Empire 8 Athletes of The Week: February 18, 2013
Men’s Basketball co-Player – Utica
Connor Maisch, Junior, forward – Kingston, NY/John A. Coleman
Connor Maisch averaged 16 points and shot 70% from 3-point land (7-10) as Utica posted two huge wins over Ithaca and Elmira to earn a spot in the E8 Tournament for the first time since 2008-09. Maisch went 6-for-10 from the floor and 5-for-8 from behind the arc, including the game-winning 3-pointer with less than a second left in regulation time, to top host Ithaca on Friday, 69-66. He bounced back the following day with 14 points on 4-for-6 shooting from the floor and 100% from 3-point range (2-2) to help lift the team to an 88-84 victory over Elmira. Heading into the weekend match-ups Maisch ranked first in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (52.4%).
Men’s Basketball co-Player – Ithaca
Sean Rossi, Senior, Guard – Sparta, NJ/Sparta
Senior Sean Rossi helped the Bombers secure the #2 seed in the Empire 8 Championship Tournament with a 2-1 week. He tallied 33 assists, averaging 11 assists per contest, to match the NCAA Division III record of 917 that has stood for 10 years. He now shares the record with Ramapo's Tennyson Whitted that dished out 917 assists from 2000-03 over the course of 108 games. Rossi will have a chance to break the all-time record when the Bombers play St. John Fisher is the semifinals of the E8 Tournament on Friday, Feb. 22 at 8pm in Hoboken, NJ.
Men’s Basketball Rookie – St. John Fisher
Chaz Lott, Guard – Wynantskill, NY/Christian Brothers Academy
Freshman Chaz Lott averaged 16.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, five assists and 2.3 steals as the Cardinals went 3-0 on the week and locked up the No. 3 seed in the Empire 8 Tournament. Lott shot 65.4 percent from the field, 100 percent from three and 72.2 percent from the line. Lott led his team with 17 points against Nazareth and filled the stat sheet with six rebounds, four assists and three steals on Tuesday. He chipped in with 14 points, six boards, five assists and three steals in the 77-60 win over Hartwick on Friday. Fisher won its eighth straight game, picking up an 82-73 win over nationally-ranked Stevens on Saturday as Lott totaled 18 points, six assists and seven rebounds.
Women’s Basketball Player – St. John Fisher
Portia Velasco, Sophomore, Guard – Vallejo, CA/Carondelet
Portia Velasco shot 54.8% from the field and 88.9% from the line as St. John Fisher secured the No. 4 seed in the Empire 8 Tournament. She scored a career-high 34 points as the Cardinals defeated Hartwick 68-57 Friday night. Velasco went a perfect 10-for-10 from the floor and 12-of-14 from the charity stripe in the outing. The 34-points was the most scored by a Fisher player since Colleen Maloney netted 35 during the 2010-11 season. She started the week with 14 points and a string of fours across the stat sheet in the rebound, assist and steal columns.
Women’s Basketball Rookie – Nazareth
Lindsey Kelly, Center – Doylestown, PA/Central Bucks East
Lindsey Kelly averaged 19.3 points and 10.7 rebounds while shooting 63.9% (23-of-36) this week as the Golden Flyers went 2-1 on the week. She started the week with a 21 point, six rebound performance against Fisher on Tuesday night. Kelly closed out the season over the weekend with her fifth and sixth double-doubles. She matched her career high with 23 points in Friday's win over Elmira. Then she combined 14 points with 13 rebounds in Saturday's season finale at Ithaca. Kelly finished the regular season as the Empire 8 leader in field goal percentage (161-for-276, .583%).
Men’s Swimming & Diving Athlete – N/A
Women’s Swimming & Diving Athlete – N/A
Men’s Indoor Track Athlete – Stevens
Michael Cahill, Junior – Clark, NJ/Union Catholic
Junior Michael Cahill (Clark, N.J.) broke his own school record in the 3,000-meter race by 16 seconds at the NYU Fastrack Challenge on Friday. Cahill posted a time of 8:42.91, improving on his old program record of 8:58.12. Cahill also qualified for the upcoming ECAC Championships on March 1 and 2 with his fourth place finish. Before this season, no Stevens runner had ever posted a time better than 9:04.02.
Men’s Indoor Field Athlete – Ithaca
Brendan Wilkins, Junior – Pawcatuck, CT/Stonington
Brendan Wilkins cleared 2.00 meters in the high jump to finish second and meet the ECAC standard in the event on Friday at NYU's Fastrack Team Challenge at the Armory.
Women’s Indoor Track Athlete – Ithaca
Jenn Randall, Senior – Cincinnatus, NY/Cincinnatus
Senior Jenn Randall was a part of two Ithaca school records that went down Friday at NYU's Fastrack Team Challenge at the Armory. She won the 500-meter run in 1:16.17 to rewrite Jessica Wilcox's record of 1:18.19 that was set on Feb. 18, 2006. She also teamed with sophomore Harmony Graves, junior Martyann Chromik and freshman Eliza Dewart to clock a time of 3:57.45 in the 1,600 relay. The previous record of 3:58.28 was set on March 5, 2011.
Women’s Indoor Field Athlete – Stevens
Rebecca Tylock, Senior – Shrewsbury, MA/Shrewsbury
Senior Rebecca Tylock posted a breakthrough performance in the pole vault with a school record mark of 10 feet, 10 inches (3.3 meters) and qualified for ECACs. Tylock placed fourth overall in the event at the NYU Fastrack Challenge.