Empire 8 Athletes of The Week: April 8, 2013
Baseball Player of the Week – Houghton
Ignacio Villalobos, Senior, SS/2B – Brantford, ONT
Ignacio Villalobos batted 5-for-7 (.714) in Houghton’s win over Hilbert on April 5. He recorded two doubles and one triple with two runs scored and seven runs batted in for a 1.000 slugging percentage. The infielder logged a perfect fielding percentage with four putouts and one assist.
Baseball Pitcher of the Week – St. John Fisher
Justin D’Amato, Junior – Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua Academy
Justin D’Amato earned his fourth victory of the season on April 7. He threw a complete seven-inning game against Utica, allowing three hits and two walks. D’Amato struck out 11 Pioneer hitters, while along just one earned run.
Softball Player of the Week – Elmira
Ashley Palmer, Freshman, IF – Verona, NY/Vernon-Verona-Sherrill
Ashley Palmer helped slug the Soaring Eagles to six wins in eight games last week. She batted .560 with 14 hits, and four of those went for extra basses with two doubles, a triple and a home run. She has seven RBIs and scored four runs. The infielder logged a perfect fielding percentage with seven putouts and two assists.
Softball Pitcher of the Week – St. John Fisher
Sarah Stefanon, Senior – Perry, NY/Perry
Sarah Stefanon won two games to extend her win streak to five games. She did not allow a run in 13 innings pitched and also fanned 17 hitters while scattering seven hits in the two outings.
Men’s Lacrosse Player of the Week – Hartwick
Harry Hughes, Senior – Holtsville, NY/Sachem East
Harry Hughes had a big week for the Hawks as he totaled eight goals and three assists for 11 points. In Wednesday's game against Utica, Hughes totaled three goals including a man-down score in Hartwick's 10-6 loss. On Saturday. he led Hartwick with five scores in the Hawks' 12-8 victory over Elmira. In that game, Hughes scored his 176th career goal to make him the all-time scorer in the program's 49-year history and topped the record of 175 set by Ian Ritcey in 1995. For the season, Hughes has 36 goals and nine assists for a total of 45 points. He ranks eighth in the country in goals per game with 3.5.
Men’s Lacrosse Goalie of the Week – Elmira
Dave Bucchino, Senior – Cedar Grove, NJ/Bow
Dave Bucchino made a remarkable 36 saves in two games this week in net for Elmira. Despite suffering two losses the senior was a fortress in net averaging 18 saves per game and earning a 56.2 save percentage. Bucchino recorded 15 saves against St. John Fisher on April 3 and he did all he could to keep Elmira in a 12-8 loss to conference foe Hartwick as he made 21 saves on April 6.
Women’s Lacrosse Player of the Week - Stevens
Spencer Waybright, Senior, Midfielder – West Hartford, CT/Ethel Walker
Senior midfielder Spencer Waybright became the sixth player in program history to record 200 career points, surpassing the plateau on Sunday with her fifth point in a win over Alfred. The tri-captain led the Ducks to a 3-0 week with 13 goals and five assists for 18 points. She added seven ground balls, six draw controls and six caused turnovers, converting 76.5 percent of her shots into goals. The West Hartford, Conn. native had five goals and one assist in a 13-4 win over Rowan, adding two GB's , three draws and two caused turnover to her line. She had three markers, one helper, four ground balls and four caused turnovers in a 12-6 victory over Elmira Saturday, before notching five scores and three assists in a 16-3 throttling of Alfred.
Women’s Lacrosse Goalie of the Week – Stevens
Meg Collins, Senior – Marshfield, MA/Marshfield
Senior goalie Meg Collins earned two wins this week and allowed just 10 goals against. She notched 20 saves, including a season-best 14 in a 13-4 win over Rowan and six in a 12-6 victory over E8 rival Elmira. Collins had three ground balls and one caused turnover, finishing with a .667 save percentage in 120 minutes in goal.
Men’s Outdoor Track Athlete of the Week – St. John Fisher
Trevor Wilkes, Freshman – Honeoye Falls, NY/Honeoye Falls-Lima
Trevor Wilkes won the 400-meter dash by almost a full second over the field of 19 competitors at the Roc City Classic on April 6. His time of 50.89 set a new school record.
Men’s Outdoor Field Athlete of the Week – Stevens
Sebastian Luna, Senior – Wood-Ridge, NJ/Wood-Ridge
Senior Sebastian Luna (Wood-Ridge, N.J.) was the top competitor in the javelin with an impressive throw of 60.21 meters (197' 6”). Luna beat the field of 28 by nearly two meters in his season's best throw.
Women’s Outdoor Track Athlete of the Week – Stevens
Amy Regan, Freshman – Green Brook, NJ/Watchung Hills
Freshman Amy Regan finished first and set a meet record in the 5,000-meter run at the Ramapo Invitational. Regan posted a time of 17:39.37 and topped the next closest competitor by 1:13. She also broke the meet record by nearly a minute. She also set a new school record in the process and qualified for ECAC's with the 17th best time in DIII.
Women’s Outdoor co-Field Athlete of the Week – Ithaca
Emilia Scheemaker, Sophomore – Scarborough, ME/Scarborough
Emilia Scheemaker snapped a two-year old school record in the triple jump Saturday at the Princeton Sam Howell Invitational. She placed fourth to three Division I student-athletes in the event with an ECAC-qualifying mark of 11.62 meters. Marcia McCord had held the previous record of 11.59 meters since April 29, 2011. The jump ranks her sixth in the nation in the event.
Women’s Outdoor co-Field Athlete of the Week – Nazareth
Taylor Pierson, Freshman – Wellsburg, NY/Southside
Taylor Pierson shattered the Nazareth outdoor record in the long jump and owns the eighth best distance nationally with her winning leap of 5.63 meters (18 feet, 5 1/2 inches) Saturday. She was also part of setting a school record in the 4 x 100-meter relay with a time of :50.84.
Men’s Golf Athlete of the Week – Moravian
Jim Maru, Freshman – Allentown, PA/Lehigh Valley Academy
Jim Maru shot two rounds of 76 last week to lead Moravian. He had the low score at five-over par as the Greyhounds defeated York College of Pennsylvania and DeSales University - 318-323-329 in a tri-match hosted by DeSales. Maru then was four-over par to tie for 11th of 88 golfers at the Elizabethtown College Spring Blue Jay Classic at the Hershey Links. The two rounds of 76 lowered Maru's season average from 87.4 to 84.1 strokes per round and were the first times in seven total rounds he had been below 80.
Men’s Tennis Athlete of the Week – Stevens
Shota Tasaki, Senior – Greenwich, CT/Greenwich
Shota Tasaki was 5-0 over two doubles and three singles matches this week. The only Duck to post an undefeated record, Tasaki was the Ducks' only double-winner on Wednesday at NYU, taking second doubles and fourth singles, which tied the match with only one court still playing. He also won at second doubles and fourth singles Saturday morning at St. John Fisher, then added a win at third singles later in the day at Alfred.