The Patriot League announced Tuesday that the Army West Point Track and Field team has received four individual weekly awards after the team's performance at the Keydet Invitational. Plebe Justin Young received two awards, claiming his first Patriot League Male Track Athlete of the Week honor and his third Patriot League Rookie of the Week designation. The Wylie, Texas, native won his second 60-meter hurdles race of the season, posting a time of 8.00. Young set the Patriot League season mark with a 7.97 result at the Nittany Lion Invitational on January 12. Firstie Cassie Mundekis was named Patriot League Female Track Athlete of the Week. Mundekis set a program record with a 2:50.66 finish in Friday's 800-meter final and led the field with a 2:11.60 finish in Saturday's 1000-meter final. Two-sport standout firstie Kenneth Brinson was named Patriot League Male Field Athlete of the Week. The Kennesaw, Ga., native won his second consecutive Men's Weight Throw competition, posting a distance of 18.23 meters.

After helping the Army West Point men's basketball team pick up a victory over service-academy rival Navy and go 2-0 this past week, Tommy Funk was named the AWPAA Athlete of the Week. For the week, Funk averaged 23.5 points, 5.5 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game, while recording a 3.7 assist-to-turnover ratio. He was efficient from all areas on the floor, connecting on 73 percent of his shots from the field and 78 percent from deep against two Patriot League teams that ranked inside the top five in scoring defense. Funk led the Black Knights in scoring against Colgate and Navy, tallying a pair of 20-point performances. The cow guard got his week started with a career-high 25 points against the Raiders, while shooting 9-of-12 (75 percent) from the field and a perfect 3-of-3 from long range.

He added four assists and three rebounds in the 91-81 win opposite Colgate. The Warrington, Pa., native followed that outing with a 22-point game against the Midshipmen. He shot 70 percent from the field and knocked down four 3-pointers in the 72-61 victory over Navy. It was Army's first home win over Navy since Feb. 11, 2012 and Funk played a crucial role. To go along with his scoring efforts, he dished out a game-high seven assists and paired that with six rebounds. Funk is now tied for 12th at the Academy with Josh Miller and Alex Morris in single-season assists with 119 and has scored in double-figures in nine of his last 10 outings. He is currently tied for 19th in the nation and leads the Patriot League with 6.3 assists per contest.

After turning in an impressive fall semester in the classroom, the Army West Point women's swimming and diving team was named to the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-America list on Tuesday afternoon. To earn the honor, teams were required to post a grade-point average of 3.0 or higher for the fall semester and maintain a roster of 12 or more student-athletes. With a combined GPA of 3.20, Army was one of seven Patriot League schools to be recognized with the award. This marks the third consecutive semester that the Cadets received the academic recognition. Marie Docken, (4.217), Kim Caccamo (4.078), Serica Hallstead (3.980), Cecelia Croman (3.911) and Kara Wineinger (3.953) held the top GPAs for the Black Knights. Read more.

With the 2019 season quickly approaching, the Patriot League preseason poll has been announced with Army picked fifth. Senior defender Johnny Surdick captured Preseason Defensive Player of the Year accolades for the second straight year, and was named to the Preseason All-Patriot League team. "Given the fact there are a number of outstanding defenders in the Patriot League, it is a tremendous distinction for John to be selected as the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year," said head coach Joe Alberici. "I am certain John will use this recognition as additional motivation to make his senior season the best one of his already storied Army Lacrosse career." The preseason poll and individual awards were voted on by the men's lacrosse coaches and sports information directors from each institution, with restrictions of voting for their own team and student-athletes. With the 16 first-place votes, the reigning Patriot League Champion Loyola will look to repeat as the League's top team, totaling 128 points in the preseason poll. Lehigh follows suit with the other two first-place votes to tally 109 points. Next is Navy (96), Boston U. (89) and Army (62) rounding out the top five. Read more.

With four Cadets scoring in double-figures, the Army West Point men's basketball team cruised to a 76-57 Patriot League victory over Holy Cross on Wednesday night at Christl Arena. The Black Knights (10-10, 5-2 Patriot League), who are off to their best start in league play since starting 6-1 during the 2013-14 campaign, received a strong outing from Matt Wilson after the cow posted a double-double. He dropped a game-high 21 points, while shooting 8-of-10 from the field, and reeled in a game-best 12 rebounds against the Crusaders (11-9, 2-5 Patriot League). Lonnie Grayson had his best offensive outing of his career after going 5-of-8 from the field and knocking down four treys for a career-high 14 points to go along with four rebounds and three assists. Grayson wasn't the only guard to find success on the floor as the backcourt duo of Jordan Fox and Tommy Funk combined for 21 points and 12 assists on the night. Read more.

