friday, Feb. 24 … action inside the Lloyd Noble Center is tabbed for 7:45 p.m. ET … West Virginia then makes the trek to Denton, Texas, to compete against Texas Woman's on Sunday, Feb. 26 … competition inside TWU's Kitty Magee Arena is set for 2 p.m. ET.
 
Last Week in Gymnastics: WVU posted a season-best team score to top Bowling Green, 196.575-194.8, inside the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown on Feb. 19 … WVU's floor lineup erupted for a season-best 49.575, with all six gymnasts posting a 9.9 or higher for the first time this season … WVU topped Bowling Green on every event Sunday afternoon, including 49.2-48.925 on vault, 48.875-48.25 on uneven bars, 48.925-48.575 on balance beam and 49.575-49.05 on floor exercise … the vault lineup was led by a career-best 9.875 from freshman Emma Wehry, who finished second in the final event standings … sophomore Brooke Alban led the way on bars with a 9.85, winning the bars title outright … senior Kianna Yancey paced the beam rotation with a 9.85, earning first place … the Mountaineers then excelled on floor, with senior Emily Holmes-Hackerd leading the way with an event-winning and career-best 9.95 … Yancey was second with a 9.925, and fifth-year senior Kendra Combs, senior Abbie Pierson and juniors Kiana Lewis and Ellen Collins finished in a tie for third place with matching 9.9s … Yancey was the lone Mountaineer competitor on the all-around, recording a career-best 39.4 total on all four events to top the all-around podium.
 
Notes: The Mountaineers' floor total was the team's highest on the event since March 6, 2016, when the lineup also scored a 49.575 … all six gymnasts earned new season highs on the event, while four either met or set a career-best score … WVU's 196.575 meet total is the squad's highest since March 19, 2022, while it also ties for the 13th-best team score in program history … West Virginia's 49.2 on vault was a season best, as well as the squad's highest vault score since Jan. 12, 2019 … Yancey's 39.4 all-around total was WVU's highest since Feb. 21, 2022, as she became the 13th gymnast in program history to reach the total on the all-around, as well as the first since Feb. 18, 2018 … Collins' third-place finish on floor marked her first career podium finish … the Mountaineers sit in a tie for No. 23 on floor exercise in this week's Road to Nationals rankings … West Virginia has now been ranked in the Road to Nationals floor rankings for 26 consecutive weeks, dating back to Jan. 25, 2021.
 
This Week in Golf: The Mountaineers will travel to Puerto Rico to compete in the Dorado Beach Collegiate at TPC Dorado Beach from Sunday-Tuesday.
 
Last Week in Golf: WVU has been idle since competing at the Gators Invitational on Feb. 11-12.
 
This Week in Baseball: West Virginia hits the road once again this week, playing Maryland in College Park, for a Tuesday midweek at 4 p.m. ET before heading to Tucson, Arizona, to take on Arizona for a three-game series … The Mountaineers will also play an exhibition game against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Scottsdale, on Monday night at 8:40 p.m.
 
Last Week in Baseball: WVU opened up the 2023 season on Feb. 17-19, in Statesboro, Georgia, against Georgia Southern … the Eagles took the first two games of the series by scores of 4-3 and 6-2, respectively, before the Mountaineers salvaged the final game with a 13-4 victory.
 
Notes: Junior LHP Ben Hampton got the start on Friday night and struck eight batters in 6.0 innings while allowing just one earned run on one hit … his eight strikeouts were the most by a Big 12 pitcher this weekend … junior Landon Wallace got off to an exciting start on Friday, hitting a triple before converting a straight steal of home … Wallace, redshirt-senior Caleb McNeely, and junior Braden Barry each hit home runs in Sunday's 13- 4 victory … senior LHP Jake Carr appeared in all three games to face Noah Ledford, the Sun Belt Preseason Player of the Year and got him to hit into a double play on Saturday before striking him out with the bases loaded on Sunday. 

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