Athletes of the Week: April 2-8, 2018
The Empire 8 Athletic Conference has announced that 16 student-athletes in nine different sports have been recognized for outstanding play during the week of April 2-8, 2018....
Baseball Player – Ithaca
Adam Gallagher, Junior, Catcher – Endwell, NY/Main-Endwell
Junior Adam Gallagher hit .571 (4-for-7) in two games against Elmira this week. On Saturday, Gallagher went 1-for-4 in Ithaca's 9-3 win. The following afternoon, he was a perfect 3-for-3 with a walk, stolen base and a two-run home run, which tied the game in the sixth inning. Ithaca went on to win that contest, 5-3.
Baseball Pitcher– Houghton
Victor Cavalieri, Senior – Greece, NY/Northstar Christian
Victor Cavalieri tossed 12 1/3 innings over three games last week for Houghton. Cavalieri opened the week on Monday with 11 strikeouts against Alfred State as he allowed one hit by the Pioneers over five innings of work. He faced two batters on Friday against Stevens and then followed up 11 strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings on the mound on Saturday against the Ducks.
Softball Player– St. John Fisher
Sarah Kubik, Junior, INF – Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park
Sarah Kubik of the nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College softball team had six hits in two games last week as the Cardinals went 2-0 in conference play with a sweep of Houghton College on Tuesday. Kubik was 6-for-8 (.750) in the two-game set with four doubles, four RBI and five runs scored. In the opening game, the Orchard Park native was 4-for-4 with two doubles and three RBI before drilling two more doubles in the nightcap in a 2-for-4 performance.
Softball Pitcher– St. John Fisher
Lindsey Thayer, Senior – Winthrop, NY/St. Lawrence
Lindsey Thayer of the nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College softball team continued to dominant in the circle as the senior picked up her conference-leading eighth win of the season as the Cardinals swept Houghton College on Tuesday afternoon. Thayer was nearly untouchable as the Winthrop native held the Highlanders to just one base runner - on a hit by pitch - over 4.1 innings of work. Thayer tallied 12 strikeouts in the win.
Men’s Lacrosse Player – Nazareth
Tim Vinton, Sophomore, FOS – Mont Vernon, NH/Souhegan
Tim Vinton finished .818 on face-offs in a 2-0 week for Nazareth, winning 27-of-33. He won 10-of-15 face-offs in a 10-6 loss at No. 18 Ithaca on Wednesday. He then won 17-of-18 face-offs ina 16-1 victory over Elmira on Saturday. He also scored his first-career goal in the win.
Men’s Lacrosse Goalie – St. John Fisher
Justin Townsend, Senior – Ontario, NY/Wayne
Justin Townsend and the St. John Fisher College men’s lacrosse finished the past week with 1-0, which included a 9-5 Empire 8 victory over Elmira. The senior goalkeeper was a wall between the pipes for the Cardinals on Saturday afternoon, finishing with a game-high 10 saves in his 60 minutes of game-time.
Women’s Lacrosse Player – Stevens
Emily Shanklin, Sophomore, Midfield – Berkeley, MI/Marian
Emily Shanklin scored a game-high five goals on Saturday in a 16-8 victory over Utica. She scored on five of her eight shots while adding three ground balls, four caused turnovers and five draw controls in the game.
Women’s Lacrosse Goalie – Nazareth
Brianna Rizzari, Junior – Rochester, NY/Greece Arcadia
Brianna Rizzari had a .750 save percentage in a 2-0 week for Nazareth. She had three saves and allowed one goal in 30 minutes of action against Houghton on Thursday. She followed that up with the same statistics on Saturday against Elmira, with three saves and one goal allowed in the first half.
Men’s Tennis Player – Stevens
Mark Kanevsky, Freshman – Dallas, TX/Plano West
Mark Kanevsky went 4-1 on the week, including a singles win in Stevens' match with No. 18 Brandeis. The Dallas, Texas native won both singles' matches in the sixth position and teamed with senior Kyle Henry to split a pair of matches in the top doubles slot, defeating Houghton's top doubles pair and falling 8-6 in a hard fought match to Brandeis' top duo, who is ranked ninth in the country.
Men’s Golf Athlete – St. John Fisher
Colin McGaugh, Sophomore – Hamilton, NY/Hamilton
Colin McGaugh of the St. John Fisher College men's golf team had a strong showing over the weekend after winning the McDaniel Spring Invite in Abbottstown, Pa. After firing an opening round 75 to sit in a tie for fourth place, McGaugh battled the elements and matched Saturday's performance to sit at +6 overall for the 36-hole tournament. The sophomore birdied three holes on Sunday including the 18th to give him the one-stroke win.
Men’s Volleyball Player – Elmira
Matthew Buffum, Senior, MB – Chesterfield, MO/Parkway Central
Matthew Buffum was the model of efficiency in Elmira’s trio of matches to close out the 2018 regular season. The 6-foot-7-inch middle hitter paced the Soaring Eagles over the weekend in both kill (34) and blocks (12), while maintaining a staggering .538 attack percentage. Buffum began play with 11 kills, five blocks and a .400 hitting percentage in Friday’s bout against St. John Fisher at Speidel Gymnasium. At the SUNY Poly Invitational on Saturday, he remained EC’s best offensive threat, as he kicked off the event with a .615 attack percentage on a team-high 10 kills to go along with five more blocks against SUNY Poly. In his final regular season match as a Soaring Eagle, Buffum posted 13 kills on 19 attacks and just one error to guide Elmira to a 3-1 victory.
Men’s Volleyball Rookie – Sage
Scott Sanders, Sophomore, MH – Los Angeles, CA/Taft
Scott Sanders had a big week to close his first season at Sage and helped the Gators to a 2-0 week, while they finished the year on a four-match win streak. Sanders hit .688 over two matches as he registered 12 kills on 16 attempts with one error. He added 10 total blocks and served up two aces. Sanders hit .857 against Lehman on six kills and four blocks and then hit .556 verse NJCU with six kills and six blocks.
Women’s Outdoor Track Athlete – Alfred
Megan Alper, Sophomore – Belmont, MA/Belmont
Sophomore Megan Alper won the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.76, besting her previous personal best, while at the Muhlenberg College Invitational on Saturday. She then took second in the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.32.
Women’s Outdoor Field Athlete – Stevens
Katie Weeks, Senior – Toms River, NJ/Msgr Donovan
Katie Weeks continues to improve week in and week out. At the TCNJ Invite she had a personal best in all three throwing events and set a school record in two events. She currently ranks seventh nationally in the shot put after her first-place mark of 13.42 meters. She also won the discus with a school record toss of 44.21 meters and placed second in the hammer throw (42.87m).
Men’s Outdoor Track Athlete – Stevens
Alex Kainer, Junior – South Brunswick, NJ/South Brunswick
Alex Kainer set a school-record in the 100-meters after turning in a time of 10.90 at the TCNJ Invite. He also won the 200-meter dash in a time of 21.96.
Men’s Outdoor Field Athlete – Stevens
Cody Yersin, Senior – Howell, NJ/Colts Neck
Cody Yersin had a career-best toss in the hammer throw at the TCNJ Invite with a distance of 48.17 meters.