Athletes of the Week: April 9-15, 2018
The Empire 8 Athletic Conference has announced that 14 student-athletes in eight different sports have been recognized for outstanding play during the week of April 9-15, 2018....
Baseball Player – Houghton
David Wessells, Sophomore, OF – Oneonta, NY/Oneonta
Sophomore David Wessells turned in a banner week, going 7-for-13 (.538) at the plate with two doubles and a homerun in four games as he slugged .923%. The sophomore centerfielder added three stolen bases, six walks and eight runs-scored to his stat line. Wessells safely reached based 13 times out his 19 plate appearances (.684%).
Baseball Pitcher– Ithaca
Jake Binder, Junior – Syracuse, NY/Jamesville-Dewitt
Junior Jake Binder tossed a complete game, three-hit shutout against Utica on Saturday in a 3-0 win for Ithaca. Binder also struck out nine batters and walked three in his first career complete game shutout at Ithaca.
Softball Player– Sage
Katy Rimawi, Graduate, 3B – Ballston Spa, NY/Ballston Spa
Katy Rimawi had an amazing week as Sage went 2-1. She batted .750 for the week with a 1.250 slugging percentage. In a doubleheader with Skidmore on Tuesday she went 6-for-8 including the go ahead three-run homerun in Sage's come from behind win in the nightcap. On Thursday, Rimawi was 3-for-2 with a double, which marked her third straight game with a double. She finished the week with seven runs batted in and four runs scored for the Gators.
Softball Pitcher– St. John Fisher
Lindsey Thayer, Senior – Winthrop, NY/St. Lawrence
Lindsey Thayer of the St. John Fisher College softball team had a week for the ages after posting a 3-0 overall mark as the No. 11 Cardinals went 5-1 on the week as a team. Thayer's line was remarkable as the Winthrop native was 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA. She allowed just one hit on the week and tallied 38 strikeouts in 19.0 innings of work. Against Cortland, the senior hurled a no-hitter in a 3-0 win before bouncing back to throw a perfect game with 15 strikeouts in a 1-0 triumph over RIT. Thayer closed out her week with her 11th win of the season after surrendering just one hit with 12 more Ks against Nazareth.
Men’s Lacrosse Player – Utica
Ryan Desveaux, Senior, Attack – Bowmanville, ONT/St. Stephen Catholic
Senior attacker Ryan Desveaux scored a team-high of 17 points in the last two games played for Utica. On Wednesday, he scored a season-high of eight goals and recorded his second assist of the season in the win against SUNY Poly. On Saturday, Desveaux scored a team-high of six goals, including his 100th career goal, and had two assists in the loss to St. John Fisher. He leads the Pioneers with 44 points (40 goals and four assists) this season.
Men’s Lacrosse Goalie – Alfred
Drew Gardner, Senior – Whitney Point, NY/Whitney Point
Senior Drew Gardner kept the Saxons in the game as they defeated Nazareth College on Saturday, 13-9 for the first time since 1997. Gardner faced 28 shots (17 on goal) and made eight saves.
Women’s Lacrosse Player – Stevens
Emily Shanklin, Sophomore, Attack – Berkeley, MI/Marian
Emily Shanklin scored a game-high seven goals on Saturday in a 19-4 victory over Hartwick. She scored on seven of her nine shots while adding one assist and ten draw controls. Two days earlier she collected eight draw controls, caused one turnover and tallied a goal against nationally ranked Rowan.
Women’s Lacrosse Goalie – Utica
Amanda Lupo, Senior – Auburn, NY/Skaneateles
Senior goalkeeper Amanda Lupo had a successful senior day as she picked up her first win of the season against Houghton on Saturday. Lupo allowed two goals and made six saves on 11 shots faced.
Men’s Tennis Player – Stevens
Bryan Szayna, Freshman – Ambler, PA/Upper Dublin
Bryan Szayna went 3-1 on the week against two nationally ranked teams. Szayna and teammate Danny Polk earned the first win of the match against No. 32 NYU at second doubles with an 8-1 decision. He then topped NYU's Michael Li in straight sets at No. 3 singles (6-3, 6-3). On Saturday, Szayna rallied to top No. 26 Skidmore’s Jack McClaren in the third singles slot. McClaren won the first set 7-6 before Szayna rallied to force a deciding third set with a 7-6 (7-5) win in the second set. Szayna won the match after taking a 7-5 decision in the final set.
Men’s Golf Athlete – St. John Fisher
Nicholas Calabrese, Junior – Newtown Square, PA/St. Joseph’s Prep
Nicholas Calabrese earned the Empire 8 Golfer of the Year honors after compiling a four-round score of 295 (71-69-73-82), earning a 15-shot victory over the field at the 2018 Empire 8 Men’s Golf Championship. He was the only golfer in the championship to score under par during the fall portion of the event and shot the lowest 18-hole round of 73 on the first day of the spring event.
Women’s Outdoor Track Athlete – St. John Fisher
Tayler Dence, Sophomore – Hannibal, NY/Hannibal
Tayler Dence competed alongside her teammates at the SUNY Delhi Bronco Classic. The sophomore highlighted the meet with a second-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles event with a time of 15.49 seconds. The time earned the sophomore second in the competition and put her number one in the Empire 8 conference standings by over a second. The Hannibal native also took the first-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles with a final time stamp of 1:06.01.
Women’s Outdoor Field Athlete – Alfred
Danielle Perry, Sophomore – Leicester, NY/York
Sophomore Danielle Perry won the triple jump with an in-season best distance of 10.65m during the Messiah College Invitational. She also took fifth in the long jump with a distance of 4.95m. Perry teamed with Krissy Roberts, Frances Sariego and Megan Alper in the 4x100-meter relay where the squad ran a 54.16 for eighth place.
Men’s Outdoor Track Athlete – St. John Fisher
James Felice, Senior – Owego, NY/Owego Free Academy
James Felice put on a show for the Cardinals in the Bucknell Bison Meet in Pennsylvania on Saturday and Sunday. The senior shattered not one but two school records, beginning with an incredible time stamp of 3:54.16 in the 1500-meter race on Saturday. The time broke the school record and placed him ninth nationally. The Owego native did not stop there and followed up that performance with a new school record in the 800-meter dash with a time of 1:56.59.
Men’s Outdoor Field Athlete – Alfred
Seth Spicer, Senior – Corning, NY/Corning-Painted Post
Senior Seth Spicer won the decathlon at the Kutztown University Mondschein Multi Invitational. Spicer won the Maroon division with a new Alfred University school record of 6,598 points. His point total also eclipsed all of the Division I, II and III competitors in the Gold division as he beat everyone by 588 points or more. Spicer was in third after the first day with personal bests in the 100-meter (11.66), shot put (13.15m) and high jump (1.86m). Spicer’s 400-meter dash time of 50.74 was just 0.21 seconds off of breaking another personal best. On day two, Spicer broke his personal ‘high’ in the pole vault (4.05m) and set a personal record in the discus throw (38.88m) to win both events. He finished second in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:43.55 and posted a 16.01 in the 110-meter hurdles.