Black Knights Blog

Congratulations Class of 2013

One more sleep. One more sleep until graduation. One more sleep until hearing your name announced and walking up the steps to receive your diploma. One more sleep until the second lieutenant bars are pinned on your dress uniforms.

Saturday marks West Point’s graduation ceremony and the end of a challenging 47-month experience for the Class of 2013.

Close to a thousand cadets will participate in graduation at Michie Stadium Saturday morning and have the prestigious honor of earning a degree from the U.S. Military Academy.

Among those thousand of graduates are hundreds of cadet-athletes who contributed championships, victories, memories and much, much more on the fields of friendly strife.

You can read about the success of Army this past season by clicking here.

This afternoon, the winners of the Army Athletic Association Award will also be revealed. Check back to goarmysports.com to find out which male and female senior took home the honor.

Speaking of honors, yesterday we announced the Army Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2013. You can read about these tremendous leaders of character here. They will be inducted Sept. 13 and then honored the next day when Army hosts Stanford at Michie Stadium.

In case you missed it, the 114th meeting of the Army Navy Game Presented by USAA will kick-off at 3 p.m. on Dec. 14.

This weekend, the track and field team continues competition at the NCAA Regionals.

And Monday, the baseball team will learn which NCAA Regional and who it will play next weekend. Goarmysports.com will have all of the details and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter (@ArmyAthletics).

Congratulations Class of 2013

#goARMY

Graduation Week Continues

Good Morning and Happy Wednesday.

Graduation Week continues here at West Point as the Class of 2013 eagerly awaits commencement on Saturday.

As you can imagine, West Point is a busy place during Graduation Week and there is not a lot of rest for cadets. For example this morning there was parade rehearsal beginning at 5:30 a.m. Tomorrow, there is a rehearsal for graduation that begins at 6:00 a.m. Between parades, awards ceremony ad rehearsals, it is still a busy time for cadets.

While our office is generally quite during Graduation Week, we will make a major announcement tomorrow when the Army Athletic Association Award is revealed. This prestigious honor is presented to a male and female cadet for four years of athletic excellent. The winners will be announced Thursday during the Department Awards Ceremony beginning at 10:30 a.m. in Eisenhower Hall.

While there are no competitions this week, there is still plenty of sports news.

Five track and field athletes will compete in the first round of the NCAA Track and Field Championships at North Carolina AT&T. You can read a preview here.

Lacrosse player Brendan Buckley was presented with another academic honor as you learn here.

And women’s tennis tabbed its captains for the 2013-14 season.

The baseball team had a couple of days off and returns to practice today. There are quite a few interviews scheduled so be sure to check your local paper or goarmysports.com for some of those stories. The baseball team will learn who and where it will play on Monday at noon on ESPNU when the field of 64 for the NCAA Tournament is revealed.

Enjoy graduation week and travel safely.

#goARMY

Another Weekend, Another Championship

Another weekend, another Patriot League championship here at Army athletics.

Add the Black Knights’ baseball team to the list of league winners after Army swept top-seeded Holy Cross to claim the conference title.

While the baseball team was winning its second consecutive championship, the softball team was playing at NCAA Regionals and those of us back at West Point were honoring our cadet-athletes with the sixth annual Black Knight Awards.

Chris Rowley threw a complete-game in the opener and Mark McCants delivered a walk-off single in the nightcap as Army swept Holy Cross to win the Patriot League Championship series.

You can read the game recaps by clicking here. Army has now won seven Patriot League Championships, the most of any league member and will learn their NCAA Regional destination on Monday when the field of 64 is unveiled on ESPNU at noon.

Check out the Army twitter feed @Army_Baseball for some great re-tweets, including one from a player who wears pinstripes and plays in the Bronx.

The softball team capped their incredible season at the NCAA Austin, Texas Regional. While Army lost to Houston and nationally ranked Texas, the Black Knights won 35 games and a Patriot League Championship. You can read all about the trip to Texas here at the Army softball page.

Last night, we held the sixth annual Black Knight Awards, a chance to celebrate our cadet-athletes with a variety of awards. You can read the full recap, with a photo gallery, here. The @ArmyAthletics twitter feed has some re-tweets from coaches who show what a special evening this has become.

#goARMY

Mid-Week Update

It’s already been a busy week here on the Banks of the Hudson. The biggest news is the announcement of the women’s tennis team’s NCAA Tournament opponent. The Black Knights, fresh off their ninth straight Patriot League championship, will head west to face No. 7 UCLA in the first round.

