Athletes of the Week: Feb. 5-11, 2018
The Empire 8 Athletic Conference has announced that 11 student-athletes in five different sports have been recognized for outstanding play during the week of February 5-11, 2018....
Men’s Basketball Player – Utica
Ivan Iton, Senior, Forward – Ossining, NY/Ossinging
Senior Ivan Iton helped the Pioneers extend their winning streak to four games as he averaged 17.6 points, 12.0 rebounds per game, 1.0 steal per game and 2.0 blocks per game in three games played last week. He shot an impressive .689 from the field (20-of-29) and also made 13-of-17 free throws (.765). He scored 14 points and had a team-high 15 rebounds in Tuesday’s win over Sage. Iton scored a team-high 13 points, retrieved 13 rebounds and had 2 blocks and 1 steal in Thursday’s win against Hartwick. To close out the weekend, he scored an impressive 26 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks and 4 assists in the win over Elmira.
Men’s Basketball Rookie – Elmira
Shawn Backus, Freshman, Forward – Hamden, CT/The Governor’s Academy
Shawn Backus averaged 9.0 points on 63.2 percent from the field (12-of-19) and 5.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.0 steals per game. Backus scored four points with four boards verse Hartwick on Tuesday and then made all four field goals he attempted and scored nine points with three rebounds and two assists against Nazareth on Thursday. Shawn finished his week on 6-of-8 from the field (14pts) against Utica to go with nine rebounds, three steals and two assists.
Women’s Basketball Player – Nazareth
Rachel Benedict, Senior, Forward – Brockport, NY/Brockport
Benedict averaged 23.3 points on 52.7 percent from the field (29-for-55) and 10.7 rebounds in a 1-2 week for Nazareth. She totaled 23 points and six rebounds in a loss to Houghton Tuesday. She totaled 24 points, including going 5-for-9 from 3-point range, with 12 rebounds as Nazareth defeated Elmira 60-49 Thursday. She closed the week with 23 points (10-for-19) and 14 rebounds in a 68-57 loss to St. John Fisher Saturday.
Women’s Basketball Rookie – Stevens
Christina Li, Freshman, Guard – Anaheim, CA/Fairmont Prep
Christina Li averaged 21.5 points as she shot 14-for-27 (52%) from the floor, including a remarkable 9-for-16 (56%) from behind the arc. Against Alfred, Li sank a school record seven three-pointers, helping the Ducks break the school mark for the three-pointers in a game. Li also totaled six assists, three steals and two blocks and went 6-of-7 from the free throw line.
Women’s Indoor Track Athlete – Nazareth
Emily Thompson, Graduate – Baldwinsville, NY/C.W. Baker
Emily Thompson shattered the school record Friday in the 5,000-meter run at Boston University's Valentine Invitational as she placed 14th. In a race with 50 competitors from all different levels of experience, Thompson posted a time of 17:07.61 to shatter the Nazareth school record by more than a minute. Thompson's time was the 10th fastest in Division III this season.
Women’s Indoor Field Athlete – Alfred
Krissy Roberts, Sophomore – Chittenango, NY/Chittenango
Sophomore Krissy Roberts earned her first event win in the long jump on Saturday at Houghton College. She won the event with a huge personal-best distance of 5.14m, topping her previous mark of 4.98m.
Men’s Indoor Track Athlete – Stevens
Nick Zickgraf, Senior – Kenilworth, NJ/Brearly
Nick Zickgraf set two school records and a conference-record as Stevens competed at the 2018 David Hemery Valentine Invitational. Zickgraf was part of the school record setting distance medley relay team that turned in an overall time of 9:55.09, breaking the record by nine seconds. Zickgraf was the anchor with a 4:06 in the 1,600 to get the Ducks over the line in under 10-minutes for the first time in school history, to currently rank fourth in Division III thus far this season. The 9:55.09 is also a new conference record time, breaking the previous mark of 9:58.89 set in 2008 by former Empire 8 member RIT. Later in the meet he broke the school-record in the mile at 4:12.65 It is a new school-record and personal best, and it is also currently ranked No. 16 in NCAA DIII
Men’s Indoor Field co-Athlete – Alfred
Seth Spicer, Senior – Corning, NY/Corning-Painted Post
Senior Seth Spicer won the heptathlon at the 2018 SPIRE NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Invitational at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, OH on Friday and concluding on Saturday. His score of 4,978 points broke his previous school record mark of 4,969 points as he defeated his opponents, all from Division I schools such as Hampton University, Notre Dame and Penn State. In order for him to break his school record, set last year at the 2017 NCAA Division III Indoor National Championships, Spicer broke his personal records in the shot put with a toss of 13.11m (13.03 previous PR), the 1,000-meter run with a time of 2:38.07 (2:41.92 previous PR) and the high jump with a height of 1.90m (1.84m previous PR). He also had the top mark in the pole vault with a height of 4.00m (4.05m is his PR). He also jumped a distance of 5.88m in the long jump, ran an 8.80 in the 60-meter hurdles and a 7.46 in the 60-meter dash. His score puts him at #3 in the country.
Men’s Indoor Field co-Athlete – St. John Fisher
Mark VanMarter, Senior – Liverpool, NY/Liverpool
Mark VanMarter launched himself to first place nationally in the long jump at the Brockport Late Night Invite with a leap of 7.31 meters. The jump also demolished his previous standing school record of 7.21 meters. VanMarter also took first place in the triple jump event, jumping a 13.98 mark, crushing his standing school record of 13.93 meters.
Men’s Volleyball Player of the Week – Stevens
Thomas Burrell, Senior, Middle Hitter – Somerset, NJ/St. Joseph
Thomas Burrell collected eight kills on 13 attacks with just one error (.538) as No. 2 Stevens topped No. 8 Juniata in three sets. Burrell also recorded eight blocks. The second-set attack error snapped a streak of 30 consecutive errorless attacks.
Men’s Volleyball Rookie of the Week – Sage
Scott Sanders, Sophomore, Middle Hitter - Los Angeles, CA/Taft
Scott Sanders had 32 kills with only three errors on a .518 attack percentage in a 3-1 week for the Gators. In addition to his offensive stat line he added 11 blocks and five digs on defense. Sanders best match of the week came against Penn State Behrend where he hit .625 with 10 kills on 16 attempts and no errors. The next day he hit .571 against Keuka with nine kills on 14 attempts.