Athletes of the Week: March 27 - April 2, 2017
Weather was a factor to be dealt with causing some schedule changes, but E8 athletes came through with flying colors on the days that were playable. Those who earned weekly honors for the week of March 27 - April 2, 2017 include...
Baseball Player – SUNY Canton
Francesco Palumbo, Junior, Outfield – Canton, NY/Hugh C. Williams
Francesco Palumbo opened the week with his first collegiate hit after being subbed into the lineup as a defensive replacement in left field. That jump started his weekend as he started in left field in the Roos doubleheader verse nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College on Sunday. Overall, the junior finished the weekend 6-for-8 from the plate with a double and scored a pair of runs. In Canton’s first contest on Sunday he went a perfect 3-for-3 from the plate scoring twice, while he hit .750 overall on the week.
Baseball Pitcher – Houghton
Victor Cavalieri, Junior – Rochester, NY/Northstar Christian
Junior Victor Cavalieri tossed a complete game victory in a 5-4 outcome against Elmira on Saturday. Cavalieri allowed four runs (one earned run) on four hits over the seven-inning contest and struck out seven batters. He also held the Soaring Eagles to a .167 batting average.
Softball Player – Alfred
Liz Thompson, Senior, INF – Horseheads, NY/Horseheads
Liz Thompson went 6-for-10 with four walks, scored six runs, drove in five and stole a base as Alfred went 3-1 in four home games last week. In a win over Clarkson, she was 3-for-4 with two doubles and a triple, scored twice and drove in four runs. In the opener of a doubleheader sweep of Utica, she was 2-for-2 with a home run and a double, scored three times and drove in a run. The home run was the 27th of her career, which set a new school record.
Softball Pitcher – St. John Fisher
Lindsey Thayer, Junior – Winthrop, NY/St. Lawrence
Junior pitcher Lindsey Thayer went 3-1 last week as the Cardinals picked up three wins in conference play and went 5-1 overall. Thayer made four starts in the circle and pitched two complete games. In 20 innings of work she allowed just six hits in all without surrendering a walk. The junior pitcher racked up 42 strikeouts on the week including 15 in the opening game of a doubleheader against Stevens on Sunday. Thayer began the week with a win against Clarkson University after throwing 5.0 innings and allowing just one hit while tallying 10 strikeouts. The Winthrop native followed that performance with 5.0 perfect innings against Elmira as the Cardinals no-hit the Soaring Eagles for their first conference win. Thayer continued her week with 7.0 strong innings against Stevens where she allowed two runs on four hits with 15 Ks before closing out the week with 3.0 innings of one-hit ball in a 9-0 win over the Ducks.
Men’s Lacrosse Player – Hartwick
Eric Schweitzer, Junior, Midfield – Babylon, NY/Babylon
Eric Schweitzer registered team-highs of 23 ground balls and nine caused turnovers in a pair of wins for Hartwick. He tied a career-high with 14 ground balls and added a career-best six caused turnovers in a 12-11 victory over SUNY Oneonta on Wednesday. He then added nine ground balls and three caused turnovers in a 10-8 conference win over Alfred.
Men’s Lacrosse Goalie – Utica
Parker Smith, Senior – Dexter, NY/General Brown
Utica’s Parker Smith stopped a career-high 21 shots as the Pioneers topped Oswego State 12-10 on Wednesday afternoon. He also picked up eight ground balls and caused one turnover. Oswego out shot Utica 43-27 on the afternoon, including a 21-11 advantage in the second half. 10 of Smith’s 21 saves came in the second half to help the Pioneers preserve the victory.
Women’s Lacrosse Player – Houghton
Jennifer Zacchigna, Senior, Midfield – East Aurora, NY/East Aurora
Houghton’s Jennifer Zacchigna totaled a team-best nine goals over the course of two games last week. She was efficient with a .692 shot percentage as she netted nine goals on 13 shots. She also totaled 12 ground balls, eight draw controls and six caused turnovers on the week. Zacchigna tied her own school record with seven goals in the 13-11 loss to Hartwick on Friday. She scored two of Houghton’s four goals in the loss to Stevens on Saturday.
Women’s Lacrosse Goalie – Ithaca
Kimberly Presuto, Junior – Woodbury, NY/Syosset
Kimberly Presuto improved her record to 6-1 on the year this past week in backstopping the Bombers to victories over Elmira and nationally-ranked St. John Fisher. The junior did not face a shot in her 30 minutes of action against Elmira. She was much busier on Saturday, marking a season-high 14 saves against the Cardinals.
Men’s Outdoor Track Athlete – St. John Fisher
Peter Girardi, Junior – Cicero, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse
Peter Girardi took first place in the 400-hurdles at the Battleground Relays on Saturday with a time of 51.84. His time is currently No. 1 in the nation by nearly half a second.
Men’s Outdoor Field Athlete – Alfred
Zac Mapes, Sophomore – Queensbury, NY/Queensbury
Sophomore Zac Mapes had a standout performance for the Saxons during the Danny Curran Invitational at Widener University where he took third place in the triple jump with a distance of 12.33 meters. He also finished third out of the 49 participants in the long jump with a jump of 6.43 meters.
Women’s Outdoor Track Athlete – St. John Fisher
Tayler Dence, Freshman – Hannibal, NY/Hannibal
Tayler Dance took first in the 400-hurldles this weekend at the Battleground Relays with a new school record time of 1:04.49. Her time is currently the 21st fastest time in the nation and qualified for ECACs.
Women’s Outdoor Field Athlete – Ithaca
Brandy Smith, Senior – Miami, FL/Ransom Everglades
Senior Brandy Smith highlighted the day at the Muhlenberg Invitational with a pair of first place finishes in the shot put and discus. In the shot put, Smith recorded a heave of 12.75 meters (41 feet, 10 inches) and in the discus, she measured out 43.46 meters (142' 7"), which is the seventh farthest distance in Division III this season.
Men’s Tennis Player – Stevens
Danny Polk, Junior – Mechanicsville, VA/Hanover
Danny Polk opened conference play with a 6-3, 6-0 over St. John Fisher's Kevin Kulawiec at No. 1 singles and a 6-1, 6-0 decision over Nazareth's Louis Rodgers at first singles. He teamed with partner Michael Feldman to earn conference victories at No. 2 doubles with a score of 8-0 against Fisher and 8-4 against Nazareth. Polk and the Duck’s also competed against No. 22 Skidmore. Polk and Feldman lost a hard fought battle at No. 2 doubles, 8-6.
Men’s Golf Player – Stevens
Frank Szucs, Senior – Brookside, NJ/Delbarton
Frank Szucs earned his second straight top-10 finish for the Ducks. The senior finished tied for eighth place with back-to-back rounds of 78 at the Rosemont Raven Invitational, shooting a 12-over-156 in helping Stevens place eighth out of 19 teams.