Athletes of the Week: April 23-29, 2018
The Empire 8 Athletic Conference has announced that 13 student-athletes in eight different sports have been recognized for outstanding play during the week of April 23-29, 2018....
Baseball Player – Stevens
Donny Gherardi, Junior, Outfield – Oradell, NJ/Bergen Catholic
Donny Gherardi hit .538 (7-for-13) with a double, three RBI, three runs scored and a stolen base as Stevens swept Utica to win the Empire 8 regular season title. The junior drew two walks for a .600 on-base percentage and finished the week with a .615 slugging percentage. His best game of the series came in the second game when he went 4-for-6 scoring twice and driving in two runs.
Baseball Pitcher– Stevens
Quinn DiPasquale, Senior – Chelmsford, MA/Bishop Guertin
Senior Quinn DiPasquale struck out 12 batters to throw his first career shutout in Stevens' 8-0 Empire 8 regular season title-clinching victory over Utica. DiPasquale allowed just a fourth-inning double and struck out multiple batters in five different innings.
Softball Player– St. John Fisher
MaryClaire Grosvenor, Junior, Catcher – Horseheads, NY/Horseheads
Mary Claire Grosvenor helped lead the nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College softball team to six wins last week as the No. 9 Cardinals wrapped up the Empire 8 Regular Season crown with a 14-0 mark in the Empire 8 standings. Grosvenor hit .688 on the week (11-for-16) and slugged 1.313 overall as the junior backstop extended her hitting streak to seven games. Grosvenor had a power surge with four doubles, two home runs and four RBI as the Cardinals swept Sage, Alfred and Utica. She also had a 1.000 field percentage with 45 putouts and three assists.
Softball Pitcher– Alfred
Jessica Wilcox, Sophomore – Forestville, NY/Pine Valley
Sophomore Jessica Wilcox continued her standout season when she broke yet another pitching school record on April 28. She claimed the record, set by Chelsey Cary '11 during her 2010 season, as she recorded her 139th strikeout during the last batter from Elmira College in game one of the doubleheader. On the week, Wilcox totaled 16 strikeouts with an impressive nine against No. 9 nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College. Wilcox proved her worth at the plate and on the bases as she totaled two runs and three hits. She also had two stolen bases and one sacrificed hit.
Men’s Lacrosse Player – Alfred
Jake Lynch, Senior, Attack – Whitney Point, NY/Whitney Point
Senior Jake Lynch tied the school record again for most goals in a single game as he tallied three hat-tricks against Utica College and helped the Saxons tack down the No. 3 seed in the Empire 8 Tournament. Lynch scored the first five goals of the game on Saturday with all of them occurring in the first 10 minutes of the first quarter. He totaled 18 shots and one groundball on the day as well.
Men’s Lacrosse Goalie – No Nominations
Women’s Lacrosse Player – St. John Fisher
Claire Bollin, Senior, Attack – Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder
Claire Bollin and the women’s lacrosse team finished up their regular season with three wins last week, increasing their win-streak to 10 games. The senior made her way into the Fisher record book twice, by tallying her 100th career point and also breaking the program record for most draw controls in a single season with 94. Bollin started off the week with one goal and one assists in the Cardinal 21-0 win over Alfred. The senior then followed up with five-point performance in the win over Rochester, with four goals and one assist. To wrap up the week, the Webster, NY native celebrated her Senior Day with three goals and three assists in the win over Elmira, where she tallied her 100th career-point in a Fisher uniform.
Women’s Lacrosse Goalie – Utica
Hali Vandermeulen, Sophomore – Walden, NY/Valley Central
Sophomore goalkeeper Hali Vandermeulen is 2-0 in her last two starts for the Pioneers. On Wednesday, she allowed nine goals and made 14 saves on 28 shots faced against SUNY Canton. In Saturday's win over Alfred, she allowed one goal in the 15 minutes played. Vandermeulen and the Pioneers are heading to the Empire 8 Women's Lacrosse Tournament for the first time since 2006.
Men’s Golf Athlete – Utica
Patrick Coughlin, Sophomore – New Hartford, NY/New Hartford
Patrick Coughlin took home the first-place trophy, shooting five over par for a count of 77 strokes to lead all competitors at the Elmira College Spring Invitational on April 24. On April 28, he carded a 76 (+5) on the first day of the Oswego State Spring Invite and was in the hunt for another medalist honor, just three shots off the leader, when the second day was canceled due to weather.
Men’s Tennis Player – Houghton
Jordan Crouch, Senior – Fillmore, NY/Fillmore
Jordan Crouch was a perfect 6-0 as Houghton swept Elmira, Sage and Nazareth to secure the No. 2 seed in the upcoming conference tournament. Crouch went 3-0 this week in third singles with 6-0, 6-0 wins over Elmira, Sage, and Nazareth. Didn’t lose a single game in all three singles matches. Jordan also went 3-0 at first doubles this week with 8-0, 8-1, and 8-1 wins. For the entire week he was 6-0 with a total of 36—0 at singles, and 24-2 at doubles.
Women’s Outdoor Track Athlete – Nazareth
Emily Thompson, Graduate – Baldwinsville, NY/C.W. Baker
Emily Thompson broke the school record in the 10,000 meters at the Penn Relays on April 25. Thompson finished in 11th place among 24 competitors -- and second among Division III runners -- with a time of 35:59.46. That eclipsed her school record of 38:27.04 by nearly two and a half minutes. She ran that time back in 2014. Thursday's performance ranks her among the top 15 performers in Division III this season.
Women’s Outdoor Field Athlete – Utica
Nicole Herringshaw, Junior – Syrcause, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse
At the Hamilton Mid-Week Invitational Nicole Herringshaw tied for first in the high jump event with a clearance height of 1.54 meters and finished second in the javelin toss. With a distance of 36.98 meters Herringshaw set a new school-record in the javelin. She continued to have success over the weekend at the St. Lawrence Twilight Invitational with a first-place javelin throw of 34.82 meters.
Men’s Outdoor Track Athlete – Alfred
Erik Diehl, Senior – Clarence Center, NY/Clarence
Senior Erik Diehl broke the school record in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:53.75 on Saturday at NCAA Division II Bloomsburg University where he won the event to top Division II and Division I Student-Athletes. His time broke the 31-year old record held by Russell Young '87 of 1:53.90. He then took part in the 4x400-meter relay to take second with a time of 3:34.72. On Monday, Diehl and the Saxons co-hosted their first home meet at Alfred State where Diehl got to try some new events. He ran a 10:52.76 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase for his first time ever and also was the 800 leg of the 1,600-meter sprint medley relay, taking second with a time of 3:49.34.
Men’s Outdoor Field Athlete – Utica
Ka’Sean Watlington, Sophomore – Bayport, NY/Bayport-Bluepoint
At the Hamilton Mid-Week Invitational Ka’Sean Watlington set a school record with his first place triple jump distance of 14.58 meters. This leap has earned him 12th place currently on the triple jump's Outdoor National Qualifying List.