Athletes of the Week: Oct 24-30, 2016
Student-athlete performances continue to show quality as the Cross Country championships are now in the books and the regular seasons for field hockey, soccer and volleyball wrapped up. Those earning honors for the week of Oct. 24-30 include:
Football Offensive Player – Hartwick
Koree Reed, Junior, WR – Baldwinsville, NY/Baldwinsville
Koree Reed registered 253 receiving yards in Saturday's game against Buffalo State. He scored on a 71-yard touchdown pass to start the day’s scoring and added a 99-yard touchdown catch early in the second half for the Hawks. His 253 yards receiving is the fourth-highest single game total in Division III football this season.
Football Defensive Player – Cortland
Mark DeLuise, Sophomore, LB – Wayne, NJ/Wayne Valley
Mark DeLuise made a career-high 14 tackles, 12 solo, including two sacks in Cortland's 45-20 win over Morrisville. He also forced and recovered a fumble on a kickoff return that set up an early Cortland touchdown drive.
Football Special Teams Player – Cortland
Shane Cronin, Senior, K/P – West Nyack, NY/Clarkstown South
Shane Cronin made a 35-yard field goal and all six of his PAT kicks in Cortland's 45-20 win over Morrisville. He also averaged 38.8 yards per punt on four kicks, with two of them pinning the Mustangs inside the 20-yard line.
Field Hockey Offensive Player – Ithaca
Michaela Donohue, Junior, Forward – Yarmouth Port, MA/Dennis-Yarmouth Regional
Michaela Donohue had a monster week in leading the Bombers to shutout victories to conclude the season. She scored both goals in a 2-0 shutout of Brockport on Tuesday evening. She then added two goals and an assist in the 6-0 blanking of Elmira in the season finale on Saturday. Donohue concludes the year on a four-game scoring streak.
Field Hockey Defensive Player – Ithaca
Katie Lass, Senior, Goalie – Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill West
Katie Lass posted a pair of 70-minute shutouts over Brockport and Elmira. She denied eight Golden Eagle shots, as Ithaca marked two goals after halftime to take the victory. The senior keeper added one save in the 6-0 win at Elmira on Saturday.
Men’s Soccer Offensive Player – Stevens
Danny Nasti, Sophomore, Midfield – Verona, NJ/Montclair Kimberley
Sophomore Danny Nasti scored three goals and added one assist in a 2-0 week for Stevens. Nasti finished with two goals and an assist on Wednesday as the Ducks set a program record in the 16-1 win against Berkeley. On Saturday, Nasti scored with less than 10 minutes to go in regulation, clinching a 1-0 win for Stevens over Houghton. With the win, Stevens secured the top seed in the E8 championship.
Men’s Soccer Defensive Player – No Nominations
Women’s Soccer Offensive Player – Hartwick
Sierra Bentley, Junior, Forward – Worcester, NY/Worcester
Sierra Bentley etched her named into the school record book as she registered four assists in a 2-0 week for Hartwick. Her second assist in a 4-2 win over Elmira gave her 11 helpers for the season to pass Rachel Duell (1980) and Kylie Thayer (2014) for the single-season Hartwick record. Her third assist of the day gave her 22 for her three-year career to vault her past the former all-time leader Suzette Cirella. The career record had stood for 31 years. Bentley also assisted on Hartwick’s first goal in a 2-1 victory over Oneonta Wednesday. It marked the first win for the program over their cross-city rival since 1997.
Women’s’ Soccer Defensive – Hartwick
Madison Miller, Sophomore, Defender – Oneonta, NY/Oneonta
Madison Miller not only anchored a Hartwick defense that won matches against SUNY Oneonta and Elmira, but also tallied twice in the Hawks' win over the Soaring Eagles. She scored on a header on a corner for the Hawks' second goal in the first half and added an insurance marker late in the contest. Despite being the Hawks' center back, Miller still is the team's second-leading scorer with six goals this season.
Men’s Cross Country Runner – Ithaca
Sean Phillips
Sean Phillips was the first runner to cross the finish line at the Empire 8 Championships out of 101 competitors. He posted a time of 25:45.9 to best the field by nearly 11 seconds.
Women’s Cross Country Runner – Stevens
Amy Regan, Senior – Green Brook, NJ/Watchung Hills
Amy Regan became the first student-athlete to ever win four individual cross country Empire 8 Conference titles. Regan clocked a time of 17:17.4 on the 5K course to beat the next runner by five seconds and help Stevens to a second place team finish for the fourth straight year.
Women’s Volleyball Player – Ithaca
Amanda Cerruti, Sophomore, MB – West Islip, NY/West Islip
Amanda Cerruti had a big weekend with 30 kills on a .411 hitting percentage and 11 blocks to help Ithaca go 2-1 at the Skidmore Invitational. She kicked off the two-day event with eight kills on .375 hitting, adding two solo blocks and three block assists in the Bombers five-set heart-breaker against New Paltz. She opened her fantastic performance on Saturday with an excellent match against Potsdam. She posted a match-best 11 kills on .474 hitting, while she also picked up a pair of block assists. The second-year middle added 11 more kills to pace IC for the match against Geneseo, also chipping in two solo blocks and two block assists. Cerruti was named to the All-Tournament Team at the conclusion of the competition.
Women’s Volleyball Rookie – Alfred
Amber Smith, Freshman, OH – Penfield, NY/Webster Schroeder
First year Amber Smith broke her career-record in kills with 23 against SUNY Polytechnic in the Saxons’ season-closer on Saturday. She finished with hitting percentage of .273 in the match and added 12 digs, one solo block and one ace. Smith earlier earned 11 kills, five block assists, seven digs and two set assists in Alfred University’s win over Oswego State.
Men’s Swimming & Diving Athlete – Nazareth
Alex LaPoint, Junior – Fairport, NY/Fairport
Alex LaPoint set three school records, won five individual events and was a part of the winning 400 freestyle relay in a 1-1 week for Naz. On Friday, LaPoint set the school record in the 100-meter breast (1:05.80) and also won the 200-meter IM (2:13.02) in Nazareth's loss to LeMoyne. LaPoint led the way against Brockport on Saturday by breaking school records in the 200-meter breaststroke (2:29.12) and the 400-meter IM (4:49.33). In the breaststroke, he broke a record by Randy Lewis that had stood since 1999 and in the 400 IM, he broke a record held by Josh Nellist since 2000. LaPoint also won the 200-meter freestyle (2:03.54) and was part of thee winning 200-meter medley relay.
Women’s Swimming & Diving Athlete – Nazareth
Cameron Hess, Senior – Victor, NY/Victor
Cameron Hess won six individual events in a 1-1 week for Nazareth. On Friday, Hess won the 200-meter free (2:17.33), followed by the 400-meter free (4:47.67), and the 800-meter free (9:49.16) in a loss to LeMoyne. She won the 800-meter freestyle in 9:52.51 against Brockport on Saturday. She also won the 200-meter backstroke (2:37.00) and the 400-meter IM (5:37.35).