Tait sets personal record to earn WVU honors; varsity sports update

This Week in Women’s Basketball: The Mountaineers are at home on Wednesday when they take on Kansas inside the WVU Coliseum at 7 p.m. ET … WVU looks to collect their 14th straight win inside the WVU Coliseum and their 13th this season… West Virginia then hits the road for a Saturday afternoon matchup with Houston inside the Fertitta Center in Houston … Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET.

Last Week in Women’s Basketball: The Mountaineers moved to 17-4 on the season and 7-3 in Big 12 Conference play after collecting the team’s 12th win on their home floor this season … The Mountaineers defeated Oklahoma State, 54-37, in a win that marks the second fewest points allowed in program history to an AP ranked team … the win marks the third ranked opponent the Mountaineers have defeated under head coach Mark Kellogg.

Notes: WVU returns eight student-athletes to the floor this season, including four of five starters from an NCAA Tournament team a season ago … All-Big 12 First Team and Defensive Team selection JJ Quinerly highlights the returners … She was also named to the Preseason All-Big 12 team and was named to the Naismith College Women’s Basketball Player of the Year, the 2025 Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year Watchlist and the Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 Watchlist … Jordan Harrison was named to the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year watchlist … Quinerly has eclipsed 1,500 points in her career this season as Harrison and Zya Nugent have broken the 1,000-point mark... the Mountaineers finished the nonconference schedule a 10-1 … JJ Quinerly is third on the program’s all-time steals list and 10th in the Big 12 Conference all time standings … she also ranks sixth in the programs history for all time points scored … WVU is a perfect 12-0 when playing games inside the WVU Coliseum.

This Week in Wrestling: No. 21 West Virginia hits the road to face Utah Valley on Feb. 6, and Wyoming on Feb. 8 ... this marks the final road swing of the regular season for the Mountaineers.

Last Week in Wrestling: The Mountaineers lost to No. 5 Northern Iowa, 29-10, on Feb. 1, at the WVU Coliseum.

Notes: In the loss, West Virginia had impressive wins from senior No. 10 Jett Strickenberger (125), fifth-year No. 3 Peyton Hall (165) and redshirt sophomore No. 30 Brody Conley (174) ... each wrestler earned wins against ranked opponents ... this marked Strickenberger’s fifth consecutive win against a ranked opponent ... Hall is now just four wins from tying the all-time win record at WVU.

This Week in Gymnastics: West Virginia looks ahead to a Big 12 Conference battle with Iowa State, as the Cyclones come to Morgantown on Sunday, Feb. 9 ... competition inside the WVU Coliseum is tabbed for 2 p.m. ET, and it's the Mountaineers' annual Pink Meet for breast cancer awareness ... it also will be the first-ever WVU Greek Meet, as well as the team's Black History Month Celebration.

Last Week in Gymnastics: WVU recorded a season-high 195.475 in a tri-meet against No. 2 Florida and No. 4 Utah inside the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown on Feb. 2 ... the Mountaineers used season-high totals of 49.225 on floor exercise and 49.0 on balance beam to record their first 195.0+ score of the season. WVU also tallied scores of 48.575 on vault and 48.675 on the uneven bars ... the No. 2-ranked Gators took first place in the meet, scoring a 197.575, while No. 4 Utah placed second with a 197.425 ... sophomore Jurnee Lane recorded her first-ever performance on the all-around on Sunday, reaching a 38.975 total on all four events ... the score was good for sixth place out of seven opposing gymnasts also competing on the all-around ... senior Anna Leigh tied for second place in the final standings on floor with a 9.925.

Notes: The Mountaineers hit 24-of-24 routines for the first time this year on Sunday ... a crowd of 2,798 fans were present to watch the Mountaineers take on a pair of nationally ranked opponents, marking the eighth-highest attendance in WVU gymnastics history ... the total was the program's second-best regular season attendance, excluding the Beauty & the Beast meets with the WVU wrestling team ... in this week's Road to Nationals rankings, West Virginia is ranked No. 34 nationally on floor exercise and No. 50 overall ... elsewhere, WVU ranks No. 60 on vault, No. 40 on bars and No. 61 on beam.

This Week in Swimming and Diving: West Virginia does not compete until the 2025 Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championships from Feb. 25-March 1, at Weyerhaeuser Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Washington.

Last Week in Swimming and Diving: The Mountaineers lost to Penn State on Feb. 1 ... the men’s swimming and diving team (1-4) lost, 193-90. The women’s swimming and diving team (1-5) lost, 189-91.