The Army West Point wrestling team cracked the top-25 in WIN Magazine's most recent rankings, which was released on Monday.

The Black Knights are tied for 24th nationally with Northern Iowa, receiving 13.5 points in the poll. Army is currently 5-2 on the season and 5-0 in the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA). The Cadets are off to their best start in conference duals since the 2005-06 season.

Firstie Rocco Caywood (197 lbs.) and cow Ben Harvey (174 lbs.) were both named in the individual polls for their respective weight classes. Caywood jumped one spot to fourth, while Harvey held steady at 18th.

The Black Knights return to the mat on Feb. 1 when they travel to West Virginia for an 8 p.m. match. To view the full rankings, click here.

Army West Point Director of Athletics Boo Corrigan announced a new multi-year contract extension for head men's soccer coach Russell Payne on Friday. Payne guided the Black Knights to the Patriot League Tournament championship match this past fall after upsetting nationally-ranked Loyola, 1-0, in the semifinal round. It marked the first time since 1996 that an Army squad had advanced to the championship match.

"Russell has elevated our men's soccer program to a new level," Army West Point Director of Athletics Boo Corrigan said. "Since welcoming him to the Army family, he has done an outstanding job in developing leaders of character. He has continued to show leadership qualities on and off the pitch that have been instrumental in the growth of our Cadets. We're looking forward to seeing where he takes this program going forward."

At the helm of the men's soccer team, Payne has also been instrumental in the Black Knights' success in the Army-Navy Cup. In the fall, he helped lift the Cadets to their largest Army-Navy Cup victory in the seven-year history of the rivalry played at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pa., after defeating Navy, 4-1. The Cadets have come out on top in three of the last four years by outscoring the Midshipmen by a combined score of 7-2. Payne was hired in 2010 and has spent nine seasons with the Black Knights. His new contract will extend him through the 2022 season.

"I am truly honored to continue the exciting work of building leaders of character while in pursuit of excellence here at Army West Point," Payne said. Read more.

The Army West Point women's track team closed out the Penn State National Open on Saturday. The team was led by strong efforts from cow Haley Watson, who finished third in the women's 800m, and firstie Abby Halbrook, who placed third in the women's mile. Head Coach Mike Smith said "There were a lot of really good things that happened for us today. But that is not a surprise. Our kids rise to the level of competition and today against some really strong teams from the Big Ten, Ivy League and ACC, we performed very well. Our throws women made some nice adjustments this week and it showed today in the shot put. Lauren Schultz and Emily Mikoud are just starting to get into a groove there, so I look forward to watching them take off in the coming weeks. We also shined out on the track today in multiple areas. Our middle distance women were as advertised: tough and fighting to win events. Cassie Mundekis came within .50 seconds of her own school record in the 800 and Abby Halbrook followed suit in the mile, just missing her own mark set last year in this meet" Read more.

The Army West Point women's tennis team split a pair of matches at Cornell's Reis Tennis Center on Saturday afternoon.

The Black Knights fell to the host Big Red, 5-2, before topping Patriot League opponent, 7-0. Army moved to 2-2 on the year and 1-0 in league matches, while Cornell improved to 1-0 and Colgate dropped to 0-2 and 0-1 in league play.

Army posted its first shutout win of the season. Rookies Paola Bou and Stephanie Dolehide captured their first collegiate dual wins against Cornell. Kirby Einck notched her 60th career singles victory. It was the 10th victory of the season for Dolehide. Sam DiMaio, Abi Waldman and Einck all moved to a team-best 2-0 record in duals. DiMaio collected her team-leading 12th singles victory of the season. MaryJo Pidgeon earned her 10th win of the year. Read more.