Several cadet-athletes have received recognition this week. Women’s tennis player Della Taylor was named the Army Athletic Association Athlete of the Week. She was also named the MVP of the Patriot League Tournament.

On the diamond, softball’s Alex Reynolds and Morgan Lashley were named the Patriot League Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively. The team won all four games versus Lafayette over the weekend and will be the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Patriot League Tournament.

Lacrosse’s Brendan Buckley was named the Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Week, while John Glesener was named one of 25 candidates for the Tewaaraton Award, which is presented to the nation’s top player.

The mid-week schedule is full this week with baseball hosting New York Tech this afternoon and Hartford tomorrow, while the softball team is at Albany for a doubleheader today.

Check back Friday for a recap of those games, as well as a look at the weekend ahead.

Go Army!

Championship Weekend

The Black Knights added another trophy to the collection over the weekend. The women’s tennis team captured its ninth straight Patriot League championship, and 14th league title in program history, with a 4-1 win over arch-rival Navy. The Black Knights will find out their NCAA destination Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.

The golf team finished third at its Patriot League Championship. Plebe Marcus Plunkett was named Rookie of the Year after defeating all other Patriot League freshmen. Robby Hill and Brandon Baerwaldt earned second-team all-league honors, finishing among the top 10.

The softball team earned a weekend sweep at Lafayette to clinch a spot in the Patriot League Tournament. The Black Knights posted their second straight 30-win season and will be the No. 2 seed in the upcoming conference tournament, which will be held at Lehigh.

The baseball team had its Patriot League postseason plans decided over the weekend. The team split a doubleheader with regular-season champion Holy Cross on Saturday before losing twice to the Crusaders on Sunday. Army will be the No. 3 seed and travel to No. 2 Navy for a best-of-three semifinal series on May 11-12. The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday with an “if necessary” game on Sunday.

The track & field team wrapped up its regular season at the Penn Relays. The team will now move on to the Patriot League Championships at Lehigh on May 3-4.

Check back on Wednesday for the latest update, and as always you can get up-to-the-moment updates at www.goARMYsports.com, twitter.com/ArmyAthletics and facebook.com/ArmyBlackKnights.

Weekend Preview

Good morning, and welcome to Friday’s edition of Black Knights Blog. We have a full-scale weekend preview lined up for you this morning with several Army teams in action over the next couple of days.

Two members of the Army gymnastics team are competing at the NCAA Championships, which are being held at Penn State. Kip Webber qualified as an all-arounder, while Garrek Hojan-Clark qualified on the pommel horse.

The men’s tennis team is gunning for a Patriot League Championship this weekend as the top-seeded Black Knights travel to Colgate for the three-day event. Army received a bye into the semifinals where they will meet either Navy or Colgate on Saturday.

The women’s tennis team hosts Stony Brook on Saturday at Malek Tennis Courts. It will be Senior Day for the Black Knights.

The softball team is also on the home front, hosting a four-game series versus Patriot League rival Bucknell on Saturday and Sunday at the Army Softball Complex. The Black Knights will honor their lone senior prior to Sunday’s doubleheader. Army will also host a free softball clinic following Sunday’s games.

Army’s baseball team, which has jumped into a tie for second place in the Patriot League standings with Bucknell, will travel to Pennsylvania this weekend for a pivotal four-game series against the Bison. Army and Bucknell will play doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday.

The Army lacrosse team has a big game at Holy Cross on Saturday night as the Black Knights look to clinch a spot in the upcoming Patriot League Tournament. An Army victory would put the Black Knights in the four-team field as the No. 3 seed, while a loss would eliminate them from the playoffs.

The track and field teams continue their outdoor slate on Saturday when the Black Knights make the relatively short trek to Princeton, N.J., to compete at the Larry Ellis Invitational.

Be sure to check out Army’s official athletics website (goARMYsports.com) throughout the weekend for recaps and results from your favorite teams. Fans are also encouraged to follow Army on Twitter (@ArmyAthletics) and “like” the Black Knights on Facebook.

Thanks for reading today’s blog entry.

#GoArmy

Wednesday’s Blog

Welcome back to Black Knights Blog. Today’s installment will look back at some weekly award winners and a nine-inning win on the softball diamond, while also looking ahead to a mid-week baseball game.

After helping Army defeat Navy for the fifth straight year last Saturday, a pair of lacrosse players earned weekly honors. Alex Daly was tabbed the Army Athletic Association Athlete of the Week. Daly and John Glesener also collected Patriot League weekly accolades.

