May 7, 2008
 Ashley Banks" border="1" height="150" width="100"> |  Darris Nichols" border="1" height="150" width="100"> |  |
| Banks | Nichols | Schmitt |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Women’s soccer captain Ashley Banks, men’s basketball captain Darris Nichols and football captain Owen Schmitt have won the 2008 Fred Schaus Captain’s Award, presented annually to West Virginia University’s most outstanding varsity team captains.
The winner must display outstanding sportsmanship and leadership, representing WVU well in all aspects. Winners are selected by the WVU Athletic Council. The council voted this year to annually award the top male and female captains. This year, there was a tie in voting for the men’s captaincy.
Banks, a four-year letterwinner and 2007 team captain, guided the Mountaineers to a BIG EAST championship and a berth in the NCAA tournament’s Elite Eight in her senior season. The Mountaineers posted an 18-5-2 record, tying the school’s mark for most wins in a season. In her senior campaign, the Annandale, Va., native led WVU with 38 points and 15 goals en route to being named the BIG EAST’s Offensive Player of the Year and a first-team all-conference selection. The Hermann Trophy semifinalist and NSCAA third team All-American will graduate with a degree in forensic science and was named an ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American and NSCAA Scholar All-American. A member of the WVU Athletic Director’s Academic Honor Roll and a BIG EAST Academic All-Star, Banks is involved in several community service initiatives such as youth soccer, West Virginia ODP, soccer school of excellence and also volunteers as a fundraiser for the Betty Puskar Breast Care Center.
Nichols, a two-time team captain and native of Radford, Va., won the 2008 BIG EAST Sportsmanship Award and appeared in a school record 141 consecutive games. His 141 games played also set a new school standard as he started 73-consecutive games at point guard during his junior and senior seasons. He also set an NCAA record for most games played without fouling out (141). Nichols guided WVU to a 99-42 record during his career and the 2005 Elite Eight, 2006 Sweet 16, 2007 NIT championship and 2008 Sweet 16. He posted 399 assists in 3,528 career minutes during his career. He also tallied 993 career points. A graduate in sociology, Nichols is a member of the WVU Athletic Director’s Academic Honor Roll and a BIG EAST Academic All Star. During his career, he also volunteered with Special Olympics, participated in Read Aloud programs at area schools and visited patients at area hospitals.
Schmitt, a Fairfax, Va., native and one of the school’s all-time most-recognized and inspirational football players, guided WVU to three straight New Year’s Day bowl victories, including wins over Georgia in the 2006 Sugar Bowl and Oklahoma in the 2008 Fiesta Bowl. Schmitt finished his career with 1,003 rushing yards, scoring 13 total touchdowns. Schmitt helped WVU remain in the nation’s Top 10 in each of the last three seasons, which included the school’s best three-year record at 33-5 since 2005. The WVU Athletic Director’s Academic Honor Roll member graduated in December, 2007, with a degree in athletic coaching education. Schmitt has volunteered at local schools, speaking about the importance of staying in school and avoiding alcohol and drugs. He has also visited the sick at area hospitals.
The award was started to honor the retirement of Fred Schaus, who had outstanding success as a Mountaineer basketball player, coach and athletic director. Past winners of the Fred Schaus Captain’s Award: Herbie Brooks, basketball (1989); Tammie DeAngelis, rifle (1990); Aileen Convery, swimming (1991); Ann-Marie Pfiffner, rifle (1992); Garett Smith, rifle (1993); Dean Morrison, wrestling (1994); Jean Foster, rifle (1995); Seldon Jefferson, basketball (1996); Sandy Shumate, volleyball (1996); Charles Emanuel, football (1997); Marcos Scrivner, rifle (1998); Shawn Foreman, football (1999); Jessica Nonnemacher, gymnastics (2000); Katie Barnes, soccer (2001); Kyle Kayden, football (2002); Avon Cobourne, football (2003); Merissa Sexsmith, cross country/track (2003); Grant Wiley, football (2004); Kate Bulger, basketball (2004); Rasheed Marshall, football (2005); Laura Kane, soccer (2005); J.D. Collins, basketball (2006); Susan Davis, cross country/track (2006); Jessica Czaikowski (2007); Dan Mozes (2007).May 6, 2008
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Last Friday West Virginia University and men’s basketball coach Bob Huggins announced a 10-year contract extension that will keep the veteran coach at his alma mater until his 65th birthday.
