Athletes of the Week: Aug. 28 - Sept. 3, 2017
The first weekend of competition for the 2017-18 season is in the books, and the student-athletes are already turning in impressive performances. Those earning weekly honors for the week of Aug. 28 - Sept. 3, 2017 include...
Football Offensive Player – Hartwick
Billy Pine, Senior – QB – Hoosick Falls, NY/Hoosick Falls
Billy Pine threw for career highs of 539 yards and seven touchdowns in Saturday's 48-47 loss to Western Connecticut State. He completed 24 of 38 passes (63.16%) on the day and rushed for another 14 yards. Pine completed 12 passes for 316 yards and four scores in the first half alone.
Football Defensive Player – Cortland
Mark DeLuise, Junior, LB – Wayne, NJ/Wayne Valley
Mark DeLuise led Cortland with a career-high 16 tackles (12 solo), and added an interception, in the Red Dragons' 34-32 win vs. Augustana. His interception set up a touchdown drive late in the first half that gave Cortland a 24-16 halftime lead.
Football Special Teams Player – Cortland
William Holscher, Senior, Kicker – Commack, NY/Commack
William Holscher made the game-winning 31-yard field goal with 18 seconds remaining to give Cortland a 34-32 victory over visiting Augustana. He also connected on a 33-yard field goal in the second quarter. Holscher finished the game 2-for-2 on field goal attempts and 4-for-4 on PAT kicks.
Men’s Cross Country Runner – St. John Fisher
James Felice, Senior – Owego, NY/Owego
James Felice led Fisher at the Brockport Early Season Short Course race on September 1. Felice finished fifth out of a field of 61 runners in the 6000 Meters Individual Results (6k) with a time of 19:28.9.
Women’s Cross Country Runner – Nazareth
Clarissa Hensler, Freshman – Lakeville, NY/Livonia
Clarissa Hensler started her collegiate running career on the right foot, taking forth place out of 93 runners at the Brockport Early Season Short Course. Hensler clocked an average mile time of 6:04.1 to finish with an overall time of 15:05.1 on the 4-kilometer course.
Men’s Golf Athlete – Stevens
Jack Doherty, Junior – Colts Neck, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy
Jack Doherty placed third out of 47 golfers at the Hamilton College Invitational. The Colts Neck, New Jersey native finished one shot off his career-low two-round total, finishing with a 154. Doherty was one of seven golfers in the tournament to shoot back-to-back rounds in the 70’s. Doherty shot a 78 in the opening round and then improved by two strokes Sunday to shoot a 76, despite less than idel playing conditions.
Women’s Golf Player – Canton
Cecelia Neally, Sophomore – Corning, NY/Corning-Painted Post
Cecelia Neally got off to a strong start to her sophomore campaign as she finished fifth overall out of the 30-golfer field at the Hamilton College Invitational. She opened the tournament with a 96 and then dropped 10 strokes off her games with an 86 on the second day of the tournament.
Field Hockey Offensive Player – Hartwick
Claudia Stone, Senior, Forward – Akron, NY/Akron
Hartwick senior Claudia Stone, generated eight points as the Hawks began the season 2-0. Starting the year against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Stone netted the first Hawks’ goal in a 3-2 come-from-behind victory. Just two days later, Stone had a hand in four of ’Wick’s six goals versus Keuka College. In the 6-1 victory, the senior scored two goals and added two helpers.
Field Hockey Defensive Player – Utica
Samantha Whitehouse, Senior, Goalie – Greenwich, NY/Greenwich
Senior Samantha Whitehouse made 16 saves and tallied her first shutout of the season as Utica went 2-0 last weekend. On Saturday, she stopped all 10 shots she faced to help lift the Pioneers to a 1-0 win over Oneonta. She followed that up with six saves in a 3-2 overtime win against New Paltz on Sunday. On the season, she has a .889 save percentage and 1.16 goals against average.
Men’s Soccer Offensive Player – Stevens
Kevin Brito, Freshman, Forward – Clinton, NJ/Gil. St. Bernard
Kevin Brito tallied a pair of goals in his collegiate debut against Kean. Brito scored twice in a span of 1:01 to give the Ducks a 2-0 lead only 3:23 into the game.
Men’s Soccer Defensive Player – Utica
Jonathan Side, Sophomore, GK – Plattsburgh, NY/Plattsburgh
Sophomore transfer Jonathan Side started his Utica College career with two consecutive shut outs last week. He made six saves, including a huge first half penalty kick save, as the Pioneers used late heroics to top SUNY Polytechnic 1-0 in their season-opener on Friday. He added seven saves and blanked SUNY Cobleskill 1-0 on Sunday. UC is now 2-0 for the first time since 2014.
Women’s Soccer Offensive Player – Sage
Samantha Trimblett, Junior, Forward - Monroe, NY/Monroe-Woodbury
Junior Samantha Trimblett enjoyed a fine start to the 2017 season by logging 11 points in two games as Sage went 2-0 on the week. She netted two goals and assisted on two gothers in the season opener win against Ramapo. Two days later she scored two goals and assisted on another to power the Gators past Wells.
Women’s’ Soccer Defensive – Stevens
Lindsey Mahnken, Senior, Goalie – Bayville, NJ/MATES
Lindsey Mahnken played 200 minutes in goal on opening weekend and posted nine saves with a .900 save percentage. Mahnken earned a shutout of No. 2 Messiah in the season opener with seven saves. The next day she added two saves in a 1-0 loss to Franklin & Marshall.
Women’s Tennis Player – Elmira
Megan Fitzgerald, Senior – Thomaston, CT/Thomaston
Megan Fitzgerald got off to a strong start to the 2016-17 season, posting a perfect 4-0 record in a pair of dual matches over the weekend. All four of her wins came at the top singles and doubles positions. She picked up 8-0 and 6-1, 6-0 wins in Elmira’s 5-4 victory over Utica in the season opener. Then Fitzgerald went on the road and collected a pair of wins, 8-4 and 6-1, 6-2, against Brockport. Dating back to the 2016-17 season, Fitzgerald has won seven consecutive singles matches and 10 straight doubles contests.
Women’s Volleyball Player – Stevens
Sydni Horner, Senior, Libero – Columbia, MD/River Hill
Sydni Horner The senior libero set a school, and conference record, for digs this weekend as the Ducks split four games at the Haverford Invitational. After collecting 79 digs over the season's first three matches, Horner wasted little time snapping both records, passing the Stevens mark of 2,101, and the Empire 8 mark of 2,104, in the first set against No. 10 University of Mary Washington. On the season, Horner has 99 digs, nine assists, and four aces and was named to the All-Tournament Team.
Women’s Volleyball Rookie – St. John Fisher
Rebecca Hay, Freshman, Setter – Rochester, NY/Gates-Chili
Rebecca Hay got off to a strong start as the freshman played a strong role in leading the St. John Fisher College women's volleyball team to a 3-1 record to begin the 2017 season. Hay combined to contribute 41 assists, eight service aces and 10 digs as the Cardinals won in straight sets against SUNY Poly, Cazenovia College and Buffalo State. After recording 17 combined assists in her first two collegiate contests, the freshman went on to notch a career-high 14 assists against Cazenovia before following that up with 11 helpers against the host Saints.