Three Corvias ECAC Athletes of the Week
Three Empire 8 student-athletes have been honored as the Corvias Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Athletes of the Week in the Upstate region for their performances during the week of Feb. 15-21, 2016.
Men’s Swimming & Diving – Upstate
Swimmer of the Week
Matt Plunkett – Hartwick College, Sr., Cooper City, Fla.
Matt Plunkett won two individual events at the Empire 8 Championship and was part of four relays. Plunkett won the 500 freestyle on Wednesday with a time of 4:35.81 and then won the 200 backstroke on Saturday with an NCAA B-cut and new E8 meet record time of 1:47.76. He finished second in the 100 backstroke with a B-cut time of 50.75, missing first place by .26 seconds. Plunkett helped Hartwick finish second in the 400 medley relay, 400 free relay and 800 free relay and take third in the 200 free relay.
Women’s Swimming & Diving – Upstate
Diver of the Week
Anna Belson – Ithaca College, So., Hartland, Wis.
Anna Belson won the 3-meter dive and finished in second in the 1-meter dive at the Upper New York State Collegiate Swimming Association and Empire 8 Championships. She was named Diver of the Meet at the state championships after scoring a total of 482.80 points in the 3-meter dive, which was 24-points higher than the next diver, and finished with 434.25 points in the 1-meter dive. The Hartland, Wis. native was the Empire 8 champion in both diving events and met NCAA qualifications in both of her dives.
Women’s Basketball - Upstate
Player of the Week
Kaitlyn Astel – Stevens, Sr., Guard, Staten Island, N.Y.
Kaitlyn Astel scored 20-plus points in all three games this week, leading the Ducks to a 2-1 week. Against Hartwick, she became the 12th player in program history to score 1,000 career points, scoring 22 total. Astel would score 21 points and five rebounds in a 75-65 win over Nazareth, and followed that up with a 26-point performance against Fisher on Saturday.