Army West Point Athletics
This Week In Army Athletics
January 17, 2013 | General
Jan. 17, 2013
Dear Friends,
There were several great performances to catch you up on this week. Our cadets earned a total of five Patriot League certificates for their efforts in competition.
The track & field team hosted a six-way meet over the weekend, highlighted by Lisa Junta's victory in the 5,000-meter run. Lisa's time of 17:11.17 is the second fastest in Academy history and reached the ECAC Championship qualifying standard. She was named the Patriot League Track Athlete of the Week for her efforts. On the men's side, Kevin Russell was also the league's Track Athlete of the Week after running the second-fastest mile in the conference this season (4:11.93). He reached IC4A qualifying marks in both the mile and the 4x800-meter relay.
Diver Chris Nguyen put his name in the Patriot League record book, winning his seventh Diver of the Week Award on Monday. Chris won three of the four events he participated in over the weekend to tie the conference single-season record. He has won the honor 17 times in his career.
On the hardwood, a pair of women's players received Patriot League citations. Anna Simmers was the conference Player of the Week after scoring 22 points in the team's win over Bucknell in the league opener for both school. Kelsey Minato was the Patriot League Rookie of the Week, adding 18 points in the win over the Bison.
Looking ahead, it's a big week in the Academy competition. Both basketball teams will host Navy on Sunday. The men's game tips off at noon with the women's game to follow. Tickets are still available for the doubleheader. While there is the potential for seats still to be sold on Sunday, we urge you to get your tickets today. Seats are on sale through the usual sources - by phone at 1-877-TIX-ARMY, online at www.goARMYsports.com or in person at the box office located near Gate 3 at Michie Stadium.
The gymnastic s team, fresh off a strong performance in its season opener at Penn State, will also get their chance to add an Academy victory when it travels to Air Force on Saturday.
Thank you again for all of your support of Army Athletics. To find out more about the Army A Club and how you can enhance the cadet-athlete experience, click the following link: http://www.goarmysports.com/aclub, call (845)938-2322, or email armyaclub@usma.edu.
Information on all the winter teams is below.
We appreciate all of your contributions to our success. Be well.
Go Army!
Boo
For all current information regarding Army Athletics and its 25 varsity programs, please visit www.goARMYsports.com.
Men's Basketball (7-9, 0-1 Patriot League)
• The Black Knights lost their first Patriot League game, falling at Bucknell on Saturday evening. Ella Ellis and Larry Toomey both reached double figures with 17 and 10 points, respectively.
• Ellis's 17 points made him the 12th player in Army history to reach the 1,300-point mark for their career. His total of 1,314 points ranks 12th all-time at West Point and is just 28 points shy of the Black Knights' top 10.
• Ellis is third in the Patriot League in scoring at 17.3 points per game.
• Dylan Cox was in the starting lineup for the 16th straight game at Bucknell. While Army has started at least two rookies in every game this season, Cox is the only rookie to start all 16 games. Cox leads the team in rebounds and assists, and is the Patriot League's top rebounding freshman at 5.4 rebounds per game.
• Army's plebes have accounted for more than half the Black Knights' production this season. The group has scored 51.4 percent of the team's points, 53.0 percent of its rebounds, 62.1 percent of its assists and 62.9 percent of its steals.
• The Black Knights play a pair of home games this week, hosting Lafayette on Wednesday and arch-rival Navy on Sunday, Jan. 20. The game will tip-off at noon and be broadcast live by CBS Sports Network.
Women's Basketball (12-4, 1-0 Patriot League)
• Army began conference play with a win for the ninth consecutive season by knocking Bucknell, 68-60, at West Point on Saturday afternoon. Three Black Knights scored in double figures led by Anna Simmers' 22-point showing. CowJen Hazlett notched her first double-double of the season with 14 points, 11 rebounds, while plebe Kelsey Minato added 18 points, including a 7-of-8 showing from the charity stripe.
• The Bison entered the game as the top rebounding team in the conference, but the Black Knights stepped up to the task by outrebounding Bucknell, 38-26. Army has outrebounded its opponent 11 times this season and is 9-2 when doing so.
• Simmers and Minato were recognized by the conference on Monday as the Patriot League Player and Rookie of the Week, respectively. The weekly sweep was the second of the season for the Army duo, marking the first time since 2003-04 the same pair of players swept the league's weekly award more than once in a season. Minato has been named the conference's top rookie four times this season, the most by a Black Knight since Cara Enright (USMA, 2008) was honored seven times in 2003-04.
Gymnastics (0-1)
• Army fell 447.75-404.15 in the season opener to Penn State, which finished third at last year's NCAA Championships. Firstie Garrek Hojan-Clark, this week's Army Athletic Association Athlete of the Week, tied his career-high 15.4 in taking first-place honors on pommel horse in denying the Nittany Lions from sweeping medalist honors in all six team events.
• Plebe Jesse Glenn was first in the all-around scoring with an 82.55. Glenn turned in his highest score of 14.75 on vault, which was just .45 off the winning mark. Glenn also posted Army's top scores on still rings (13.95) and high bar (13.3).
