Athletes of the Week: Sept. 1-6
The first weekend of competition for the 2015-16 season is in the books, and the student-athletes are already turning in impressive performances. Those earning weekly honors include...
Football Offensive Player – Hartwick
Brad Garcia, Sophomore, Wide Receiver – Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley
Brad Garcia collected 255 yards and four touchdown scores on 12 receptions to lead the Hawks Saturday afternoon in a win over Western Connecticut. Garcia had scoring receoptions of 32, 66, 21 and 20 yards.
Football Defensive Player – Cortland
Carson Lassiter, Junior, Safety – Madison, NJ/Madison
Carson Lassiter led Cortland with 13 tackles, nine solo, three pass breakups and a forced fumble in the Red Dragons' 26-24 victory over visiting Heidelberg. His forced fumble near the goal line halted a potential scoring drive in the final three minutes.
Football Special Teams Player – Utica
Jerred Beniquez, Junior, Kick Returner – Port Ewen, NY/Kingston
Jerred Beniquez set a new school-record with a 90 yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the Pioneers 42-28 win over Misericordia on Saturday. He posted two kick returns for 110 yards before Misericordia resorted to squib kicks for the remainder of the contest. He also posted two carries for 34 yards and caught four balls for 31 yards.
Field Hockey Offensive Player – St. John Fisher
Emily Markarian, Sophomore, Forward – Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park
In a 2-1 week, Emily Markarian tallied 5 goals. She scored the game's only goal in a 1-0 win on Saturday. On Sunday she tied the SJFC record for most goals in a game with 4 goals, which she set the previous year, in a 8-1 win over Oberlin.
Field Hockey Defensive Player – Hartwick
Shannon Carter, Junior, Goalie – Falls Church, VA/J.E. B. Stuart
Shannon Carter opened the 2015 season making 13 saves against RPI on September 1. She has six saves in the first half, including a penalty stroke at the 11:53 mark.
Men’s Cross Country Runner – Stevens
Greg Arabagian, Sophomore – Morristown, NJ/Morristown
Greg Arabagian placed first in the Ron Stonitsch Invitational hosted by Vassar College with a 6K time of 19:39.4, which was nine seconds better than second place and leading the Ducks to a 4th place team finish.
Women’s Cross Country Runner – Stevens
Mary Visca, Freshman – Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Sutherland
Mary Visca led the Ducks to the first meet win in Head Coach Justin Wood's four year coaching career by tallying a third place finish in the 5K with a time of 18:59.1.
Men’s Golf Athlete – Scranton
Ryan Brown, Senior – Scranton, PA/Scranton Preparatory
Ryan Brown first a one-over-par 72 to earn medalist honors as the Royals won a tri-match against Marywood and Wilkes on September 3. Brown’s 72 was a career-low at Glenmaura National Golf Club and one shy of his overall career low set.
Women’s Golf Player – Ithaca
Kyra Denish, Sophomore – Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill West
Sophomore Kyra Denish placed seventh out of 50 golfers as the Ithaca College women's golf team kicked off the 2015-16 season with a sixth-place finish at the annual St. Lawrence University Invitational in Canton, N.Y. Competing with four student-athletes, the Bombers combined for a two-day total of 691 to place sixth out of nine teams. Denish had a cumulative score of 157 (80 on day one, 77 on day two). Denish concluded her round Sunday on the Appleton Golf Course by rolling in a 35-foot eagle putt as Denish improved by 17 strokes on her performance at last year's competition.
Men’s Soccer Offensive Player – Alfred
Richard Lander, Junior, Midfield – Narrowsburg, NY/Sullivan West
Richard Lander scored a goal in each of Alfred University's three games last week and led them to a 2-1 record, topping Waynesburg University 5-0 on Saturday and Penn College 4-0 on Sunday. He also pitched in with an assist against Penn College in Sunday evening's game.
Men’s Soccer Defensive Player – Houghton
Jesse Toth, Junior, Defense – Victor, NY/Victor
Jesse Toth anchored the Highlander defense in a 2-1 week. Houghton began with a 1-0 win against Fredonia on Tuesday and then competed in the Oswego Tournament over the weekend. Houghton fell 3-2 to William Patterson on Friday and then earned a 4-1 win against Canton. Toth was recognized with All-Tournament honors.
Women’s Soccer Offensive Player – Hartwick
Allyson Daniels, Junior, Forward – Pembroke, NH/Pembroke Academy
Allyson Daniels scored once in both the 2-0 and 3-0 wins against St. Joesph’s of LI and Delaware Valley, respectively. The two wins secured the first Mayor's Cup Tournament win for Hartwick since 1996. Daniels was named the Kim Mueller Offensive MVP for the tournament.
Women’s’ Soccer Defensive – Nazareth
Allison Dobles, Junior, Goalie – Spencerport, NY/Spencerport
Allison Dobles helped Nazareth to a 2-0-1 week allowing just two goals in 245 minutes of action and making 16 saves. She registered six saves in 110 minutes in a 1-1 tie against RIT on Tuesday. Then she made six saves in a 2-1 win over Emmanuel on Saturday and came in the second half to preserve a shutout against Allegheny Sunday, making four saves.
Women’s Tennis Player – Hartwick
Kelly Napolitano, Sophomore – Mt. Sinai, NY/Mt. Sinai
Kelly Napolitano started the 2015 season undefeated in Hartwick’s first two matches. Saturday she helped Hartwick secure its first victory against Elmira in five years with a 8-6 victory at second doubles and a tough 6-4, 6-4 win at third singles. On Thursday, she blanked her Sage opponent at third singles 6-0, 6-0 and earned a dominating 8-1 victory in doubles.
Women’s Volleyball Player – Houghton
Hattie Burgher, Senior, OH – Selkirk, NY/Loudonville Christian
Senior outside hitter, Hattie Burgher, accrued 13.5 points per match as the Highlanders started the season 2-4. She averaged 3.32 kills per set on the week with a .248% hitting percentage. She also had 3.05 digs per set and had .45 blocks per set. She posted two double-doubles against both Gordon and Skidmore on Saturday. In the first tri-match of the season she reached 1000 career kills milestone.
Women’s Volleyball Rookie – St. John Fisher
Meghan Stonebarger, Freshman, Setter – Hamburg, NY/Frontier
Meghan Stonebarger lead St. John Fisher to a 4-1 week with 121 assists over five matches along with 34 digs and 11 kills. In her first collegiate match she handed out 30 assists with nine digs in a 3-1 win over Geneseo. On Friday she totaled 33 assists and 12 digs in a 3-1 win to Pitt-Greensburg and 27 assists in a sweep of Morrisville. On Sunday she dished out 18 helpers in the 3-0 sweep of Bard and 13 assists in the loss to MIT.