Army West Point Athletics
This Week In Army Athletics
April 30, 2014 | General
April 30, 2014
Dear Friends,
This week was a celebration of everything that we strive for on the fields of friendly strife – championships and wins over Navy.
ARMY WINS STAR SERIES
The Army baseball team rallied from a game-one defeat to take the next three games and earn the Black Knights' 12th Star victory over Navy during the 2013-14 season. The baseball win clinched both the Star series, 12-11, and the overall series versus the Mids, 18-13. It is the first time that Army has won more star competitions than the Mids since going 11-8-2 during the 1995-96 campaign. It is the first time the Black Knights have posted a winning record against Navy since 2004-05 (17-14-1). In addition to baseball, the volleyball team, the women's tennis team and the men's tennis team each earned multiple victories against the Mids. Volleyball won both regular season meetings, while the tennis squads won a regular-season match up and a Patriot League Tournament contest. Army's star wins came in sprint football, golf, women's soccer, volleyball, men's cross country, women's basketball, rifle, women's outdoor track, women's tennis, men's tennis, lacrosse and baseball. In the last two seasons, Army owns a 34-29-1 record against the Mids. Army and Navy have one more possible meeting left on the schedule. The two teams could potentially meet in a best-of-three Patriot League baseball postseason series.
MEN’S TENNIS PUNCHES NCAA TOURNAMENT TICKET
The top-seeded men’s tennis team won its sixth Patriot League championship with a 4-1 win over Navy at the Malek Tennis Courts at West Point. It was the program’s first league title since 2011. Army’s 20 wins mark the fourth time in program history the team has reached that milestone. Alex Van Velzer was named the Patriot League Tournament MVP. The Black Knights will head to defending national champion Virginia for the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, May 10.
KIM MAKES PATRIOT LEAGUE GOLF HISTORY
Plebe Peter Kim shot a 1-under par 209 win individual medalist honors at the 2014 Patriot League Championship at the West Point Golf Course. Kim birdied the 18th hole of Sunday’s final round to finish as the only player under par. His 66 in Saturday’s second round marked the lowest 18-hole score of the event, and his 54-hole score tied the second lowest in Patriot League Tournament history. Kim earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals. He will find out his fate Monday, May 5 at 10 a.m. The selection show will be broadcast live by the Golf Channel.
BASEBALL CLAIMS SHARE OF LEAGUE TITLE
Army defeated Lehigh on Monday night, 9-7, at Johnson Stadium to secure a piece of the 2014 Patriot League regular-season championship. The game was a make-up from an earlier season rain out. The Black Knights wrapped up the Patriot League schedule 15-5, tied with Bucknell. Due to league tiebreaker rules, Army will be the No. 2 seed and host the No. 3 Mountain Hawks on May 10-11. The best-of-three series will get underway with a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon. It is the program’s eighth regular-season title and first since 2012.
SOFTBALL EARNS PATRIOT LEAGUE SPOT
The softball team took two out of three games at Holy Cross to earn its fifth straight berth in the Patriot League Tournament. Army is currently tied for third place in the league standings. Plebe pitcher Kristen West threw two shutouts to earn Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors.
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 (32-13, 15-5 Patriot League)
- Army played six games in six days, posting a 5-1 record. The Black Knights scored a 4-2 win over Marist in the ninth annual WRWD Hudson Valley Baseball Classic, took three out of four at Navy and defeated Lehigh in a make-up game Monday evening.
- The Black Knights earned the Star over the Mids. Army lost the first game, but rallied to win the last three and the series. The win capped the Black Knights’ 12-11 department-wide Star series.
- Army’s 9-7 win against the Mountain Hawks clinched a share of the Patriot League regular season title. The Black Knights and Bucknell both ended the league schedule at 15-5. The Bison will be the No. 1 seed because of Patriot League tiebreakers rule. Army will host No. 3 Lehigh in the conference best-of-three semifinal series on May 10-11. The teams will play a doubleheder on Saturday and if necessary, a decisive third game on Sunday.
- Friday will mark the first scheduled night game in Doubleday Field history. First pitch against the Cincinnati Bearcats is set for 7 p.m.
- Co-Captains Patrick Mescher and Gunnar Carroll led the Black Knights to a 1-0 win in Sunday’s first game at Navy. The win clinched a home semifinal series. Mescher drove in the only turn of the game, and Carroll threw a complete-game shutout.
- Daniel Cortes had three hits, and Alex Jensen drove in two runs in the Star-clinching win in Sunday’s nightcap.
- Army has won at least 30 games six times since 2004.
- In addition to Friday’s night game, Army will host the Bearcats on Saturday at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
Golf
- Army finished in second place at the 2014 Patriot League Championship at the West Point Golf Course.