The Army hockey team handed out its team awards at its annual banquet earlier this week. Check out all of the winners and view a photo gallery from the event HERE.

The softball team squandered an early 2-0 lead against Iona only to rally for a 3-2 victory in nine innings yesterday at the Softball Complex. For a complete recap, box score and reaction, click HERE.

There were two football announcements made earlier this week as the athletic department revealed that mini-plans are now on sale and that the Poinsettia Bowl (Army’s primary bowl tie-in for 2013) will be played on Dec. 26.

There is just one more mid-week contest, and that features the Army baseball team hosting Manhattan on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.

We’ll have a full weekend preview edition of Black Knights Blog for you on Friday.

Be sure to follow Army on Twitter (@ArmyAthletics) and “like” the Black Knights on Facebook (Army Black Knights).

Thanks for reading. #GoArmy

Weekend Wrap-Up

Good morning and welcome to Monday’s edition of Black Knights Blog.

A busy weekend in Army Athletics concluded yesterday with three Army teams in competition.

Marcus Plunkett led the golf team at the Last Chance Classic, winning the event and leading a strong showing by the Black Knights.

The baseball team completed a four-game sweep of Lafayette by taking both ends of a doubleheader on Sunday. The Black Knights won a pair of 2-1 decisions on Saturday to begin the four-game set.

The softball team split a doubleheader against Lehigh on Sunday after being swept by the Mountain Hawks on Saturday.

On Saturday, the Army lacrosse team defeated Navy for the fifth straight time, posting a 14-7 victory in Annapolis.

Also on Saturday, the men’s tennis team beat Colgate to finish its Patriot League slate with a perfect 6-0 record. On Friday night, the Black Knights beat Bucknell.

The women’s tennis team also wrapped up a perfect 6-0 conference mark with a win at Bucknell on Saturday.

The track and field teams combined to win 17 events in Saturday’s home finale.

Also, men’s basketball standout Ella Ellis was named to the All-Met second team. He will be honored along with women’s basketball player Kelsey Minato at a dinner this week.

This week’s schedule features a pair of mid-week matchups on the diamond as the softball team hosts Iona on Tuesday, the baseball team hosts Manhattan on Wednesday.

Be sure to check out goARMYsports.com for all of the latest information on your favorite Black Knight teams. Also, follow Army on Twitter (@ArmyAthletics) and like Army on Facebook.

Weekend Preview

Almost the weekend and it’s a busy one at that.

Welcome to the rainy Friday edition of the Black Knights blogs.

Before we get to weekend previews, a pair of hockey players earned awards.

Cheyne Rocha took home the Senior CLASS Award, a national honor that recognized Cheyne for his work on the ice and off the ice. Details about the award can be found here.

Ryan Leets was not only a stellar goalie, he is also a stellar student. You can read about his accomplishments by clicking here.

The weather looks promising for the weekend, thankfully. Here is your quick weekend preview.

The baseball team will play a pivotal series at Lafayette Saturday and Sunday.

The lacrosse team travels to Annapolis, Md., to face Navy with a gold star on the line.

Softball treks to Lehigh for a four-game series.

Men’s tennis is at Colgate.

The track and field team will honor 17 members of the senior class before its meet.

The golf team hosts the Last Chance Classic.

And the women’s tennis team plays at Bucknell.

Thanks for your support. #goARMY

Mid-Week Updates

Good morning and welcome to the Wednesday edition of the Black Knights Blogs.

It has been a quite week thus far with the golf team the only Black Knights competing. Army finished tied for fifth at the Lafayette Invitational on Monday during a busy stretch for the golfers.

Three teams are in action today. The baseball team is hosting Fordham at 3:30 p.m. in a nine-inning contest at Doubleday Field. The women’s tennis team is also hosting Fordham. That match will get underway at 3 p.m. The softball team meanwhile is trekking to Drexel for a pair of games beginning at 2 p.m.

There is no action on Thursday with the men’s tennis team playing at Bucknell in a Patriot League match on Friday at 3 p.m.

In case you missed it, we announced the 8th annual Hudson Valley Baseball Classic this week. This is a wonderful community event that annually attracts thousands of fans. Full-team introductions, singers from Army and Marist, skydivers, and postgame fireworks are all part of the package and the best part is admission is FREE! There is also a children’s clinic set for 4 p.m. with team members from Army and Marist. You can click here for all of the details and registration forms.

#goARMY