May 13 2012; Eugene, OR, USA; Laura Roesler of Oregon wins the womens 800m in 2:05.13 as part of a Ducks sweep of the top three places with Becca Friday (2:05.34) and Claudia Francis (2:05.42) in the 2012 Pac-12 Championships at Hayward Field. From left: Francis and Roesler and Friday and Justine Fredonic of Stanford and Shelby Houlihan of Arizona State. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-USA TODAY Sports

Rowing:

Two Mountaineers rowers earned All-Academic Conference USA nominations this week. Congratulations to senior Rachelle Purych on her 3.97 GPA in Advertising and to junior Courtney Schrand for her 3.97 GPA Elementary Education. Looks like both ladies have bright futures off the pond.

Meanwhile, in Big XII news, freshman Elizabeth Kantak was named Big XII Newcomer of the Year. Kantak was a member of the Mountaineers varsity 8+ crew that took home third place in the Big XII Championships last week.

WVU will finish their 2013 season with competition in the Conference USA Championships this weekend at Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, TN.

Track:

The Mountaineers sent four athletes to compete in the Virginia Challenge in Charlottesville, VA this past weekend. The WVU quartet competed in six events, each notching top five finishes.

Heather Adams took home first in the discus throw (47.23 m) and hammer throw (52.73 m) for West Virginia’s two of WVU’s three victories at the competition. Stormy Nesbit claimed the other first place finish for WVU, taking home first in the long jump with a mark of 5.86 m. Nesbit also finished fifth in the triple jump with 11.98 m.

Sydney Cummings took second place in the high jump with a mark of 1.75 m while Chene Townsend registered a second place finish in the 100-m hurdles with a time of 13.66.

The track team will be back in action May 23-25 for the NCAA East Preliminary Round of the NCAA Championships. Competition will take place in Greensboro, NC.

CREDIT: wvusports.com

When people think of West Virginia University athletics, they almost always think of the Mountaineers football program or perhaps our dominant rifle squad. Even more think to the West Virginia men’s basketball program and the great Jerry West. In the not-so-distant future, fans might come to think of West Virginia as a college baseball powerhouse.

New Mountaineers head coach Randy Mazey and WVU athletic director Oliver Luck have made huge commitments to bringing the Mountaineers baseball program to new heights. With West Virginia now a member of the Big XII, a premier college baseball conference, Mazey and Luck have made a huge commitment to rejuvenating the program, starting with a new stadium.

Luck has worked aggressively to secure funding for a brand new baseball stadium along I-79 that will be a major upgrade from the Mountaineers current stadium. The new stadium will bring the Mountaineers facility on par with the best schools in the Big XII Conference.

Coach Mazey has molded the WVU baseball squad into a Big XII competitor and a team deserving of the large investment by WVU and the state of West Virginia. In just his first season on the job, Mazey has managed the Mountaineers to a 29-20 record and a three-way tie for first place in the Big XII.

The rise of the Mountaineers baseball program is creating a huge buzz around a program that few Mountaineers fans ever paid attention to before. With only a couple weeks left in the season, West Virginia will be in the midst of baseball fever.

November 17, 2012; Morgantown, WV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers linebacker Terence Garvin (28) at the line of scrimmage against the Oklahoma Sooners during the third quarter at Milan Puskar Stadium. The Oklahoma Sooners won 50-49. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

It took a couple weeks, but finally, one of the former West Virginia University Mountaineers defensive stars was signed by an NFL franchise. WVU’s former star at safety and outside linebacker Terence Garvin signed a free agent deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers today.

Garvin received a mini camp invite from the Steelers a few weeks back. Coach Tomblin and defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau must have been impressed with Garvin’s quickness and agility. While Garvin is not the biggest outside linebacker (6’3″ 223 lbs) he is one of the more athletic linebackers and a potential star on special teams for the Steelers.

