Empire 8 Athletes of the Week: Oct. 15, 2012
Field Hockey Offensive Player – Stevens
Dailyn Brook, Freshman – Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill East
Dailyn Brook scored once in Stevens' win over William Paterson and added a goal and an assist in the Ducks' victory over Hartwick on Saturday. Brook tied the game at one when she re-directed a shot from sophomore Jillian Fiebel and then set up Fiebel for the game-winner. She now has eight goals and three assists on the year as the Ducks are now 6-0 in the Empire 8.
Field Hockey Defensive Player – Utica College
Kells Casey, Freshman, Goalie – Sandwich, MA/Kimball Union Academy
Casey allowed just one goal as Utica went 2-0 last week. The freshman had a career-high 16 saves in the Pioneers' 2-1 win over #11 Skidmore. She followed that up with a three-save performance against St. John Fisher on Saturday to pick up her first career shutout. Casey leads the Empire 8 with a .818 save percentage and is second in the conference with a 1.52 goals against average.
Football Offensive Player – Utica College
Andrew Benkwitt, Senior, QB – Mamaroneck, NY/Mamaroneck
Senior quarterback Andrew Benkwitt repeats as the offensive player of the week. Benkwitt completed 18 passes for 333 years and three touchdowns, setting a single-single record for touchdown passes (21). He also rushed for touchdown as the Pioneers defeated Frostburg 41-0, marking Utica’s first shutout victory since 2003 when it topped Husson 36-0.
Football Defensive Player – Alfred University
Jon Jackson, Senior, FS - East Amherst, NY/Bishop Timon
Senior Jon Jackson had two interceptions, both in Alfred territory, and added three solo tackles in the Saxons' 26-13 win over 11th-ranked St. John Fisher. Jackson had 33 return yards on one of his interceptions (the other resulted in a touchback) and also added a 51-yard return on a kickoff.
Football Special Teams Player – Utica College
Thomas Woodburn, Freshman, Kicker – West Islip, NY/West Islip
Freshman kicker Thomas Woodburn knocked down two field goals of 30 and 39 yards and was a perfect 5-for-5 in extra point opportunities. The 39 yard field goal was a career-long and also tied for fifth longest in school history. Woodburn’s 11 points scored marked the most by a kicker in the program’s 12-year history.
Men’s Cross Country Runner –Hartwick
John Stuligross, Senior – Kenosha, WI/Kenosha Bradford
Senior John Stuligross paced the Hartwick men’s cross country team to a fourth place finish out of the 17 team field at the Cross Country Only Conference Championships in Geneva, NY. Stuligross led the way for the Hawks as he placed first overall with a final time of 26:56.20.
Women’s Cross Country Runner - Ithaca
Alexa Rick, Sophomore – Elyria, OH/Elyria Catholic
Sophomore Alexa Rick paced the Bombers with a 15th-place finish out of 270 runners on Saturday at the six-kilometer Oberlin Inter-Regional Rumble. She rewrote her season-best performance by over a minute with a finish of 22:01.20. The Ithaca College women's cross country team raced to a fifth-place finish out of 30 teams. The Bombers finished behind four teams nationally ranked in the USTFCCCA's top 25, with their top seven all clocking season-best times.
Men’s Golf Athlete – No Nominations
Women’s Golf Athlete – Ithaca
Jackie Young, Senior – Burnt Hills, NY/ Burnt-Hills-Ballston Lake
Young posted a career-best score of 78 in the opening round, and her two-day tournament total of 160 was the best tournament score of her collegiate career. Ithaca defeated last year's NCAA Division III runner-up DePauw in the second-round team scoring and placed third overall behind DePauw and host Wittenberg.
Men’s Soccer Offensive Player - Utica
Kevin McAllister, Junior, Forward – Boxford, MA/Masconomet Regional
Team leading scorer Kevin McAllister helped add to the Pioneers lead when he netted his ninth goal of the year, from 15 yards out, off an assist from junior captain Chris Perkins to put UC up 2-0 in the 37th minute against Ithaca. McAllister moved into sole possession of third place on the College's all-time scoring list, as he now has 44 points on 18 goals and eight assists. He surpassed former UC standout Jon Wood, who tallied 42 points in his four year career. McAllister also added a goal in the Pioneers' 2-1 win over Wells.
Men’s Soccer Defensive Player – St. John Fisher
Kyle Metcalfe, Junior, GK - Fairport, NY/Fairport
Junior goalie Kyle Metcalfe recorded his fourth shutout of the season in a overtime 1-0 win against Nazareth. Metcalfe stopped a season-high nine shots to earn his seventh win in-between the pipes. The win helped Fisher, who is in first place, but was picked to finish last in the E8 preseason coaches poll, earn a spot in the Empire 8 tournament.
Women’s Soccer Offensive Player - Nazareth
Olivia Derleth, Junior, forward – Webster, NY/Webster Thomas
Derleth delivered her team-leading ninth goal of the season Saturday in a 1-0 win over Hartwick. Derleth scored in the 53rd minute as she headed in a corner kick as Nazareth improved to 3-2-1 in conference play and 8-4-3 overall.
Women’s Soccer Defensive Player – Ithaca College
Becca Salant, Senior, GK – Holliston, MA/Holliston
Senior goalkeeper Becca Salant tallied her 13th victory in net making seven saves in a 3-0 Ithaca victory over Farmingdale on Saturday. Farmingdale's best scoring chance came during the second half when it was awarded a penalty kick. Salant saved the shot attempt to preserve her tenth shutout of the season. The fourth-ranked Bombers improved to 13-0-1 on the season with the win.
Women’s Tennis Player – Ithaca
Cristina Nunez, Senior – Rockaway, NJ/Morris Hills
Cristina Nunez won the first singles bracket at the 2012 New York State Division III Women's Tennis Championships with a 3-0 record. She defeated opponents from Vassar, Nazareth and Skidmore.
Women’s Volleyball Player - Stevens
Maggie Kowalska, senior OH – Edison, N.J./ John P. Stevens
Kowalska recorded 20-plus kills in each of two matches this week for Stevens. She tallied 20 in a five-set loss to NYU and then posted 21 in a sweep of Hunter on Oct. 12 to break the school's all-time kills record of 1,572. Kowalska surpassed the mark by one kill and now has 1,573 for her career.
Women’s Volleyball Rookie – Ithaca
Carly Garone, Setter – East Moriches, NY/St. Anthony’s
Garone set for 131 assists, 7.71 per set, over the course of five matches for the Bombers. She was named to the Ithaca Invitational All-Tournament Team. Additionally, Garone amassed 12 kills, six aces, 24 digs and seven block assists for Ithaca.