General | 1/13/2020 11:20:48 AM
Below are the Empire 8 Players of the Week, released on Jan. 13, 2020 for games played from Jan. 6-Jan. 12. It is the 19th Empire 8 weekly honors release of the 2019-20 season.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Sam Dagon, Alfred, Sr., G, Hornell, NY/Hornell
Dagon recorded back-to-back career-high performances to open up league play, averaging 22.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game, while shooting 51 percent from the floor, 47 percent from 3-point range and 92.8 percent from the foul line in three total contests. On Friday, Dagon scored a career-high 25 points, while shooting 9-for-15 from the field to go along with four made 3-pointers in a loss to St. John Fisher. On Saturday, Dagon recorded a new career-best with 32 points to go along with nine boards and four assists in a crucial overtime win over Nazareth. He shot 11-for-22 from the floor with four 3-pointers, while going 6-for-6 from the charity stripe.
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Stephen Gabel, Nazareth, Jr., F, Victor, NY/Fairport
Gabel averaged 24.7 points and 9.0 rebounds per contest, while shooting 57.1 percent from the floor (28-of-49) in three games. He opened the week by recording a career-high 31 points on 12-of-16 shooting in a win over Cazenovia Tuesday. He also added a double-double with 17 points and 10 boards in the E8 opening win over Houghton on Friday and scored 26 points to go along with eight rebounds at Alfred Saturday.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Thomas Morreale, Utica, Fr., F, Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro
Morreale averaged 18.6 points and 9.0 rebounds per game for the Pioneers while leading the team to a 3-0 start in Empire 8 Conference play. He had the second double-double of his career against Sage on Tuesday as he ran up a pair of career- highs with 31 points and 14 rebounds. Morreale shot an impressive 11-of-14 from the floor, going 4-of-5 from 3-point range and 5-of-5 from the foul line. On Friday, he added 14 points, eight boards and two blocks in a win over Elmira. On Saturday, Morreale landed in double figures again with 11 points as the Pioneers rallied past Hartwick to run their winning streak to eight games.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Kaitlyn Bowman, Sage, Gr., G/F, Chateaugay, NY/Saranac
Bowman helped lead Sage to a 3-0 week to open Empire 8 play. She averaged 15.7 points, 12.7 rebounds and 6.0 assists per contest, while shooting 45.7 percent from the floor. Bowman began the week by scoring 12 points to go along with 16 boards and six assists in a road win over Utica. On Friday, Bowman had 15 points, seven assists and five boards as Sage earned a second road victory at Hartwick. She finished the week by shooting 7-of-10 from the field en route to a 20-point, 17-rebound performance in a home win over Elmira. Bowman is among the E8 leaders with 11.6 points, 8.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game in 2019-20.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Harper Mead, St. John Fisher, Fr., G, Hinesburg, VT/Champlain Valley Union
Mead turned in back-to-back solid performances last week she was the driving force behind the Cardinals' offense in a pair of conference wins. Mead averaged 8.5 points and 4.5 assists on the week along with 2.5 rebounds and a steal per game. The freshman produced a career-high 11 points on Friday before adding six points, a game-high seven assists and three boards in a win at Houghton on Saturday.
MEN’S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Nate Benjamin, Hartwick, Sr., Sprints/Jumps, Vestal, NY/Vestal
Benjamin finished ninth in the long jump at the Southern Tier Collegiate Open hosted by Cornell University Saturday. He set a new personal best of 6.03 meters an improvement of his previous mark of 4.65 meters. Benjamin also ran a time of 7.88 in the 60-meter dash which was just .06 off his personal best in that event.
FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Kyle Rollins, St. John Fisher, Jr., Sprints/Jumps, Geneseo, NY/Groveland
Rollins continued to shine in the high jump last week as the junior cleared 2.07 meters to claim a first-place finish at the Spartan Invite in Ocean Breeze on Friday. Rollins' mark tied his own standard atop the Division III landscape and was the second straight meet where he cleared that height.
WOMEN’S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Riley Corey, St. John Fisher, Fr., Distance, Waterloo, NY/Waterloo
Corey recorded a strong 16th place effort in the mile run at the multi-divisional Spartan Invite in Ocean Breeze Friday, as she crossed the finish line in a time of 5:36.82. Riley was also part of the distance medley relay team that recorded the 11th best time in Division III to date, with a time of 14:04.25.
FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Lissa Westerman, Hartwick, Jr., Throws, Newport Beach, CA/Newport Harbor
Westerman placed fourth in the shot put with a throw of 8.70 meters and fourth in the weight throw with a toss of 6.39 meters, as Hartwick kicked off the 2020 season on Saturday at the Southern Tier Collegiate Open hosted by Cornell University.
MEN’S SWIMMNG & DIVING
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Yury Chernyak, Hartwick, Sr., Breaststroke/Individual Medley, Sidney, NY/Sidney
Chernyak won both breaststroke events in the tri-meet against Springfield and Union on Saturday. He took the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 59.68 seconds and swiped gold in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:13.30. Chernyak also claimed second in the 200-yard individual medley, touching up in 2:02.91.
WOMEN’S SWIMMNG & DIVING
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Olivia Bart, Hartwick, Sr., Freestyle, Bristol, CT/Bristol
Bart earned wins in both the 50- and 100-yard freestyle events in Saturday's meet against Springfield and Union. She took the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.70 seconds and the 100-yard freestyle by touching up in 54.74 seconds. Bart also swam in both of the day's relays; she clocked in a 24.01 second freestyle anchor leg in the 200-yard medley relay, which lands her in the program's all-time top ten for the 50-free relay split, and led off the 400-yard freestyle relay with a meet-best 54.41-second split.
ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit
www.empire8.com.
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