11 minute read
Associate Head Coach Travis Doak
Travis Doak enters his 14th year at his alma mater and his eighth as the team’s associate head coach. He is responsible for coaching vault, balance beam and floor exercise. He also oversees the Mountaineers’ recruiting efforts. Since Doak joined the staff in 2009, WVU has made 11 NCAA Regional Championship appearances, earned one conference title and compiled an overall record of 170-116-1 (.594). The 2021 season saw the Mountaineers competing in a double, round-robin home and away conference schedule, while the squad also competed in a trio of meets against regional rival Pitt. Doak helped the WVU floor exercise lineup to a national ranking inside the top 25 each week, as the squad posted a 49.0 or higher in all but two meets. West Virginia also tallied a season-high 49.45 mark on floor in the second round of the NCAA Regional Championships on April 2, good for an NCAA regional program record. Eleven of the 14 Mountaineers who saw competitive time reached the podium. WVU boasted 64 podium finishes on the year, while Kendra Combs led the team with 11 podium finishes and seven event wins. Academically, nine Mountaineers earned a spot on the 2021 Academic AllBig 12 Gymnastics Teams, including six first-team members. Kianna Yancey was the lone WVU gymnast to earn the recognition with a 4.0 grade-point average. In a season cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, Doak helped guide WVU to four top-50 scores in 2020, including a season-high 196.425 in wins over Pitt and Rutgers on March 1, at the WVU Coliseum. West Virginia won six of its last eight competitions and finished the year ranked No. 24 nationally on floor. Individually, 12 of the 16 Mountaineers who saw competitive time reached the podium. Chloe Cluchey posted a personal best on floor, scoring a winning 9.95 on March 1. Her total was the team’s highest individual score of the season, becoming the first WVU gymnast to earn a 9.95+ since Kirah Koshinski scored a 9.975 on March 17, 2019. In 2019, Doak helped WVU qualify for the regional championships for the 40th time in program history and placed fourth in the second of two second round quad meets at the NCAA Ann Arbor Regional Championships with a 195.425 score. Prior to the regional championships, WVU placed fourth at the Big 12 Gymnastics Championship with a 195.6 score. WVU was nationally ranked twice in the Road to Nationals Rankings. The vault and floor lineups were nationally ranked each week, with the floor lineup spending seven weeks in the top 10 and peaking at No. 5. At season end, Jaquie Tun and Koshinski owned a combined three national rankings. Koshinski ranked No. 7 on vault and No. 28 on floor, while Tun ranked No. 45 on floor. WVU finished the season with a 19-9 overall record (0-4 Big 12), the team’s top win mark since earning 21 victories in 2012. Doak also helped coach Koshinski to her fourth career All-America honor and first first-team recognition, as she was named to the NACGC/W Regular Season All-America Vault First Team. Koshinski became the first gymnast in program history to earn at least one honor in four consecutive seasons. The 2019 All-Big 12 Gymnastics Vault Team member also set the WVU records for career 9.9+ scores on vault (26) and floor (22). Additionally, WVU tallied 49.5 on floor in wins over Pitt and Cornell on Feb. 17, at the WVU Coliseum. The mark was the fifth-best floor score in program history. Koshinski earned the first 10.0 of her career that same day and claimed the floor victory with a career-best 9.975. Koshinski also total a 10.0 on vault, scoring a winning 9.95 at Pitt on Feb. 22. WVU was at its most consistent in Doak’s 10th season with the Mountaineers, as the team did not count a fall in all but one meet. The Mountaineers qualified for their 39th NCAA Regional Championships and placed fourth at the Big 12 Championship with a 195.625, their second-best score at a championship away from Morgantown. WVU was ranked nationally four times throughout the season and finished the year at 13-13 (0-6). The Mountaineers made their mark in the record book in 2018, as WVU posted five team scores that rank in the program’s top 50 list. Four of the scores were 196.0 or better, and three were earned away from the WVU Coliseum, a feat never achieved before by a Mountaineer team. Also in 2018, Koshinski was named to the NACGC/W All-America Second Team for vault for the third consecutive season, becoming just the second gymnast in program history to earn at least three career