- Plebe Peter Kim was the individual medalist with a 54-hole score of 209 (-1). It tied the second-lowest tournament score in conference history. Kim’s 4-under par 66 in Saturday’s second round was the lowest 18-hole score of the tournament. His birdie on the 54th hole made him the only player to finish the championship under par.
- Kim earned first-team All-Patriot League honors and was named the league’s Most Outstanding Golfer and Most Oustanding Rookie. He is the first player in league history to earn both trophies since the rookie award was established in 2005.
- Kim will advance to the NCAA Regionals. He will find out his postseason destination on Monday, May 5 at 10 a.m. The selection show will be broadcast live by the Golf Channel.
- Yearling Marcus Plunkett and plebe Justin Pagila earned second-team All-Patriot League honors.
Lacrosse (9-4, 7-1 Patriot League)
- The Black Knights suffered a 12-11 loss to third-seeded Lehigh in the Patriot League semifinals Friday night at Loyola. The Mountain Hawks scored the winning goal with just 3.7 seconds left on the clock.
- John Glesener led all players with five goals. He also tallied an assist. He scored his first three goals in the first quarter.
- Will Mazzone totaled two goals and an assist.
- Jimbo Moore, Connor Cook, Matt Bowman and Cole Johnson also scored for the Black Knights.
- Bobby Sincero made four saves in net.
- The Black Knights close out the regular season Saturday, May 3, at Notre Dame. The game will be broadcast live on ESPNU at noon.
Softball (22-23, 9-6 Patriot League)
- Army clinched a berth in the Patriot League Tournament for the fifth straight year, taking two out of three games at Holy Cross.
- The Black Knights are currently tied for third place with Bucknell in the league standings at 9-6.
- Plebe Kristen West hurled Army to both wins with shutouts. West was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week
- The Black Knights host first-place Lehigh this weekend in the regular-season finale.
- Saturday’s doubleheader starts at 1 p.m. Sunday’s single game also begins at 1 p.m.
Men’s Tennis (20-5, 7-0 Patriot League)
- Top-seeded Army rolled the Patriot League Tournament, defeating No. 8 Lafayette (4-0), No. 4 Lehigh (4-1) and No. 3 Navy (4-1) to claim the conference championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
- It was the program’s sixth Patriot League title, the fourth under head coach Jim Poling.
- The victory over the Mids was the team’s 20th of the season, a milestone reached just three times before.
- Kyle Barnes and Austin McCasin started the championship match with a win at No. 3 doubles, and the duo of Sam Lampman and Grant Riechmann earned the point with a win at No. 2 doubles.
- Alex Van Velzer (No. 5), Asika Isoh (No. 1) and Harrison McCormick (No. 6) closed out the match with singles wins.
- Van Velzer was named the Patriot League Tournament MVP.
- Army will travel to Virginia for the first round of the NCAA Tournament on May 10. The defending national champion Cavaliers are seeded fourth in this year’s event.
Track & Field
- The Army track & field teams wrapped up competition at the Penn Relays with a pair of top-10 efforts on the meet’s final day. The men’s 4x400-meter relay squad clocked the second-fastest time in school history, while the women’s 4x800-meter quartet posted the fifth-fastest time in the Academy record book.
- The Black Knights’ 4x400-meter relay team of Jose Santana, Matt Green, Patrick Taylor and Clyde Wilson posted a time of 3:11.01 in the preliminaries, qualifying for the IC4A final. Army’s quartet of Chris Smith, Green, Taylor and Santana finished second in that race in a time of 3:09.36. That time just missed the school record by nine one-hundredth of a second.
- The Black Knights’ 3,200-meter relay unit of Katrina Donarski, Allie Sutherland, Elizabeth Moton and Jennifer Comfort, competed in the College Women’s Championship of America race, finishing 10th with a time of 8:59.39. It was the fifth-fastest time in Academy history and qualified the team for the ECAC Championships. Comfort posted the team’s fastest split with a 2:09.78, which if run in an individual race would have been the second-fastest 800 meters in school history.
- The men’s 4x800-meter team qualified for the IC4A Championship with a time of 7:31.64. The foursome of Stevyn Spees, Nathan Fisher, Dylan Chamberlen and Wilson crossed the tape in fifth place of the college race with a time of 7:31.64. The men also had a strong showing in the 4x100-meter race. Taylor, Michael Hoffman, Santana and Kyle Wolffe posted the Black Knights’ fifth IC4A qualifying time of the season at 41.71. The women’s 400-meter relay unit of Cori Lemere, Haley Winters, Samantha Redi and Avrie Welton ran a season-best time of 49.45.
- Individually, Azeezat Olatunde finished 16th in the women’s college discus with a toss of 45.07 meters. It was the third time this season that she surpassed the ECAC qualifying mark in the event.
- Both the men’s and women’s teams will compete for the 2014 Patriot League Outdoor Track & Field Championships on May 2-3 in Annapolis.