 | ||
| Bob Huggins answers questions during Friday afternoon's news conference.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo |
|
“I’m excited that we can go full steam into the future,” Huggins said last Friday afternoon. “As I’ve said before we want to win a national championship here. We want to go play in the Final Four. We want to be one of the people that year-in and year-out when they talk about people having a chance to win a national championship we want to be in that conversation.
“You can’t do that without the support of the people that you work for,” Huggins said. “We are very blessed to have people like that here.”
According to Director of Athletics Ed Pastilong, Huggins will make in the area of $1.5 million per year at the beginning of the contract with provisions to earn much more through incentives.
“We hope that he receives all of those incentives and I’m confident that he will,” Pastilong said. “I like what Bob said about a national championship.”
Huggins is one of the most successful coaches in the country. Last year he directed West Virginia to a 26-11 record, a spot in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 following wins over Arizona and Duke, and a No. 17 final ranking. It was his 22nd 20-win season and 16th NCAA Tournament appearance in a 26-year coach career that has included stops at Walsh, Akron, Cincinnati and Kansas State.
Huggins said the length of the contract was the University’s idea.
“A lot of times people will let a contract run out and I think it shows initiative on our administration,” Huggins said. “I think good employees are happy employees and when they come to you and say we want you to be here for the rest of your coaching career that means a lot. I don’t know if they could say anything that could mean more to me and my family than that.”
Pastilong said there were no provisions in the contract for facility upgrades and program improvements. West Virginia is presently raising the funds needed to construct a basketball practice facility that will benefit both men’s and women’s basketball.
 |
“I have a great deal of trust in Bobby, the University has a great deal of trust in Bobby and it’s evident that Bobby has a great deal of trust in his University. We’re going to work together to get that project done as quickly as we possibly can,” Pastilong said. “We’ve already had a great deal of interest from donors who have the ability to get that project started.”
Huggins is pleased with the support his program has received from the moment he stepped onto campus.
“I got here and sat and talked to Eddie and he’s been very much on board,” Huggins said. “We needed a new scoreboard and Eddie had plans to get a new scoreboard before I got here. We need a practice facility. When I talked about that Eddie already knew where he wanted to put it.
“We’re not doing anything that Eddie didn’t already have in the works. I didn’t come in here and say, Eddie we don’t have this and we don’t have that,” Huggins said. “The guy has been our athletic director since I played here. He knows what’s going on.”
“We are working on that practice facility full blast,” Pastilong added. “Our Mountaineer Athletic Club, our foundation, Bobby, people that associate with Bobby and our entire athletic department – we’re focusing on raising funds for that particular structure. We think that structure is very important to Bobby and to Mike Carey preparing our basketball teams. We also think that structure is very important toward reducing the use of the Coliseum floor for other sports. That’s our No. 1 focus.”
Pastilong is happy with the agreement in place.
“We structured this to Bobby’s liking and to what was our liking,” Pastilong noted. “This is a good marriage. Bobby is a gentleman who was a captain on our basketball team - a scholar athlete who is one of the premiere winningest active coaches right now in the country.
“He returns to his alma mater and in his first year he takes us to the Sweet 16,” Pastilong said. “He’s having an outstanding recruiting year and before us was an opportunity for him to continue that outstanding career with us and it was an opportunity for us to continue to have one of the strongest basketball programs in the country.”
Pastilong mentioned, too, that WVU’s negotiations with Huggins’s agent Richard Katz were amiable.