Pittsburgh is in desperate need of linebacker depth with the departure of former NFL Defensive MVP James Harrison and the serious injury to Sean Spence. Current reserve linebackers Sylvester Stevenson and Jason Worilds have underwhelmed in recent seasons as well.

The Steelers sought to shore up their linebacker deficiencies by drafting Georgia OLB Jarvis Jones and Florida State ILB Vince Williams. Garvin figures to fill in as the primary back-up to Lamar Woodley at one OLB position while Jones and Worilds fill in the opposite OLB position heading into fall training camp.

Garvin will need to demonstrate a knack for making big hits in kick coverage to find a home in Pittsburgh. Should he make the 53-man roster this fall, he will have the opportunity to be groomed by one of the most-talented defensive coordinators in all of football, Dick LeBeau.

Garvin should model his work ethic after that of James Harrison, a man who had to fight his way from the Pittsburgh practice squad to the special teams coverage before becoming a pro bowl linebacker in the Steelers blitz-happy defense.

Terence Garvin is now the third former West Virginia Mountaineer to sign as an undrafted free agent this season, joining WR JD Woods and C Joe Madsen. The Pittsburgh Steelers also employ former Mountaineers FB Will Johnson.

Rowing:

Sept 1, 2012; Austin, TX, USA; The Texas Longhorns marching band carries flags representing the member schools of the Big 12, including newest members West Virginia and TCU, prior to kick off against the Wyoming Cowboys at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brendan Maloney-USA TODAY Sports

WVU’s competitive paddlers headed out to the Big XII Rowing Championships at the Wyandotte County Lake in Kansas City, KS. The Mountaineers had a solid team performance at the event, placing 4th in the overall competition.

The first varsity 8+ crew took 3rd place in their competition, falling just off the pace set by Oklahoma and Texas. In the second varsity 8+ crew competition, taking 4th place. The second crew finished behind Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas State.

In 4+ competition, WVU’s first team took 5th place while the second team came up in 4th place.

The Mountaineers, as a team, finished with 75 points in the competition for 4th place. The Oklahoma Sooners won the Big XII Championship with a score of 136.

Two Mountaineers received All-Big XII honors. Junior Courtney Schrand earned first team honors while senior Rachelle Purych earned a second team nomination.

19 Mountaineers rowers earned Academic All-Big XII honors as well.

WVU will take the week off prior to competing in the Conference USA Championships to end the season.

Soccer:

The WVU women’s soccer team unveiled their 2013 schedule this past week. The schedule features match-ups with some of the top teams in the nation in the non-conference play. The Mountaineers will take on perennial powers such as Duke, North Carolina, Penn State, and Central Michigan.

West Virginia will open the fall campaign with a home exhibition match against Rutgers on August 13.

Track:

The Mountaineers track stars competed in the Big XII Track and Field Championships in Waco, TX this past week. WVU had many solid performances but failed to make major impacts in many of the competitions. West Virginia’s best finish of the competition came in the triple jump competition. Stormy Nesbit took 2nd place in the competition.

West Virginia took home an 8th place team finish, besting TCU and Oklahoma State. The #2 nationally ranked Kansas Jayhawks won the Big XII title.

The rowing team will tune up their game in the Virginia Challenge this weekend in Charlottesville, VA prior to the NCAA East Preliminaries in Greensboro, NC May 23-25.

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

CREDIT: wvusports.com

When the West Virginia Mountaineers brought head coach Randy Mazey on board from TCU, everyone expected the program to make a turn around and become a competitive factor in the Big XII conference. Not many expected Mazey to make that happen in his first season on campus.

Mazey’s squad struggled out of the gate this season, limping out to a 1-3 start against lesser competition. Since that point, the Mountaineers have clawed their way up the standings, fighting to become a winning squad with each game.

This weekend, in a series with the #10 Oklahoma Sooners in Charleston, the Mountaineers showed their supporters that they have arrived. In three spectacular games, West Virginia claimed two victories to pull into a three-way tie for first place in the Big XII.

