Wheeling, W. Va. - Conference Championship week has begun for basketball, signaling the near conclusion of the crossover season on campus. On Wednesday, the Wheeling University Athletic Department announced their weekly High Flyer of the Week awards, and it was a split between the winter and spring sports for this week's awards. Wheeling Acrobatics & Tumbling athlete Gabriella Jantz earned the Female High Flyer of the Week Award, while Men's Basketball player Tee Harris JR. Was the Male High Flyer of the Week.
The final week of February started on the Lacrosse field when Wheeling Women's Lacrosse hosted Shepherd. The Cardinals jumped out to an early lead, but it wasn't enough as they fell 21-6 to open the week. That same night, Men's and Women's Basketball hit the road and earned a sweep over Point Park, with the women picking up a 71-56 win, followed by a 93-83 win for the men. The action then shifted to the weekend with Wheeling Wrestling kicking things off at the NCAA DII Super 1 Region tournament. The Cardinals would finish with three placers at the event, including their second ever National Alternate in the 285-pound weight class.
As the day went on, Wheeling Men's Lacrosse opened their Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) schedule against Davenport. The Cardinals would get an early lead, but ended up dropping a 17-7 affair. Wheeling Baseball played the first two games of their three-game series against Carolina U, with offense leading the way. The Cardinals earned wins of 10-4 and 16-6 to take a 2-0 lead in the series. Saturday action wrapped up at home as the basketball teams hosted West Liberty in "The Battle for Wheeling." Both games came down to the wire, and the Cardinals would come out victorious in each, with the women winning 79-76 before the men took down the Hilltoppers 93-91. The weekend wrapped up with the finale of baseball's three-game series at Carolina U, with the team pulling off a 20-8 win, before Acrobatics & Tumbling battled Canisius to a 233.625-205.025 score.
Gabriella Jantz is taking home her first Cardinal High Flyer of the Week award of the season after leading Wheeling Acrobatics & Tumbling to their first 200-point effort of the season. Individually, she would shine with a career-high effort in the 6-Element Tumbling Pass, where she set the program record. She would put up a score of 9.300 and picked up one of the four heat wins in the Tumbling event. She would also be a part of the Tumbling Trio Pass, which picked up the second heat win of the event with a score of 7.500. Along with her Tumbling ability, Jantz also played a role in the team's other 9.00+ performance, coming in the Inversion Pyramid. She would go inverted for a score of 9.150 in the event, rounding out a big day on the mat. Jantz has been a solid contributor on the mat since her freshman year and looks to continue that success.
Tee Harris Jr. Is also taking home his first Cardinal High Flyer of the Week award of the season, coming off the back of a career-week. Harris would score 61 points between the two games, setting his career-best twice during the week. He addd to that effort 19 rebounds on the defensive side of the ball, while shooting 64.2% from the floor. His biggest contributions came on the offensive side of the ball, when he put up 26- and 35-point efforts during the week, setting career-highs both times. His biggest effort came against West Liberty, when the junior put up 35 points and was just one rebound away from his fifth double-double of the season. On the defensive side, 12 of his 19 rebounds came on the defensive end to round out a big week.
Gabriella Jantz is taking home the first Cardinal High Flyer of the Week award of the season for the Acrobatics & Tumbling team, while Tee Harris is earning the fourth High Flyer of the Week award for the Men's Basketball team. Harris joins teammates Caleb Murray and Ayden Goll (2) in being honored, while Jantz sets the tone for the Acrobatics & Tumbling program.
The next Wheeling University Athletic event is scheduled for Thursday, March 5th, when the Wheeling Women's Basketball team battles The University of Charleston at 2:30 PM