“Mr. Katz was very good to work with and we’re really appreciative of that,” Pastilong said.| News | Stats/Results | Schedule | Roster | Staff | Program | Game Notes | Videos |
May 4, 2008
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – St. John’s rallied in the bottom of the ninth inning with four runs, on two home runs to defeat West Virginia, 6-5, in the final game of the three-game series Sunday afternoon at Jack Kaiser Stadium in Queens, N.Y.
With WVU up 5-2, the Red Storm scored four runs, to take the lead in the bottom of the ninth frame. Paul Karmas doubled down the left field line before Gil Zayas singled to center field. Chris Anninos then hit a home run, plating Karmas and Anninos to knot the score at five, before Carlos Del Rosario hit a home run to right field to take the win.
WVU (32-14, 11-10 BIG EAST finished the day with five runs on six hits and committed two errors, while St. Johns (35-10, 16-5 BIG EAST) registered six runs on 13 hits and committed one error.
The Mountaineers were led by Jedd Gyorko who had two hits and one run, while Joe Agreste finished the day with one hit, one run and four RBIs.
WVU closing pitcher Chris Enourato (5-1) suffered the loss, his first of the season. The sophomore allowed four runs on four hits in 0.2 innings of work. Luis Monell (3-1) earned the win for the Red Storm after allowing just one hit, while striking out three, and allowed zero runs in two innings.
The Red Storm took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Del Rosario hit an RBI double to left field to plate Anninos, who walked to first.
The Mountaineers answered in the top of the fourth when Gyorko singled, advanced to second on Vince Belnome’s sacrifice bunt and reached home when Austin Markel hit an RBI single to center field to knot the score, 1-1.
St. John’s Gino Matias reached first on a WVU error and stole second in the bottom of the fifth frame. Karmas then hit an RBI single to right field to plate Matias, putting the Red Storm up, 2-1.
The Mountaineers took the lead back when Kuhn singled to right field and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Gyorko in the top of the sixth inning. Belnome and Markel both walked to load the bases before Agreste came up and hit his sixth home run of the season, putting the Mountaineers ahead, 5-2, before St. John’s ninth inning rally.
The team will next be in action on Saturday, May 10 when the Mountaineers play host to Louisville for a BIG EAST three-game series at Hawley Field. The doubleheader is set to begin at 3 p.m.
Print View 
Email
MSNsportsNET.com
May 5, 2008
MORGANTOWN, W.Va.- West Virginia University has named Chelsea Carrier its athlete of the week after the freshman won her first career BIG EAST title in the 100-meter hurdles last weekend at the 2008 BIG EAST Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Villanova, Pa.
The Buckhannon, W.Va., native finished in 13.48 seconds to edge Cincinnati senior Monica Hundley (13.57) in the event finals. Carrier’s time was a half-second improvement from her preliminary time, 13.95, which had her seeded sixth entering the 100m hurdle final.
In the indoor season, Carrier won the 60-meter hurdles at the 2008 ECAC Championships in Boston.
This Week in Track & Field
The Mountaineers return to the track on May 16-18, at the ECAC Championships in Princeton, N.J.
Last Week in Track & Field
WVU finished in eighth place with 47.50 team points at the 2008 BIG EAST Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Villanova, Pa. … Louisville won the team title with 106 points followed by Pitt (87) and Notre Dame (86) … West Virginia had one individual champion, freshman Chelsea Carrier … Carrier won her first career BIG EAST title in the 100-meter hurdles, finishing in 13.48 seconds to edge Cincinnati senior Monica Hundley (13.57) … Keri Bland finished second in the 1,500-meter finals with a time of 4:21.60 … the sophomore crossed just behind event winner Frances Koons of Villanova (4:19.41) … Koons also claimed the 5,000 meters in 16:30.13 with Georgetown’s Melissa Grelli taking second (16:36.17) and WVU’s Clara Grandt placing third in 16:43.88 … junior Karly Hamric took eighth in the 800-meter finals with a time of 2:12.31 … in the 4x800 relay, West Virginia took fifth in 9:00.99 … freshman Katelyn Williams tied for third in the high jump after clearing 1.75 meters … senior Alexis Noel triple jumped 11.79 meters to place seventh … on the first day, the Mountaineers picked up team points from pole vaulter Kristen Loughry, who tied for seventh after clearing 3.50 meters … WVU also got points from Carrier’s fourth-place finish in the heptathlon with 5,023 points and Alison Spiker’s fourth-place result in the 3,000 meter steeplechase (10:47.55).