After West Virginia dropped the first game of the series in a heart-breaking 4-3 decision in 10 innings, the Mountaineers lit up the Sooners pitching staff in consecutive 9-3 and 9-6 victories.

Coach Mazey has been impressed with the Mountaineers focus and determination as of late:

“We told the guys before the game that they put themselves in a position to win this thing (series),” coach Randy Mazey says. “Mediocre teams take days off, take at bats off and take pitches off. Now that you’ve proven yourself to be capable of winning this thing, you can’t take a day off and we didn’t today.”

With the victories this weekend, West Virginia, with a Big XII record of 11-7, is in a three-way tie for first place with Oklahoma and the Kansas State Wildcats.

The Mountaineers will look to take over sole possession of first place in the conference this coming weekend as they head back to Charleston to square off with coach Mazey’s former club, the TCU Horned Frogs for three games. WVU will face TCU starting Friday at 6:30 pm at Appalachian Power Park.

For more quotes and box scores from the Mountaineers series against Oklahoma, visit wvusports.com.

Sep 1, 2012; Morgantown, WV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers wide receiver Stedman Bailey (3) celebrates his touchdown reception with teammates in the fourth quarter against the Marshall Thundering Herd at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: James Lang-USA TODAY Sports

Everyone knows that college football is big money, but few realize just how big that money is. For most universities, college football is the cash cow that balances the books for the athletic department and funds the rest of the athletic scholarships. West Virginia University is know different.

In a study published by the Wall Street Journal this past winter, the WVU football program checked in as the 32nd “most valuable” football program amongst the major conference programs. This study, performed by Ryan Brewer of Indiana University – Purdue University Columbus (IUPUC), analyzed the intrinsic valuation of each of the BCS conference schools for the 2012 season. The values are based on publicly available information (minus Wake Forest which is a private school).

According to Brewer’s study, the WVU football program is worth $159.4 million. That placed WVU at #32 on the list, $5.2 million behind Arizona State at #31 and $400,000 ahead of Florida State at #33.

The Mountaineers high dollar value is a reflection of television revenues, tickets sales, sponsorship, and merchandising that has all increased as a result of the Mountaineers move to the Big XII. Fans have been more eager to attend match-ups against Big XII opponents like Oklahoma and Kansas State than they were when WVU was playing teams like Connecticut and Rutgers. Likewise, fans have been buying even more Mountaineers merchandise, especially items that signified their first season in the Big XII.

Part of the Mountaineers move to the Big XII involved the staggering of television revenue sharing. WVU is making only a fraction of the television revenue it should be to this point, meaning the Mountaineers value is only going to climb over the next few seasons.

That will hopefully allow the Mountaineers to climb the valuation rankings of the Big XII, where they currently sit sixth out of ten schools:

1. Texas $761.7 million

2. Oklahoma $454.7 million

3. Texas Tech $211.0 million

4. Oklahoma State $209.1 million

5. Kansas State $207.1 million

6. West Virginia $159.4 million

7. Iowa State $140.3 million

8. Kansas $103.4 million

9. TCU $76.6 million

10. Baylor $71.3

That means that as a conference, the Big XII is valued at a total of $2.395 billion with an average school worth $239.5 million.

As impressive as that is, how does the Big XII stack up compared to the other major conferences?

November 3, 2012; Morgantown, WV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers mascot reacts on the field before the game against the TCU Horned Frogs at Milan Puskar Field. The TCU Horned Frogs won 39-38 in two overtimes. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Gymnastics:

The Mountaineers tumblers held their annual awards ceremony yesterday at the Waterfront Place Hotel. The annual awards recipients were:

• Kaylyn Millick – Linda Burdette-Good Award (Most Valuable Gymnast)
• Hope Sloanhoffer – Joseph Medrick Award (Best All-Around Gymnast)
• Beth Deal – John Quackenbush Award (Mountaineer Spirit)
• Melissa Idell – Sally Medrick Award (Most Improved)

The MVP award to Millick is more than deserved as she lit up the score sheet all season long and was a key player in the Mountaineers success this past season.

