E8 Athletes of the Week: March 30
Men's golf and outdoor track and field have held their first events of the spring season, bringing the Empire 8 up to a full slate of spring sports in action. Those earning weekly honors include...
Baseball Player – Canton
Seth Douglas, Sophomore, Outfield – Reedsburg, WI/Reedsburg
Seth Douglas hit .400 in 10 at-bats this week. He finished with a double, two runs scored, two stolen bases and an RBI. He also finished with a .952 fielding percentage making 19 putouts and one assist in 21 chances.
Baseball Pitcher – Utica
Stephen Szatko, Senior – Sauquoit, NY/Sauquoit
Senior Stephen Szatko tossed a nine inning complete game Saturday at Stevens Institute of Technology to lead the Pioneers to their seventh win of the season. Szatko allowed just two runs while striking out six. He gave up two scores in the first and went on to shut down the Ducks over the next eight frames.
Softball Player – Utica
Stephanie Siriano, Senior, Outfield – Sauquoit, NY/Vernon-Verona-Sherill
Senior Stephanie Siriano went 5-for-7 at the plate with one home run to help lead Utica to a pair of convincing non-conference victories at Skidmore College on Wednesday.
Softball Pitcher – Utica
Brittany Meka, Freshman – Averill Park, NY/Averill Park
Freshman Brittany Meka had six strikeouts and allowed just two earned runs as she picked up her first collegiate win over Skidmore on Wednesday.
Men’s Lacrosse Player – Ithaca
Eli Gobrecht, Junior, Defender – Ithaca, NY/Ithaca
Junior defender Eli Gobrecht led the way for the Bombers in a 9-8 win over 11th-ranked Cabrini with a shut-down performance. Gobrecht had eight caused turnovers and three ground balls on the afternoon, and helped Ithaca's transition attack with clearing passes and rushes throughout the game. Gobrecht spent a majority of the game defending two-time Cabrini All-American attack Damian Sobieski who had just one assist and three shots in the game. Earlier in the week, in a 12-5 win over St. John Fisher, Gobrecht had six caused turnovers and five ground balls.
Men’s Lacrosse Goalie – Ithaca
Scott Sidnam, Junior – Camillus, NY/West Genesee
Scott Sidnam made eight saves and allowed just five goals in a win over St. John Fisher, and then stopped nine shots in a win over 11th-ranked Cabrini as Ithaca improved to 8-2 on the season with two victories.
Women's Lacrosse Player – Houghton
Chandler Jones, Sophomore, Midfielder – Collegeville, PA/Spring-Ford
Chandler Jones led the Highlanders this week averaging 5 assists and 1.33 goals per game. Jones leads the Empire 8 averaging 3.5 assists per game. In her performance against Wells College she tallied up 12 assists, which tied her for third in the NCAA Division III record book for assists in one game. In the Empire 8 match up against Alfred University she scored 3 goals and dished out 3 assists.
Women's Lacrosse Goalie – Nazareth
Ashley Kirch, Senior – Watertown, NY/Watertown
Ashley Kirch helped Nazareth to a pair of conference wins over the weekend as she totaled 11 saves in wins over Houghton and St. John Fisher. She had three saves and allowed no goals in 30 minutes of action against Houghton and had eight saves, including four on free-position shots, while allowing six goals in a win over No. 17 St. John Fisher Saturday. Earlier in the week, she had three saves in a loss at #2 Cortland.
Men’s Tennis Player– Stevens
Matthew Heinrich, Junior – Hendersonville, TN/Hendersonville
Junior Matthew Heinrich picked up two singles wins and one in doubles this weekend in a grueling two-day schedule against No. 12 Case Western and Oberlin. The junior defeated the Case Western's No. 1 player in the Central region, 7-5, 7-5 in singles to start the weekend on Saturday. Against Oberlin on Sunday, Heinrich won 6-4, 6-1 in first singles after teaming with Ben Foran to take an 8-3 win in first doubles.
Men’s Golf Player– Moravian
Jim Maru, Junior – Allentown, PA/Lehigh Valley Academy
Junior Jim Maru earned medalist honors with a one-over par round of 71 to lead the Moravian College golf team to a second place finish at the Chestnut Hill College Spring Griffin Invitational Tuesday at the Inniscronne Golf Club to begin the 2015 spring season. Maru's 71 on the par 70 course is his lowest round of the season by five strokes as well as a career-best round in his two and a half seasons with the Greyhounds. Maru led the 86 golfers in the tournament Tuesday by shooting a 34 on the front nine and a 37 on the back nine. He had three birdies, 11 pars and four bogeys in the round. Maru edged Andreas Lunding from Wilmington by a stroke for the individual title, the second medalist honor of his career.
Men’s Outdoor Track Athlete – Nazareth
Nick LaBarbera, Freshman – Red Hook, NY/Red Hook
Freshman Nick LaBarbera placed third in the 400-meter dash at the Emory Classic with a time of :50.31. In the 200 event, LaBarbera was 16th with a time of :23.96.
Men’s Outdoor Field Athlete – Nazareth
Brandon Vuolo, Junior – East Islip, NY/East Islip
Junior Brandon Vuolo broke the school shot put record at the Emory Classic. Vuolo’s mark of 13.55 meters (44 ft., 5 1/2 in.) placed him sixth in the event. The previous record was 13.52 meters (44 ft., 4 1/4 in.). In addition to Vuolo's performance in the shot put, he was 16th in the discus with a throw of 39.56 meters (129 ft., 9 in.). He just missed breaking the school record, which is 39.81 meters (130 ft., 7 in.).
Women’s Outdoor Track Athlete - Alfred
Miasia Hillman, Senior – Buffalo, NY/Hutch Tech
Senior Miasia Hillman won the 100-meter dash (12.42 seconds) and took third in the 200-meter dash at Widener University's Danny Curran Invitational on Saturday.
Women’s Outdoor Field Athlete - Nazareth
Taylor Pierson, Junior – Wellsburg, NY/Southside
Junior Taylor Pierson finished second in the long jump with a leap of 5.30 meters (17 feet, 4 3/4 inches) at the Emory Classic.