Led by Cole Casanova, the Army West Point gymnastics team defeated Springfield on the road Saturday, 395.050 - 388.050. Casanova championed the meet with a career-high 82.350 in the all-around. The fistie captain placed first in five of his six events today. Casanova garnered a career-high 82.350 in the meet. He championed five of his six events. As a team, the Black Knights posted a program record score on floor exercise today combining for a 69.650. Apart from the all-around, Casanova had career-highs in three events. The floor exercise gave Army a solid lead over the Pride. Casanova's career-high 14.250 paced Army, while Mathew Davis (14.100) and Erik Del Cid (13.800) and Elliott Herman (13.800) followed in second and third. Mitch McHugh (13.700) and Taka Giese (13.500) also competed on floor. Brandon Shively was the runner up on pommel horse with a 13.100. Matthew Martin was third with marks of 13.050. Elijah-Ty Phelps posted a career-high 12.700 on the apparatus today. Vault saw Casanova soar above the competition with a career-high 14.500. Alejandro Suarez registered a 14.000 to place third, it was a season-best. Read more.

A career game from yearling Lonnie Grayson guided the Army West Point men's basketball team to its fourth-straight win as the Black Knights claimed a 69-63 road victory over Lafayette on Saturday afternoon at the Kirby Sports Center. Grayson provided a much-needed spark off the bench for the Black Knights (11-10, 6-2 Patriot League) against Lafayette (5-14, 2-6 Patriot League). The second-year guard dropped a career-best 19 points to go with a career-high six rebounds and three steals. Army got another efficient scoring outing from Matt Wilson after the center put up 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting to pair with eight boards. John Emezie was electric off the bench and came up huge in the second half for the Cadets, scoring all 11 of his points in the final frame. Read more.

The Army West Point rifle team got back in the win column on Saturday, shooting a program record in a win over Akron at the Palmyra Invitational. "We had a pretty good day today," head coach Web Wright said. "We set a program record with a 4668. Payne led the way with both gun and everyone else was pretty close behind." Firstie co-captain Payne Nunn led the way with an aggregate scoreboard of 1172. "They were good scores. No one shot remarkably well, but we had a lot of depth," Wright said. "When the whole team shoots like that, we can put up some very competitive scores." Army now sets its sights on her Star Match against their biggest rival. "We have one more week of training and hit the Star Match against Navy. We have some things to work on, but I like where we are right now" Read more.

Class of 2020 cadets celebrated 500 nights until their graduation during the annual 500th Night Banquet in the Cadet Mess Hall this past Saturday. The banquet's guest speaker was retired General David Petraeus '74. Click here to view more photos.

Photo: by Brandon O’Connor

After his spectacular performance against Springfield, Cole Casanova was named the Army West Point Athlete of the Week as well as the Eastern College Athletic Conference Gymnast of the Week. He earns gymnast of the week honors for the second time this season.

Casanova soared above the competition last weekend championing the meet, earning four career-high marks and placing first in five of his six events. The Dallas, Texas, native posted a career-highs in the all-around (82.350), floor exercise (14.250), vault (14.500) and high bar (13.400). Casanova also paced the Black Knights in a program record-setting mark on floor exercise with a team score of 69.650.

The Black Knights host Navy for the annual Star Meet on Saturday at the Lou Gross Center. The meet will begin at 1 p.m.

Firstie captain Kirby Einck of the Army West Point women's tennis team was named the Patriot League Female Tennis Player of the Week on Tuesday.

Einck won her third career weekly award from the league after claiming the award in consecutive weeks from April 18-25, 2017. The Geneva, Ill., native opened the spring season with a 2-0 mark in singles and 1-1 in doubles. She defeated Sofie Moenster (Georgetown), 6-4, 2-6, 10-8 before topping Mackenzie Deeter (Colgate), 7-5, 6-2 in the top singles flight. Both were milestone victories in Einck's career as the win over Moenster was her 40th in singles duals, while the decision over Deeter brought her career singles win total to 60.

Playing alongside rookie Sam DiMaio in doubles, Einck defeated Deeter and Lauren O'Brien, 6-4, in the top doubles flight.

The Black Knights open their home slate on Friday when they welcome Binghamton and Sacred Heart to the Lichtenberg Tennis Center at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively. Read more.

The Patriot League announced Wednesday that its reigning champions Army West Point baseball were projected to defend their title heading into the 2019 campaign. The Black Knights had a league-best six 2019 Preseason All-Patriot League selections and received 44 points and eight first-place votes in the poll. Navy and its three preseason selections picked up 36 points and two first-place votes, while Bucknell had four preseason all-league honorees and finished third in the poll with 34 points. Holy Cross had two preseason all-league selections and finished fourth with 27 points with Lehigh (25 points) and Lafayette (14 points) rounding out the poll. The defending Patriot League Champions (37-24 overall, 18-7 Patriot League) return a pair of second-team all-league starting pitchers with firstie right-hander Daniel Burggraaf (7-3, 2.90 ERA) and firstie left-hander Tyler Giovinco (9-5, 3.26 ERA). Firstie lefty reliever Cam Opp (5-2, 2.66 ERA, 4 saves) gives the Cadets an effective arm out of the bullpen. Yearling third baseman Anthony Giachin (.288, 2 HR, 33 RBI) returns after earning rookie of the year and tournament MVP honors, while all-league cow centerfielder Jacob Hurtubise (.278, 56 R, 42 SB) will also be back to help lead the offense. Read more.

