By Kelly Tuckwiller for MSNsportsNET.com
February 8, 2010

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Junior Chelsea Carrier has been named WVU Student-Athlete of the Week for her record-breaking performance at the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup hosted by Penn State last weekend.

The Buckhannon, W.Va., native led the team, as she broke a school and meet record, while also posting an NCAA automatic qualifying standard in the pentathlon. Carrier won the event with 4,136 points after she finished first in the 60-meter hurdles (8.45), the high jump (1.71 meters), the long jump (5.92 meters), the shot put (10.99 meters) and the 800-meter run (2:20.09).

She now sits at No. 1 in the pentathlon in the WVU record books with the performance. The record was previously set by All-American Pat Itanyi in 1997 (4,111).

This Week in Women’s Basketball: No. 8/11 WVU (21-3, 8-2) is idle this week until its matchup with nationally ranked Georgetown on Sunday, Feb. 14, at 1 p.m. at the WVU Coliseum … the game will air at on ESPNU and will be WVU’s “Pink Zone” game … all fans are encouraged to wear pink to the game to show support for breast cancer awareness.

Last Week in Women’s Basketball: WVU went 1-1 last week with a key road win at Providence, 75-59, and falling at No. 1/1 Connecticut 80-47 … against the Friars, WVU was led by junior guard Liz Repella’s season-high 25 points … the Steubenville, Ohio, native also grabbed 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season … Repella scored her 1,000th career point on her second 3-pointer of the first half, becoming the 27th Mountaineer in school history to tally 1,000 points in a career … freshman center Asya Bussie tallied her second-career double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds … the Randallstown, Md., native also tallied three blocks … junior guard/forward Korinne Campbell, a Princeton, N.J., native was the other Mountaineer in double figures, reaching 10 points … the Friars (13-10, 4-6) became the 19th Mountaineer opponent to be held to under 60 points, shooting 40 percent (24-60) for the contest … at Connecticut, the Huskies used a decisive 24-5 run midway through the second half to break open an eight point halftime advantage to take a 58-32 lead, and never looked back, on the strength of All-American center Tina Charles and senior guard Kalana Greene … Miles finished with 14 points on 7-10 shooting while Repella added 13 points, including three 3-pointers … Madina Ali added eight rebounds … eighteen of WVU’s rebounds were on the offensive end.

Notes and Quotes: The Mountaineers’ three losses on the season have now come at the hands top five teams (No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4/5 Notre Dame and No. 1 Connecticut) … the Mountaineers have now posted at least 21 wins in five of the last seven seasons … the 21-3 start is tied for the second-best 24 game start in school history … WVU is 1-1 in its home Pink Zone games, topping USF 90-75 last year and falling to DePaul 81-80 in 2007-08.

This Week in Gymnastics: WVU plays host to Ohio State on Friday, Feb. 12, at 8 p.m. at the WVU Coliseum ... the meet has been designated a “Pink Meet.”

Last Week in Gymnastics: The Mountaineers (10-3, 6-0 EAGL) scored 194.475 and split its home tri-meet on Feb. 5 ... WVU lost to Michigan (196.4) and defeated William & Mary (187.725) ... though WVU finished second to UM in each event, the Mountaineers earned a season-high mark on beam with 48.475 points ... The squad also scored 48.725 on vault, 48.55 on bars and 48.725 on floor ... junior Amy Bieski scored 39.025 points and finished second overall ... the Nanticoke, Pa., native was the only Mountaineer to place in the top three of an event, as she matched a season-high 9.825 on floor and finished tied for second ... Bieski and senior Chelsi Tabor paced the Mountaineers on vault and tied for sixth place with matching 9.775 scores; the mark equals Bieski’s season-high ... also achieving season-best scores were senior Ashley Wilson (9.7) and freshman Alaska Richardson (9.75) ... juniors Faye Meaden and Alysha Pretzello paced the Mountaineers on bars with matching career-best scores of 9.75 ... Tabor and classmate Shelly Purkat scored 9.8 on beam and tied for fifth place ... the score is a career-best for Tabor ... sophomore Tina Maloney finished second on the squad and fifth overall with 9.775 on floor, while Purkat, in her season-debut, scored 975 points.

Notes and Quotes: Bieski’s 39.0-plus score is her second of the season and career ninth ... she now owns sole possession of 10th place on the all-time Mountaineer list ... the loss to the Wolverines snapped the Mountaineers’ eight-meet win streak ... since going 1-2 in their Jan. 8 season-opener, the Mountaineers have gone 9-1 in the last four meets ... WVU drops to 4-15 all-time against UM and improves to 13-0 over the Tribe ... the Mountaineers are 10-14 all-time against the Buckeyes.

This Week in Rifle: The No. 2-ranked Mountaineers will play host to No. 6-ranked Nebraska on Saturday, Feb. 13, at 8 a.m. at the WVU Rifle Range ... the match will serve as an NCAA qualifier.

Last Week in Rifle: The Mountaineers did not compete last week.

Notes and Quotes: The Mountaineers (9-0, 5-0 GARC) last defeated Ole Miss (4696-4576) and finished first overall at the Winthrow Invitational (4678) two weeks ago ... WVU defeated Nebraska, 4660-4634, on Oct. 11, 2009, in Lincoln.

This Week in Swimming & Diving: The diving portion of the BIG EAST Championships will be held at Pitt from Friday, Feb. 12-14 … the women’s 1-meter dive will be on Feb. 12 starting at 1 p.m., with the men’s 1-meter and women’s 3-meter starting at 10 a.m. on Feb. 13 … the final action will be in the men’s 3-meter starting at 11 a.m. on Feb. 14.