All-America awards. Koshinski scored 9.9 or better on vault seven times. In Doak’s ninth season in 2017, WVU gymnastics again had a presence at the NCAA Championships, as Zaakira Muhammad qualified in the all-around. She was most successful on floor, scoring a program NCAA record 9.9125 and finishing in eighth place, good enough for All-America Second Team accolades. She became the first Mountaineer since 2007 to earn All-America honors at the NCAA Championships. Additionally, she tallied 9.8 on uneven bars, matching the program’s championship record. The Mountaineers concluded the 2017 season in record-setting fashion, scoring a season-best 196.325 and finishing third at the NCAA Morgantown Regional Championships. The mark was a program regional record and just 0.3 points short of second-place Alabama. Muhammad earned her NCAA Championships bid with a fourth-place, 39.325 showing in the all-around. Additionally, Koshinski placed second on floor with a 9.925 score, and the Mountaineers set a program regional record on bars (49.35) and matched the program’s regional record on floor (49.225). Koshinski collected her second straight NACGC/W All-America Second Team honor for vault, and combined with Muhammad’s All-America honor, WVU ended the year with two All-Americans for the second time in program history and the first time since 1994. Koshinski also was named to the All-Big 12 Gymnastics Vault Team. Nationally ranked every week in 2017 but three, the Mountaineers finished the season at No. 20 in the Road to Nationals Rankings, their highest position in the final season rankings since sitting at No. 18 in 2007. WVU finished the year at 13-10 (3-3). In his eighth season with the Mountaineers, Doak helped lead the Mountaineers back into the national rankings in 2016, as the team was nationally ranked six of the last nine weeks of the season, the program’s first national rankings since March 18, 2013. The team tallied 195.0 or better in 11 straight contests and finished with an 11-8 overall record (1-5 Big 12). Included in the squad’s high scores was a 49.575 floor mark in wins over Ohio State and Bowling Green on March 6, at the WVU Coliseum. The mark was the third-best score in program history. Individually, Doak helped Koshinski earn NACGC/W All-America Second Team honors for vault. The Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, she finished third on the event at the Big 12 Championship and claimed All-Big 12 Gymnastics Vault Team and All-Big 12 Championship Team honors. The Mountaineers went on to finish third at the Big 12 Championship with a 195.925 mark and placed fifth at the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional Championships. Doak’s seventh season with the Mountaineers saw WVU finish fifth at the 2015 NCAA Morgantown Regional Championships with a 195.65 score, the program’s third-best showing at a regional championships. The Mountaineers tallied 49.225 on beam, the team’s best-ever score on the event at a regional. WVU also finished a program-best second at the Big 12 Championship, scoring 195.025. Dayah Haley earned her second straight All-Big 12 Championship Team honor with a second-place finish in the all-around. The Mountaineers tallied 11 individual scores of 9.9 or better in 2015, including 9.95 showings for Haley (floor) and Alexa Goldberg (bars). WVU finished the year with a 14-9-1 (1-1-1 Big 12) overall record. The squad also ranked No. 28 in the final GymInfo Poll. Doak helped guide Hope Sloanhoffer to the 2014 NCAA Championships, as she individually qualified in the all-around. She was the first Mountaineer to qualify since 2009, Doak’s first season as an assistant, and the 18th in program history. Sloanhoffer qualified after finishing second in the all-around and first on beam at the 2014 NCAA Athens Regional Championships. WVU posted its best score at the 2014 Big 12 Championship, tallying 196.375 and finishing in third place. Three Mountaineers earned four All-Big 12 Championship Team honors, and Sloanhoffer finished first in the all-around with a 39.425 score, the program’s first Big 12 title. The squad finished the season with a 6-11 (0-4 Big 12) mark. Sloanhoffer (all-around), Beth Deal (beam), Goldberg (bars) and Nicolette Swoboda (all-around) individually qualified for the Athens Regional. The team finished the year ranked No. 28 nationally on vault and bars. Doak’s assistantship was evident in 2013, as he helped guide the Mountaineers through their first season in the Big 12 Conference. WVU went 196.0 or better in every home meet, a feat never achieved in program history, and finished the year at 13-9 (1-3 Big 12). The Mountaineers were nationally ranked six times in the GymInfo Poll and peaked at No. 16. The squad finished third at its first Big 12 Championship and qualified for its 34th NCAA Regional appearance. Doak was integral in the success of the Mountaineers’ vault and floor lineup in 2013, as both units were nationally ranked every week but one. Jaida