The Army West Point softball team was picked to finish fourth in the Patriot League Preseason poll, which was released Thursday. Boston U., the reigning Patriot League champions, were selected to finish first with 72 points and 12 of the 14 first-place votes. Lehigh and Bucknell tied for second place in the poll with 56 points each, while the Mountain Hawks claimed the final two first-place nods. Holy Cross rounded out the top five with 30 points, while Colgate's 23 points placed itself sixth ahead of Lafayette who earned 11 points. Army also landed three cadet-athletes on the Preseason All-Patriot League Team in senior Carrie Reilly, junior Emily Ballesteros and sophomore Taylor Drayton. The Black Knights tied with the Boston U. for the most players on the preseason all-league squad with three, while Bucknell and Lehigh each earned two honorees. Reilly was named to the All-Patriot League First Team a season ago after posting a breakout season. The Riverside, Ill., native started in 51-of-53 games as a junior last season, contributing 52 hits, 28 RBI, 25 runs scored, 10 doubles, three triples and four home runs. She compiled a batting average of .347 with an on-base percentage of .427 and ranked inside the Patriot League's top-10 in the following categories: average, slugging percentage, hits, RBI, doubles, triples, home runs and walks. Read more.

With temperatures in the mid-teens outside, the Army West Point wrestling team stayed hot with its fourth-straight dual win to the tune of 28-10 over West Virginia on Friday evening.

The Black Knights improved to 6-2 on the season, while West Virginia dropped to 4-13.

After falling behind 6-0 following the first two matches, a pin by rookie Corey Shie fired up the visiting squad and tied the dual. The Mountaineers picked up their only bonus point win of the night in the following match, but Army rattled off six-straight wins to earn their first non-conference win of the year. Read more.

Trailing 2-1 with 25 seconds left in regulation, Zach Evancho of the Army West Point hockey team scored a power play goal to force overtime against Holy Cross on Saturday night. The Black Knights and the Crusaders skated to a 2-2 draw, providing one point to the Cadets in league standings. Evancho had two points on the night after setting up the first goal and tallying the second score. The Black Knights scored on their first power play of the game four minutes into the second period. Evancho passed the puck into traffic in front of the net where Colin Bilek was waiting and took a shot. Dominic Franco came up with the rebound and scored with a between the legs shot 1:06 into the power play. Holy Cross tallied back-to-back even strength goals in the third period within 6:15 minutes to take a 2-1 lead. With 25 seconds remaining in regulation, Matt Berkovitz passed the puck along the blue line to Evancho who fired a shot from the right circle beating Erik Gordon to tie the game. The Black Knights closed out the overtime frame with the puck firing as many shots as possible including the final of the game, but things would end in a 2-2 tie. Read more.

The Army West Point women's tennis team opened its home schedule with a pair of victories over Binghamton and Sacred Heart at the Lichtenberg Tennis Center on Friday. The Black Knights began with a 7-0 shutout win over the Bearcats before claiming a 6-1 victory over the Pioneers. Army improved to 4-2 on the season, while Binghamton dropped to 0-3 and Sacred Heart fell to 1-5. Army posted its 20th win all-time against Binghamton. The Black Knights improved to 10-0 in the all-time series with Sacred Heart. Vincent notched her first-career win in the top singles flight. DiMaio and Waldman earned their team-leading third dual wins of the year. Waldman garnered her fifth career dual win in singles action. The Acworth, Ga., native tied her singles win total from a season ago with her 11th of the year. McCormick etched her 30th career singles win. Allen posted her 30th career doubles dual victory. Boubel and Pidgeon improved to 2-0 in duals this year. Boubel collected her 10th-career singles dual win. Pidgeon extended her winning streak to eight-straight matches. Bou documented her 10th win of the season in singles and doubles action. Inchauste contributed her first-career win at the No. 2 singles position. Dolehide added her fifth doubles win of the year with a pair of victories. Read more.