• Yearlings Alex Ganz on vault (14.2) and Connor Venrick on pommel horse (14.3) broke their career marks in those respective events, while Jeremy Cahill's 13.4 on vault was just 0.5 shy of his career mark. Cahill also turned in Army's highest score on floor exercise (13.95), and firstie team captain Ikaika Jakub was Army's top scorer on parallel bars (13.85).
• Army, ranked No. 13 in the NCAA Gymnastics preseason poll, heads to No. 11 Air Force to take on the Falcons Saturday as the Cadet West Gym.
Hockey (7-10-3, 7-5-3 AHA)
• Army is now 7-10-3 overall and 7-5-3 in Atlantic Hockey League games following a tie and loss at Air Force. The Falcons won the opener 4-1 and the teams skated to a 3-3 overtime tie on Saturday.
• CBS Sports Network carried Saturday's game live to a national audience, the third time Army has appeared on national television this season. Ben Holden, Dave Starman and Shireen Shaski were on the call. Army is 1-1-1 in those contests.
• Plebe forward Andrew O'Leary scored his first collegiate goal on Saturday, the fifth tie in the Army vs. Air Force series and the third in Colorado Springs.
• The Black Knights will return to Tate Rink Jan. 18-19 for a two-game series against RIT.
Rifle (4-2, 2-2 GARC)
• The rifle team turned in a strong performance sweeping a triangular hosted by The Citadel in its first meet of the new year. Cow Michael Matthews captured medalist honors in both disciplines, and Army set season highs in air rifle (2351) and the team composite (4664) at the Cadet Marksmanship Center on Saturday. North Carolina State finished a distant second (4584) followed by the Bulldogs (4460).
• Matthews fired a 584 in smallbore and equaled his career-high in air rifle with a 592 as Army outpointed the field in both disciplines. The Black Knights recorded a 2313 smallbore team score, which is just six points off its season-best. Matthews led a sweep of the top six places. Army claimed the top four spots in air rifle authoring a season-high 2351, which is just six points shy of the school record (2357) set in 2007.
• The Black Knights ranked No. 6 in the NCAA poll, improved to 4-2 overall and leveled their mark in the GARC (Great America Rifle Conference) to 2-2 following the win over North Caroline State.
• Army returns to action hosting No. 15 Ohio State Saturday at Tronsrue Marksmanship Center.
Men's Swimming & Diving (7-2, 2-1 Patriot League)
• Army swept Patriot League rivals Lehigh and Bucknell on the road last weekend.
• Plebe Chris Szekely won five individual events over the course of the weekend to lead the Black Knights in the pool.
• Firstie Chris Nguyen chipped in three wins off the boards to pace Army in the diving events. Nguyen was named the Patriot League Diver of the Week for a conference record seventh time this season.
• Army returns to the pool this weekend (Jan. 18-19) when the Black Knights travel to face Delaware (Friday) and American/George Mason (Saturday).
Women's Swimming & Diving (5-5, 1-2 Patriot League)
• Army split a pair of Patriot League meets, defeating Lehigh on Friday and falling to Bucknell on Saturday.
• Plebe Molly Mucciarone led Army, posting a total of three wins over the course of the weekend.
• Army returns to the pool this weekend (Jan. 18-19) when the Black Knights travel to face Delaware (Friday) and American/George Mason (Saturday).
Track & Field
• Army remained home for its second meet of the season, a six-way competition which pitted the Black Knights against Binghamton, Lehigh, Monmouth, Ramapo and Rider. The Army men won the team title, while the women placed fifth despite recording four marks which rank among the best in Academy history.
• The Army women won three events on the day, led once again by yearling Lisa Junta. Junta won the day's first event, the 5,000-meter run with a time of 17:11.17. The time ranks second all-time at the Academy and also surpassed ECAC Championship-qualifying standards. She was recognized by the Patriot League on Monday as the Track Athlete of the Week for the second consecutive week.
• Firstie Kevin Russell was also named the Patriot League Track Athlete of the Week after running the second-fastest mile in the conference this season (4:11.93). Russell qualified for the IC4A Championships in both the mile and the 4x800-meter relay on Saturday.
• Through the first two meets of the season, 12 individuals and three relay units have recorded ECAC and IC4A Championship-qualifying marks.
Wrestling (3-4, 0-1 EIWA)
• Army posted a 1-2 record at the Virginia Duals last weekend.
• The Black Knights defeated The Citadel (27-19), but fell to nationally ranked Edinboro (25-10) and Boise State (24-12).
• Cow 165-pounder Paul Hancock and plebe 197-pounder Bryce Barnes both authored perfect 3-0 records to lead Army at the prestigious event.
• Hancock now leads Army with a 20-7 overall record this season. He is a perfect 7-0 in dual matches.
• Army returns to action this Saturday when the Black Knights travel to Lewisburg, Pa., to face EIWA rival Bucknell at 4 p.m.
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