Rowing:

WVU took to competition this past weekend against Bucknell, Connecticut, and Delaware on Pinchot Lake this past weekend. The Mountaineers had a strong showing during the competition.

In the first round of 4+ varsity competition, West Virginia’s first and second teams finished in second place behind Bucknell in their respective competitions. Round 2 of competition saw WVU’s first team take a first place finish.

In the first round of 8+ varsity competition, the Mountaineers first team took second place behind Bucknell while the first team took home a first place finish. During the second round of 8+ varsity competition, WVU’s first team and second team notched first place finishes while the third team took second place.

In total, the Mountaineers managed an overly impressive record against solid competition. West Virginia now enters post-season competition and will travel to Wyandotte County Lake in Kansas City, KS next weekend.

Soccer:

West Virginia’s women’s soccer team took home victory in their final spring training match. WVU outpaced the Kent State Golden Flashes at Dick Dlesk Stadium this past weekend, 3-1. The Mountaineers opened the scoring in the 18th minute with a goal from Kate Schwindel. The Mountaineers, with a 1-0 first half lead, blew the game open in the early goings of the second half.

West Virginia scored two goals in the first ten minutes of the second half to push their lead to 3-0. Kent State would break up the Mountaineers shut-out bid in the 82nd minute to end the scoring at 3-1.

Tennis:

WVU went out to the Big XII Championships to face Kansas State in the first round of the tournament. The Mountaineers were once again swept by the Wildcats, losing 4-0. WVU’s sweep at the hands of KSU puts an end to a miserable inaugural Big XII campaign.

Track:

Four Mountaineers runners went out to compete in the Penn Relays this past week to compete in the 3,000-m steeplechase. In the championship heat, Jordan Hamric took third place with a time of 10:21.79 while Aubrey Moskal took fifth place at 10:30.11.

In the college heat, Sarah Martinelli notched a personal best 10:34 while Sarah McCauley finished at 10:56.

WVU field stars competed in the Ashland Alumni Open. Heather Adams excelled in the discus throw, finishing second in the competition and second in school history with a throw of 52.93 meters.

With regular season competition at an end, West Virginia will now advance to the Big XII Championships May 3-5.

For more on West Virginia women’s athletics, visit wvusports.com

November 17, 2012; Morgantown, WV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers wide receiver Stedman Bailey (3) carries the ball against the Oklahoma Sooners during the first quarter at Milan Puskar Stadium . Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The St. Louis Rams have done it, they have paired West Virginia’s dynamic wide receivers Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey together in the NFL.

There was a flurry of activity with teams going bananas on wide receivers with Terence Williams, Keenan Allen, Justin Hunter, and even Aaron Dobson going ahead of Bailey. That is remarkably astounding given the fact that Bailey was the NCAA leading touchdown receiver this past season and a finalist for the Fred Biletnikoff Award this past season.

The St. Louis Rams saw that Bailey had been overlooked by so many and pounced on the opportunity to bring him in to once again compliment Tavon Austin.

As was shown the past two seasons in Morgantown, Stedman Bailey is the solid outside possession receiver that is a perfect compliment to the inside slot explosiveness of Tavon Austin. Geno Smith threw a combined 256 passes for 2,911 yards and 37 touchdowns to the duo this past season.

Sam Bradford must be doing back flips in excitement over being provided with the Mountaineers explosive combination.

Sep 1, 2012; Morgantown, WV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers quarterback Geno Smith (12) reacts after a touchdown in the first quarter against the Marshall Thundering Herd at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: James Lang-USA TODAY Sports

Finally, after seeing a run on offensive and defensive lineman and watching fellow Mountaineer great Tavon Austin come off the board in the first round, West Virginia’s great quarterback was selected 39th overall by the New York Jets in the second round of the NFL draft.

