Athletes of the Week: Jan. 16-22, 2017
A full week of action in the conference brought about several exciting outcomes from the past week, highlighted by personal bests and school records. Those earning Empire 8 Athlete of the Week recognition for the week of January 16-22, 2017 include...
Men’s Basketball Player – Houghton
Dylan Lambert, Sophomore, Guard – Buffalo, NY/Williamsville North
Senior Dylan Lambert averaged 24.33 points per game last week, shooting 54 percent from the field in three games against E8 opponents. Lambert scored 34 and 24 respectively against Elmira and Ithaca, while scoring 15 on the road against Utica. Lambert added 19 rebounds, six assists and three blocks for the week.
Men’s Basketball Rookie – Stevens
Spencer Cook, Freshman, Guard – Washington Township, NJ/Washington Township
Freshman Spencer Cook averaged 14 points per game last week as the Ducks went 2-1 against E8 opponents. Cook's best performance came in Tuesday's win against Ithaca when the rookie scored a career-high 27 points on 8-for-10 shooting from the field. Cook also tallied 10 rebounds and six assists for the week.
Women’s Basketball Player – Stevens
Kaitlyn Astel, GR, Guard – Staten Island, NY/Staten Island Tech
Kaitlyn Astel averaged 24 points as the Ducks went 3-0 with a home victory over Ithaca and road victories over Nazareth and St. John Fisher to move into a tie atop the E8 standings. After opening her week with a 23-point, 18-rebound performance, Astel closed out her week by scoring a school-record 36 points in a come-from-behind win on Saturday. The record-setting performance was the highest single-game total for any women's basketball player in the conference this season and matches the second-highest mark for any player in the Empire 8 on record. The high-scoring guard shot 26-for-47 (55%) from the field and 18-for-20 (90%) from the free throw line to lead Stevens. In addition to her point totals, Astel totaled 26 rebounds, dished out eight assists, blocked three shots and had three steals.
Women’s Basketball Rookie – Elmira
Lauren Franklin, Freshman, Guard – Binghamton, N/Holy Cross
Lauren Franklin was a key factor in Elmira going 2-1 last week against E8 opposition, as the rookie guard averaged a double-double with 11.7 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 2.67 steals per game. She began the week with seven points, nine boards, and three steals in a road win over Houghton. Then, in EC's 12-point victory over Alfred, Franklin produced her first collegiate double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds, both of which were career highs. She also matched her career high with four steals against the Saxons. Franklin nearly picked up a second straight double-double the next game against Ithaca, as the freshman scored 13 points and pulled down nine boards.
Men’s Swimming & Diving Athlete – Nazareth
Gannon Connors, Junior – Binghamton, NY/Chenengo Valley
Gannon Connors won three events and was part of a winning relay team to help Nazareth defeat Utica 194-78 on Saturday. Nazareth set a Utica pool record in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:40.72 behind the team of Gannon Connors, Rob Coatsworth, Alex LaPoint and Michael Walsh. Connors won the 100 and 200 backstrokes in :54.44 and 2:07.32 respectively and the 100 butterfly in :55.49.
Women’s Swimming & Diving Athlete – Ithaca
Nickie Griesemer, Senior – West Chester, PA/Bayard Rustin
Nickie Griesemer had a strong weekend on the diving boards for IC, scoring first-place in three of her four events. In the dual meet against Alfred, she finished first on the one-meter springboard with a six-dive score of 285.30, while she was runner-up on the three-meter board with a score of 275.15. On Sunday, Griesemer swept both women’s events at the 2017 Dick Comanzo Diving Invitational. She marked NCAA Regional qualifying scores in both events, scoring an 11-dive mark of 519.90 in the three-meter and a 473.95 on the one-meter board.
Men’s Indoor Track Athlete – St. John Fisher
Peter Girardi, Junior – Cicero, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse
Peter Girardi Fisher men's indoor track and field competed in the Inter-Regional Invite hosted by Carnegie Mellon University this past weekend, where Girardi set a new school record set in the 60-meter hurdles. He claimed the fastest time in the College's history as he finished the race in 8.18 during the preliminary round. He then furthered himself from the pack as he took first and bettered his time by .03 seconds. The time currently stands as the third fastest in all of Division III. Girardi didn't stop there though, as later in the day he overturned the Fisher record in the 200-meter dash. The junior clocked in at 22.25, bettering the old benchmark by .03 seconds.
Men’s Indoor Field Athlete – Alfred
Jeffrey Nunez, Senior – Wurtsboro, NY/Ellenville
Senior thrower Jeffrey Nunez broke his school record on Friday evening during the Houghton College Highlander Invitational in the weight throw. Nunez had previously set the record at 15.92 meters but on his last throw of the finals on Friday, Nunez surpassed that mark and established the new school record distance of 16.12 meters as he took first place overall in the event. Nunez also led the Saxons in shot put with a toss of 11.24 meters, finishing 12th out of 31 athletes.
Women’s Indoor Track Athlete – Utica
Kaitlyn Stinson, Sophomore – South Kortright, NY/South Kortright
Kaitlyn Stinson recorded a first place finish in the 3,000M event with a time of 11:08.51 at the Hamilton College Continental Invitational on Saturday. Stinson was well ahead of the pack in the race as the second place finisher crossed the line 10 seconds behind her. Her 4x800 relay team also finished third at the invitational.
Women’s Indoor Field Athlete – Nazareth
Emily Soeder, Junior – Baldwinsville, NY/C.W. Baker
Junior Emily Soeder won the high jump at the Highlander Invitational with a mark of 1.60 meters, which was .45 meters higher than the runner-up. Soeder is now in a three-way tie for the best jump in the E8.