Lawrence concluded the year nationally ranked No. 43 on vault, and Alaska Richardson ranked No. 48 on floor. Additionally, he helped lead Kaylyn Millick and Sloanhoffer to respective No. 27 and No. 42 all-around rankings. Lawrence earned the program’s first All-Big 12 honor, as she was named to the vault team, while Millick earned a spot on the All-Big 12 Championship Team for her second-place finish in the all-around. Under Doak, the Mountaineers have secured 56 all-conference honors, including 30 All-EAGL First Team awards, two gymnasts of the year distinctions and two outstanding senior gymnast nods. Doak played a major role in 2012, helping the Mountaineers transition under first-year coach Jason Butts and parlay the change into instant success. In addition to the Mountaineers’ league-best seventh East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) title, the team’s first since 2008, WVU advanced to the NCAA Auburn Regional Championships and finished in fifth with a 195.9 score, the team’s second-best regional point total. With seven wins at the league championship, WVU finished the year with a 21-5 record, the program’s first 20-win season since 2008. The Mountaineers collected four individual league titles en route to the team win, with Sloanhoffer finishing first on vault, bars and the all-around, and Deal taking the win on beam. Sloanhoffer ended the season ranked nationally on vault, beam and the all-around. Four gymnasts were ranked on vault in the Southeast Region, while three gymnasts each were ranked on bars and floor. As a team, the Mountaineers ranked in the nation’s top 10 on floor for three straight weeks. The team never dropped out of the top 25 on floor and ended the year ranked No. 21. Doak was instrumental in the team’s success in 2011, as he guided the vault and floor lineups to the No. 1 and No. 2 EAGL rankings, respectively. Those lineups also ranked No. 17 and No. 21, respectively, in the nation. Integral in the development of Sloanhoffer, the rookie finished with nine EAGL weekly honors and first-team recognition on vault, floor and beam. She finished the year ranked No. 1 in the league on beam and vault, and No. 4 on floor; she also ranked at No. 17, No. 37 and No. 48 nationally, respectively, on each apparatus. Doak also mentored Tina Maloney to the No. 2 EAGL vault ranking, while Amy Bieski ranked No. 5 in the league. Bieski, the league’s gymnast and outstanding senior gymnast of the year, won the EAGL bars title, and Sloanhoffer and Maloney finished in a tie for second on vault at the championship. In his second season at WVU in 2010, Doak helped guide the Mountaineer vault and floor lineups to the No. 4 and No. 5 EAGL rankings, respectively. His first season with the Mountaineers in 2009 was successful, as the team finished No. 17 nationally on vault and No. 21 on bars. Doak helped coach Mehgan Morris to a national championships berth, as she finished fifth in the all-around at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships. She also won EAGL bars, floor and all-around titles and was named the league’s most outstanding senior gymnast. Additionally, Chelsi Tabor and Maloney earned the EAGL vault title in Doak’s first season. A native of Beverly, West Virginia, Doak came to WVU after serving as an assistant coach at Penn State in 2008, where he was responsible for recruiting, team training, spotting on all skill levels and administrative duties. His primary coaching responsibilities included oversight of the Nittany Lion vault and floor events. He helped PSU sign four top-10 Junior Olympic finalists and guided the Nittany Lions to a 17-9 record. Doak also served as an assistant at New Hampshire in 2006-07. His responsibilities included team workouts, recruiting, video work and community service initiatives. He began his coaching career in 2004 as a volunteer assistant at West Virginia, working with spotting, fundraising and recruit evaluations. Doak earned his bachelor’s degree from West Virginia in sport management in 2006 and a master’s degree in athletic coaching education in 2008.
Advertisement