Smith had to wait quite sometime to hear his named called as the predicted trend of a run on trench players (offensive and defensive lineman) came to fruition. That trend pushed Geno Smith out of the top end of the draft and into perfect position for the Jets to snag him at the top of the second round.

Both the Oakland Raiders and New York Jets had interest in Geno Smith at picks #12 and #13 but opted to select defensive players instead. Even with the Raiders and Jets passing on him, nobody thought that the Bills would allow him to slide past them at #16.

What was so surprising was that E.J. Manuel of the Florida State Seminoles was selected at #16 overall by the Buffalo Bills. Manuel was widely regarded as the 4th best quarterback by most scouts behind Smith, Barkley, and Nassib. Questionable move by the Buffalo Bills at best.

With the Bills pick now come and gone, there were no franchises left in the first round that would have interest in selecting a quarterback, allowing Geno Smith to free fall into the second round.

All the while, ESPN and NFL Network were shoving a camera in Smith’s face to document his anguish. Smith, who originally vowed to not return to Radio City Music Hall last night, recanted that statement and appeared at the podium to hug Commissioner Roger Goodell.

The move by the New York Jets to draft Geno Smith is the first step in the rebuilding process for the franchise and officially puts an end to the Mark Sanchez/Tim Tebow experiment.

It is not all roses for Geno though. The Jets roster is pretty bare as far as offensive talent goes. Outside of Santonio Holmes at wide receiver, this team lacks all weapons. The Jets will need to gather a lot of weapons to give Geno the opportunity to excel in New York. Hopefully the Jets will allow Sanchez to flounder this coming year and allow Smith to learn the offense for a year.

Even with Geno Smith’s slide to the 39th overall selection, he is still the highest drafted West Virginia quarterback of all-time. He is also the second Mountaineer to be drafted in the 2013 NFL Draft.

November 17, 2012; Morgantown, WV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers wide receiver Tavon Austin (1) carries the ball on a 31 yard gain against the Oklahoma Sooners during the first quarter at Milan Puskar Stadium. The Oklahoma Sooners won 50-49. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Only three days until the most electrifying Mountaineers receiver of all-time finds out where he will begin his NFL career.

Since the NFL Combine and the West Virginia University Pro Day, Tavon Austin has seen his draft stock rocket from a late 1st round-early 2nd round value to a can’t miss slam dunk top 10 prospect.

From ESPN analysts, to newspaper reporters, to bloggers, everyone is high on the shifty receiver. Reports from these varoius outlets have Austin going anywhere from the New York Jets to the Carolina Panthers to the Dallas Cowboys. Depending on which mock draft you put your money on, Austin will go as high as #7 or as low as #21.

He has made personal visits to the Detroit Lions, San Francisco 49ers, St. Louis Rams, and the Carolina Panthers amongst others. Needless to say, Austin is a hot commodity, even if most national pundits do not really understand his skill set.

On television and radio, people have been talking about Austin’s top end speed as an example of how Austin is a deep threat at the NFL level. Some even talk about how Austin spent so much time as a running back.

What is clear is not many of those analysts have watched film on Austin.

Tavon made his name taking the quick 5 yard receptions and turning them into 50 yard touchdowns with his incredible elusiveness. Austin only saw time at running back when the running game had ground to a halt, lighting up the stat sheet against Oklahoma. What Austin did not do was serve as a running back routinely at WVU. He saw action there for less than half a season, but excelled when given the opportunity.

Scouts and GMs understand the diverse skillset that Austin brings to an NFL roster, but the people commenting on his abilities in the national media do not fully understand it.

Either way, the exposure from these sources (myself included) have pushed Austin ever higher on the draft board. With only three days left and at least 30 more pieces on Austin to published across the country, do not be surprised to see Austin drafted as high as the top 5 of the NFL draft.

Odds are a team will trade up to grab Austin ahead of another interested franchise.