Notes & Quotes
“I’m thrilled with the way we came out and competed this weekend. The team rallied really well after losing our captain Halimah Bashir to injury on Friday.” - Head Coach Sean Cleary
This Week in Baseball
The Mountaineers return to action this weekend when they play host to Louisville in a three-game series at Hawley Field … a doubleheader is slated to begin at 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 10, … followed by game three on Sunday, May 11, at 1 p.m.
Last Week in Baseball
WVU fell to St. John’s in all three games this past weekend in Queens, N.Y. … the Mountaineers fell 2-1 in 10 innings on Friday, 10-3 on Saturday and dropped a heartbreaker when the Red Storm scored four runs in the ninth inning to take Sunday’s game, 6-5 … freshman Jedd Gyorko led the WVU offense recording a .583 batting average and seven hits, including two doubles ... Joe Agreste led the team with four RBIs and one home run on the week ... Tuesday’s game against Maryland was postponed due to inclement weather.
Notes & Quotes
West Virginia is now 32-14 and 11-10 in BIG EAST play … third baseman Vince Belnome continues to lead WVU with 61 RBIs while Tyler Kuhn leads the team in runs (64), hits (85) and home runs (9) … Belnome, Kuhn and Jedd Gyorko are all batting above .400.
This Week in Rowing
The Mountaineers will travel to Philadelphia, Pa., on Friday, May 9, to compete in the Dad Vail Regatta on the Schuylkill River.
Last Week in Rowing
The West Virginia University rowing team traveled to Oak Ridge, Tenn., on April 27, to compete in the BIG EAST Championships on Melton Hill Lake.
The varsity eight squad finished with a time of 7:12.47 in the preliminary round of competition at the BIG EAST Championships on Sunday, April 27 ... the Mountaineers then went on to finish behind Louisville in the varsity eight petite finals with a time of 7:19.64 ... the varsity four posted a time of 8:24.60 in the preliminary round to move on to the afternoon finals … there, the Mountaineers recorded a time of 8:27.5 in the varsity four petite finals ... also competing at the BIG EAST Championships was the novice eight boat that posted a time of 7:36.31 in the preliminary rounds, but failed to qualify for the afternoon finals.
Morgantown
|
The class is led by Farmington native, WVU legend and Pro Football Hall of Fame member Sam Huff. Huff played in the 1952 North-South game.
Also selected:
-- South Charleston native and former Mountaineer Robert Alexander. Alexander was a two time Kennedy Award winner and a standout at WVU. Alexander played in the NFL with the Los Angeles Rams.
-- Charleston native and former Mountaineer Walter Easley. Easley was a Parade All-American from Stonewall Jackson High. He played at WVU and with the NFL's San Francisco 49ers.
-- Weston native Fred Wyant. The Morgantown resident is a former WVU quarterback and a long time NFL official.
-- Winfield native Mike Barber. Barber was voted Marshall University's athlete of the decade for the 1980's. Barber played in the NFL for the Bengals, 49er's and Buccaneers .
-- Wayne native Charles McKown. McKown was MVP of the 1952 North-South game. He went on to play baseball at WVU and is currently the dean of Marshall's medical school.
-- Kenny Wright is the former head football coach at Pennsboro and Ritchie County. Wright worked as director of the North-South game for 20 years.
The seven man class will be inducted during the game June 21 at Charleston's Laidley Field.
Morgantown
No comments:
Post a Comment