Mountain Momma Monday: April 8

It was another big week for the Mountaineers women’s athletics programs this past week. The gymnastics team hosted the opening region of the NCAA tournament, the defending Big XII champion soccer team began spring play, and the tennis team continued to flounder.

All this and more inside of Mountain Momma Monday.

Mar 13, 2013; Kansas City, MO, USA; A West Virginia Mountaineers cheerleader entertains the crowd during a timeout in the second half of the game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders during the first round of the Big 12 tournament at the Sprint Center. Texas Tech won 71-69. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Gymnastics:

Coach Butts’ team hosted the NCAA regional tournament this past weekend as the 5th seed in the Morgantown Region. WVU was paired up with top seed, #5 ranked, Michigan; 2nd seed, #8 ranked Nebraska; 3rd seed, #17 ranked Illinois; 4th seed, #19 ranked Kentucky; and 6th seed North Carolina.

In a stacked field, the Mountaineers (who entered the regional as the 5th seed) stayed true to their ranking, finishing 5th in the region. Just as they have all season, the Mountaineers performed admirably against superior opponents, but did not have enough to topple their ranked foes.

Michigan won the region with a team score of 196.725. Fellow Big Ten school Illinois finished second in the meet with a score of 196.025 to also advance to the NCAA National Championships.

Just missing the mark for the National Championships were Nebraska with 195.875 and Kentucky with 195.575. The Mountaineers finished just out on the National Championships by 1.55 with a team score of 194.475.

While not good enough to advance, the Mountaineers did edge out North Carolina’s 194.350, giving the home crowd something to cheer about.

This meet marks the end of the 2013 Gymnastics season.

Rowing:

The West Virginia team took to the Black Warrior River Invitational in Tuscaloosa, AL to challenge Alabama and Central Florida. In the whole host of events, the Mountaineers managed to tally a first place finish in the first varsity 8+ heat.

The Mountaineers would finish last in the remaining heats of the competition, but the win in the first heat was impressive none the less.

The rowing team will return to action next weekend in the Knecht Cup Regatta in Cherry Hill, NJ.

Soccer:

WVU’s defending regular season Big XII champions are hitting the pitch this spring season to get some off-season conditioning in. West Virginia took on Duquesne this past weekend, notching a 3-0 victory.

All three Mountaineers goals came in the first half. WVU got a pair of goals from junior France Silva to open up the game 2-0. Freshman defender Carly Black netted the Mountaineers third goal to wrap up the scoring by the 35th minute of play.

WVU will continue their slate of spring friendlies with a double match against Pitt and Ohio State in Pittsburgh this coming Saturday.

Tennis:

The tennis team continued to struggle this past weekend, getting shutout by both Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in home matches losing by a combined 14-0.

Not a whole lot to talk about with these matches. There was some exceptional singles play shown by Audrey Wooland and Vivian Tsui in both meets. Unfortunately, neither Wooland nor Tsui could register victories for the Mountaineers.

The pair of losses this past weekend bring WVU’s record down to 4-13 overall (0-6 in Big XII) in the last home matches of the season for the Mountaineers.

WVU will seek to snap its 6 meet winless streak (or 3 meet scoreless streak) this coming weekend at Iowa State on Saturday.

Track:

The track team split up this past weekend for two different meets: the Tiger Track Classic and the Ohio Team Challenge.

In the Ohio Team Challenge, the Mountaineer had a huge showing in nearly every competition in the Auburn event. The Mountaineers notched a first place finish in the pole vault, discus, hammer throw, and the 4×400-m relay.

Katlyn Shelar set the school record in the pole vault competition, notching a mark of 4.08-m en route to 1st place.

In the Tiger Track Classic, three Mountaineers ran in the competition. None of the three managed to win their respective heats, but all three finished in the top 10. Chene Townsend finished 7th in the 100-m hurdles, Sydney Cummings finished 5th in the high jump, and Hannah Stone took 5th in the unseeded high jump.

Next up, the Mountaineers track team will split up for the Jesse Owens Classic in Columbus, OH and the Patriot Open Invitational in Fairfax, VA this coming weekend.

For more coverage of WVU women’s athletics, visit wvusports.com.