Army West Point Athletics
This Week In Army Athletics
April 16, 2014 | General
April 16, 2014
Dear Friends,
Another week and another two victories over Navy to celebrate. In addition, the spring championship picture is coming into focus with two of our teams clinching No. 2 seeds in their upcoming Patriot League postseason.
LACROSSE EXTENDS WINING STREAK OVER MIDS
The men’s lacrosse team earned its unprecedented sixth straight win over Navy, topping the Mids 14-7 in front of 10,774 fans at Michie Stadium. Connor Cook scored a career-high six points on three goals and three assists to earn Army Athletic Association Athlete of the Week honors. The victory secured the No. 2 seed in the Patriot League Tournament and a bye into the conference semifinals. The semis and finals will be hosted by top-seeded Loyola.
POLING BECOMES ALL-TIME WINS LEADER WITH VICTORY AT NAVY
Grant Riechmann’s win at No. 3 singles clinched a 4-3 victory over Navy in Annapolis. The win moved head coach Jim Poling into the top spot on the program’s coaching victories list. His 177th win in his 12 seasons at West Point include three Patriot League titles and 10 trips to the championship match in 11 years. Poling has racked up 404 wins in 28 seasons as a collegiate head coach.
ARMY-NAVY SERIES TO BE DECIDED ON BASEBALL DIAMOND
With the lacrosse and men’s tennis victories against Navy this week, the Star Match series with the Mids is tied 11-11. We have won four of the five spring stars contested thus far. The series will come down to the baseball series scheduled for April 26-27 in Annapolis. We currently hold a 13-12 overall series lead with four regular-season baseball games and potential postseason match ups still to be played.
FOOTBALL SPRING GAME SET FOR SATURDAY
Fans can get their first glimpse of the Army football team under Jeff Monken’s leadership Saturday afternoon at the annual Black-Gold Game. The format is schedule to be as game-like as possible, but is ultimately at the coaching staff’s discretion. Special teams will also be utilized at appropriate times. Lt. Gen. Robert Caslen, the Superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy, and Brig. Gen. Richard Clark, the Academy’s commandant, will serve as the head coaches. One team will be made up of the first-team offense and second-team defense, while the other squad will have the first-team defense and second-team offense. The remaining players will be divided between the two teams to ensure each has enough players at each position. There is no admission to charge to gain access to Michie Stadium. Gate 3, which will open at 11 a.m., will be the only access point. There will be pregame activities for fans beginning at that time just inside the gate. Tickets for the 2014 season will also be available for purchase. Concessions will be on sale, and the team will remain on the field after the game to meet fans and sign autographs. In addition to guest coaches, there will be eight former Black Knights who will serve as honorary captains – Greg Gadson, Jodie Glore, Carlton Jones, Tom Morgan, Seth Niemann, Gary Steele, Rollie Stichweh and Jim Ward.
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/boosters/army-a-club.html, call (845)938-2322, or email armyaclub@usma.edu.
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.
Baseball (22-12, 7-4 Patriot League)
- The Black Knights lost their non-conference game at Columbia on Wednesday before splitting a four-game series against Bucknell.
- Army took the series opener against the Bison in dramatic fashion. After giving up a two-run lead in the top of the seventh, the Black Knights scored twice in the bottom of the inning for a walk-off, 6-5 victory. Patrick Mescher drove in the winning run with a single. Nick Dignacco did not get a decision. He struck out eight without allowing a walk in six and one-third innings.
- An eight-run third inning led to the Black Knights’ 10-4 win in the first game on Sunday. Jon Crucitti had three hits and scored two runs, while Daniel Cortes had three runs batted in. Gunnar Carroll went the distance to earn his team-best sixth win of the season. He allowed only one earned run, striking out five.
- Crucitti and Cortes are also on top of the Black Knights’ batting ledger through 34 games. Crucitti is hitting .336 with a team-high 40 hits, 29 runs scored and three triples. His .463 on-base percentage is also best on the team. Cortes has 26 hits in 78 at-bats (.333) with 14 runs scored and 16 driven in. Rookie Kris Lindner is also batting north of .300 at .329 with 20 runs scored, 11 RBI and three doubles.
- Army is at Hartford on Wednesday afternoon before traveling to Holy Cross for a four-game Patriot League series over the weekend. The Black Knights start the weekend 1.5 games behind the first-place Bison.
Golf
- Army was idle this past week. The Black Knights are back on the course April 20-21 when they travel to State College, Pa., for the Rutherford Intercollegiate. That event is the Black Knights' final tune up for the Patriot League Championship which will be held at the West Point Golf Course April 26-27.
Gymnastics (4-4)
- Army sent eight gymnasts to the NCAA Championship Qualifying Round. Nine Black Knights qualified, but one did not compete because of academic obligations.
- Firstie Kip Webber advanced to the preliminary round of the vault competition. It was the third time in his career he advanced past the opening round. It was the second time he advanced in the vault.
Lacrosse (8-3, 6-1 Patriot League)
- Army jumped to No. 16 in both national polls following its convincing 14-7 victory over arch-rival Navy in front of 10,774 fans at Michie Stadium. It was Army’s fourth straight win this season and the Black Knights’ sixth consecutive Star Game win over the Mids. It is Army’s longest winning streak in series history.