Notes: Despite the losing effort, the Mountaineers had some bright spots against the Nittany Lions ... sophomore Delaney Cox was the only Mountaineer to top the podium as she won the women’s 200-yard backstroke (2:01.38) ... two Mountaineers posted top 10 times in their respective events for the women’s team ... in just her third meet with WVU, redshirt junior Natasha Whittall posted the 10th fastest time in the women’s 100-yard backstroke (54.81) ... in the men’s 100 back, senior Justin Heimes beat his previous best with a final time of 46.66 ... he holds the fourth fastest time in the event in program history ... redshirt senior Danny Berlitz touched the wall at 47.56, making it the sixth fastest time in the event ... redshirt sophomore Sofia Deste placed third while posting the 9th fastest time in program history in the women’s 100-yard breaststroke ... she touched the wall at 1:03.43 ... in the men’s 400-yard individual medley, freshman Joey Stebbins placed second and set the 10th fastest time with a final time of 3:52.42 ... in the diving well, sophomore Owen Recker placed second on the men’s 1-meter (338.70) and 3-meter (310.05) ... Recker’s point total for the 1-meter places him fourth all-time in program history on the 1-meter.

This Week in Rifle: The Mountaineers are back on the line this weekend when they take to the road to compete against No. 3 Kentucky … the match is set to begin at 8 a.m. ET inside the UK Rifle Range … on the line is the Great America Rifle Conference regular season title … with a win, WVU will collect its second straight conference regular season title and the programs 16th all time.

Last Week in Rifle: WVU did not compete.

Notes: The Mountaineers have won 25 straight regular season matches … Jon Hammond collected his 200th career win against No. 5 Georgia Southern … West Virginia’s 4742.5 aggregate score is the best in the nation … the 2356.3 mark in smallbore is also the best while the 2386.2 in air rifle sits also the best … senior Gavin Barnick leads WVU in aggregate (1186.7), smallbore (589.9), and air rifle (596.5) … he ranks sixth, fifth and sixth in the nation in each category.

This Week in Tennis: West Virginia (2-4) hosts Cleveland State and Mount St. Mary’s on Saturday, Feb. 8, at Summit Tennis Academy in Morgantown ... WVU will face Cleveland State at 9 a.m. and Mount St. Mary’s at 5 p.m.

Last Week in Tennis: West Virginia lost both of its matches on the road to VCU and William and Mary.

This week in Track and Field: West Virginia returns to University Park, Pennsylvania for the Sykes & Sabock Challenge on Feb. 8, which will be held at the Multi-Sport Facility & Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track ... Saturday’s meet can be viewed live in the B1G+ network.

Last week in Track and Field: Four Mountaineers joined the program’ all-time list on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 at the Penn State National Open in University Park, Pa. ... Friday’s competition was highlighted by graduate student Sarah Tait who became the second fastest Mountaineer in program history to run the women’s mile with a personal best time of 4:33.91 ... redshirt sophomore Olivia Cress checked in a No. 5 all-time in the pentathlon, after collecting a score of 3710 ... on Saturday, graduate student Madison Trippett boasted a time of 2:45.75 in her collegiate debut of the 1,000 meters, marking her as fourth fastest in WVU history ... additionally, freshman Joy Naukot had her collegiate debut in the 3,000 meters and became the third fastest Mountaineer in program history with a time of 8:59.10, earning second place.

Notes: With Tait’s third place finish in the mile, she surpassed alum Keri Bland who holds the distinction of having earned the most All-America honors of any student athlete at West Virginia.

This week in Golf: The golf team is set to begin its 2025 spring season on Monday and Tuesday at the Battle at Briar’s Creek in Johns Island, South Carolina … fourteen teams are scheduled to compete, including the host College of Charleston … joining WVU and College of Charleston will be Wake Forest, NC State, High Point, Maryland, VCU, UAB, East Tennessee State, Clemson, Augusta, Chattanooga, Elon and Campbell … the Mountaineers will tee off Monday morning at 8:45 a.m. ET at The Golf Club at Briar’s Creek … golfers will play 36 holes on Monday and 18 holes on Tuesday on the par 72, 7,175-yard course … seniors Todd Duncan, Max Green and Pierce Grieve along with juniors Carson Kammann and Kaleb Wilson will represent the Mountaineers at the event … the top four scorers will count towards West Virginia’s overall team score … two Mountaineers – Hugh Donegan and Ryan Leach – will compete as individuals at The Links at Stono Ferry in Hollywood, South Carolina.