Last Week in Swimming & Diving: The West Virginia University swimming and diving teams have been training for the upcoming BIG EAST Championships.

Notes and Quotes: Last season, Brandon Robinson placed 12th on both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards for the Mountaineers.

This Week in Tennis: The Mountaineers will continue action Wednesday, Feb. 10, in Pittsburgh, Pa., against BIG EAST rival Pitt at 4 p.m.

Last Week in Tennis: WVU went 1-2 last weekend where it was defeated in Huntington, W.Va., by Marshall 7-0 on Feb. 5, followed by No. 71, Miami (Ohio) in a 6-1, match on Feb. 6 ... the Mountaineers traveled to Richmond, Ky., on Feb. 7, where they came back with a 4-3, win over Eastern Kentucky.

Notes and Quotes: WVU’s overall regular season record is 4-2 after this weekend ... Marshall won 7-0, after sweeping the doubles competition and continued the winning-streak through the singles competition ... the Mountaineers were defeated 6-1 by the Redhawks on Feb. 6, where Freshman Liv Pettersson posted the lone win of the day in the No. 6, spot, where she defeated Miamo-Ohio’s Cara Wald 0-6, 7-5(10-0), after trailing 4-1 in the second set ... WVU came back to prove itself in a 4-3, match against Eastern Kentucky (2-4) ... the Mountaineers’ No. 3 pair junior Ashley Pilsbury and Pettersson took the lone win in the doubles competition against EKU’s Alyze Pagal and Esmira Gheisary in an 8-3, match, but the Colonels won the doubles point with wins in the No. 1 and 2 spots ... WVU came back in the singles competition where the Mountaineers captured four wins by redshirt junior Monique Burton (No. 1), sophomores Veronica Cardenas (No. 2) and Kathryn Haught (No. 3), along with Pilsbury in the No. 5 spot to seal the win.

This Week in Track & Field: The WVU track and field team will compete in the annual Gold-Blue intrasquad meet on Saturday, Feb.13, before heading to the BIG EAST Championships in New York City on Feb. 20-21.

Last Week in Track & Field: WVU split the weekend between the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup at Penn State and the New Balance Collegiate Invitational in New York City … the weekend was highlighted with junior Chelsea Carrier’s record-breaking performance at the Sykes-Sabock Challenge … the Buckhannon, W.Va., native broke a school and meet record, while also posting an NCAA automatic qualifying standard in the pentathlon … Carrier won the event with 4,136 points to break the school record previously set by Pat Itanyi in 1997 (4,111) … she finished first in the 60-meter hurdles (8.45), the high jump (1.71 meters), the long jump (5.92 meters), the shot put (10.99 meters) and the 800-meter run (2:20.09) … at the New Balance Collegiate Invite, junior Jessica O’Connell posted a career-best performance in the mile with an NCAA provisional time of 4:43.73.

Notes and Quotes: Also at the New Balance Collegiate Invite, the Mountaineers took the top three spots in the 3,000-meter race as seniors Marie-Louise Asselin and Kaylyn Christopher also posted NCAA provisional times after finishing in first (9:25.79) and second (9:30.95), respectively … senior Clara Grandt finished in third with a time of 9:33.57 … at the Sykes-Sabock Challenge junior Stephanie Caruso posted a BIG EAST qualifying time of 5:01.91 in the mile, while junior Katelyn Williams finished in fourth (1.70 meters) and freshman Sydney Cummings tied for fifth (1.70 meters) in the high jump.

This Week in Wrestling: The Mountaineers will face No. 18/21-ranked Pitt on Tuesday, Feb. 9 … action at the WVU Coliseum starts at 8 p.m. … the contest is WVU’s regular-season home finale and the team will honor senior student-athlete Mike Rowe … WVU travels to Saint Clairsville, Ohio, for a dual with Ohio on Sunday, Feb. 14 … start time is 3 p.m. ET.

Last Week in Wrestling: The Mountaineers were idle … the dual against Pitt, originally slated for Feb. 6, was rescheduled due to inclement weather.

Notes and Quotes: In their last competition, the Mountaineers won eight of the 10 bouts against Lock Haven … freshman Shane Young earned his fifth-straight win with a 4-0 decision over Nick Hyatt … Young improves to 12-5, 3-0 against EWL competition at 125 pounds … sophomore Colin Johnston posted a 16-4 major decision at 133 pounds … he earned his team-leading 18th win of the year and also holds a 3-0 mark in EWL action … Johnston racked up six takedowns in his victory … senior Mike Rowe (149) and redshirt sophomore Matt Weston (174) earned their first dual meet victories as Mountaineers … Rowe registered a 14-4 major decision, while Weston took a 9-5 decision … redshirt senior Donnie Jones recorded his fastest pin of the year … he won by fall over Kevin Dufresne in 37 seconds at 165 pounds … juniors Kyle Rooney and Brandon Williamson earned wins at 197 pounds and heavyweight, respectively, to close out the match … Rooney pinned Lock Haven’s Henry Turner in 3:26, and Williamson earned a 4-0 decision over Dan Craig.

“They really are getting better, but it’s sometimes hard to convince them. You’re taught that winning is good and losing is bad, but the qualitative evaluation is that they are getting better. You have to hope that it sinks in, they keep faith and keep working hard.” – Coach Craig Turnbull

	Posted by Utterback71inMB on 2/09/10 at 8:15 AM ATTAGIRL Chelsea!!! Great win and great effort. Don't know how you did it. Spread some of your dedication, tenacity, planning, and winning around WVU! We can all learn from and by your example. Thank you.

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