- Army secured the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in the upcoming Patriot League Tournament. No. 1 seed Loyola will host the semifinals and finals on April 25 and April 27.
- Nine different players scored goals. Connor Cook led the team with six points on three goals and three assists. He was named the Army Athletic Association Athlete of the Week.
- John Glesener added three goals, while Will Mazzone found the back of the net twice.
- Jimbo Moore, Alex Newsome, Gunnar Miller, Shea Mullins, will O’Donnell and Michael Larrabee each tallied once.
- Firstie Bobby Sincero made eight saves in his first start of the season.
- Army visits Patriot League foe Colgate next Friday under the lights at Andy Kerry Stadium. Fans can follow the game live online free of charge on Patriot League Network.
Softball (17-20, 5-4 Patriot League)
- The Black Knights took a break from Patriot League play, traveling to Fordham last Thursday and Hudson Valley rival Marist for a doubleheader on Saturday.
- Army suffered three losses, falling to the Rams, 6-0, and the Red Foxes, 7-0 and 8-4.
- Amanda Nguyen had three hits, a run batted in and a run scored in the second game at Marist. Kasey McCravey and April Ortenzo also had multiple hit games versus the Red Foxes.
- The Black Knights continue their string of non-league games, hosting Fairleigh Dickinson on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. Army gets back into Patriot League action on Saturday, hosting Lafayette in a doubleheader on Saturday and a single game on Sunday.
Men’s Tennis (16-4, 6-0 Patriot League)
- The Black Knights won their eighth straight match, defeating Navy, 4-3, in Annapolis. The one-point margin marked the fourth time in the last five years and the ninth time in the last 10 that the Star Match has been decided by a 4-3 score.
- The Mids won the doubles point, but Army responded with victories in four of the six singles matches.
- Alex Van Velzer (No. 6) and Harrison McCormick (No. 5) gave Army a 2-1 lead, but the Mids event the score with a win at No. 1 singles.
- Caison Best topped his foe at No. 4 singles to give Army a 3-2 lead, but Navy again tied the score with a three-set win at No. 3.
- Plebe Grant Riechmann earned a 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 win at No. 3 to clinch the match.
- The victory was head coach Jim Poling’s 177th in 12 years at West Point. He is the Black Knights’ all-time leader. Poling has guided Army to three NCAA Tournament appearances. Army has appeared in the Patriot League championship match in 10 of his first 11 seasons.
- Army plays its final non-conference match on Thursday, hosting NJIT. The Black Knights will go for an undefeated Patriot League slate on Saturday at Boston University.
- West Point will host the Patriot League Tournament April 25-27.
Women’s Tennis (21-3, 7-1 Patriot League)
- Army split a pair of matches over the weekend, defeating Bucknell, 6-1, and losing to Patriot League newcomer Boston University, 7-0.
- The win against the Bison extended Army’s winning streak to five matches.
- The Black Knights swept all three doubles matches and five of the six singles competitions.
- Jamila Paul, Della Talyor and Elle Taylor each earned two wins. Paul teamed with Carolyn Pitman for the victory at No. 2 doubles and earned her own victory at No. 1 singles.
- The Taylor sisters were winners at No. 1 doubles. Della scored a victory at No. 4 singles, while Elle was victorious at No. 5 singles.
- The Black Knights are the No. 2 seed in this week’s Patriot League Tournament at Bucknell. Army will face seventh-seeded Colgate at 2 p.m. Friday. The semifinals will be held Saturday with the championship match slated for Sunday.
Track & Field
- Army's outdoor track and field teams put the finishing touches on the home portion of its schedule, hosting the Army 6-Way at Shea Stadium. The men’s team finished first, while the women were second.
- Five of the men's wins came on the track with Dylan Chamberlin and Jacob Fong setting season bests in the 1500-meter run (3:54.23) and 3000-meter steeplechase (9:43.12), respectively. Chris Smith met the IC4A qualifying time once again in the 400-meter hurdles following his winning mark of 53.01.
- Nicholas Beavers beat the field in the 110-meter hurdles (15.13) and distance runner Matthew Bearden posted a winning clocking of 15:10.81 in the 5,000-meter run.
Army had a pair of wins in the field events with Tony Holland setting a season best tying for first-place in the high jump (1.95 meters) and Jacob Drozd meeting the IC4A mark again following his winning toss of 61.82 meters. - The women were second in four events and third in seven events. Leading the way with runner-up honors were Alexandra Sutherland in the 1500-meter run (4:42.45), Azeezat Olatunde in the shot put (13.26m), Katrina Donarski in the 400-meter dash (season best 1:00.10), along with the 4x400-meter relay. Sutherland and Donarski also ran legs on the relay team, to include Madaline Kenyon and Samantha Reid, that combined for a clocking of 4:02.49.
- Rebecca Cousens turned in a season-best and met the ECAC standard in the hammer throw (47.37m), Next up for the Black Knights is the Larry Ellis Invitational at Pricneton and the Mount Sac Relays in Walnut, Calif.
