Four Mids Garner NAAA Athlete-of-the-Week Honors

**ANNAPOLIS, Md. **-

Zanai Barnett-Gay (women's basketball),

Ava Yovino (women's lacrosse),

Wenqing Tang (squash) and

Nathan Kent (men's track & field) shared this week's Naval Academy Athletic Association Athlete-of-the-Week accolade. Women's basketball clinched the program's first Patriot League Regular-Season Championship since 2014, the nationally-ranked women's lacrosse team knocked off #7 Florida, the squash team earned its highest finish in the College Squash Association's Hoehn Cup since 2008 and the men's track & field team won its sixth-consecutive Patriot League Indoor Championship.

Barnett-Gay led Navy to the outright claim for the 2025-26 Patriot League Regular Season Championship on Saturday with a dominant and efficient showcase at Colgate. In the Mids' 73-63 victory, she shot 13-22 from the field for a career-best 31 points to go along with five rebounds, five assists and five steals. Needing 18 points to move into fifth all-time in the program's career scoring leader board, Barnett-Gay netted 19 in the first half before reaching the 30-point plateau for the first time in her career.

With six points on three goals and three assists (all team highs), Yovino helped lead Navy to a 14-11 upset victory over #7 Florida. The win tied for the second-highest ranked opponent the Midshipmen have defeated in school history. Additionally, Yovino added a team-high seven draw controls, while causing a team-best three turnovers and picking up a ground ball. The senior team captain netted all three goals in the first half, helping the Midshipmen take the lead just before halftime – a lead they would not relinquish. Yovino added assists on scores by

Taylor Miles,

Anna Gotterup, and

Mikayla Williams. In addition, she helped Navy win 17 of the final 20 draws in the game, giving the Mids extra possessions to control the clock and pace of the game.

Tang was one of two Navy players who went undefeated at the College Squash Association Divisional Team Championship over the weekend, leading Navy to a third-place finish in the Hoehn Cup. He is now 5-0 in his two seasons playing in the event.

Tang, the Mids' No. 1 player on the ladder, closed out the year with a 27-2 record, including a remarkable 27-0 mark in team competition. His only losses during the season were against the sport's elite players at the CSA Individual Championship. His 27 wins are tied as the second most in program history alongside Bill Kacergis (27-6 / 2012-13), Mitch Bottini (27-6 / 2012-13) and Allan Lutz (27-9 / 2008-09) and just one shy of the record held by Jeff Sawin who posted 28 wins in 2006-07 (28-4). Meanwhile, Tang is the only player in school history who has finished a season winning 90 percent or more of his matches with a minimum of 20 wins. He finished the year with a 93.1 winning percentage with the next-closest play winning 87.5 percent of his matches (Jeff Sawin, 28-4 / 2006-07). Tang also surpassed the 50-win mark with his three wins over the weekend. He stands 51-6 in just two seasons of play and is the 41st player in program history to reach the milestone.

Kent was a key contributor in leading Navy to its sixth-consecutive Patriot League Indoor Championship and the program's 16th indoor league title, surpassing Army for the most in Patriot League history. He added to lengthy list of accomplishments by claiming his third-straight indoor title in the 400 meters (47.27) to become just the second athlete in Patriot League history to capture three-consecutive indoor 400-meter crowns (Bucknell's Rob Arent, 2010-12). Kent earned his second gold medal of the day as the anchor of the 4x400-meter relay team, which posted the sixth-best time (3:11.47) in school history and secured the program's seventh-straight indoor title in the event. He also finished fourth in the 200 meters (21.35).

Go Navy