General | 1/20/2020 12:58:43 PM
Below are the Empire 8 Players of the Week, released on Jan. 20, 2020 for games played from Jan. 14-Jan. 19. It is the 20th Empire 8 weekly honors release of the 2019-20 season.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Sammy Robinson, St. John Fisher, Sr., F, Cedarhurst, NY/Lawrence
Robinson strung together his best two games of the season as the Cardinals moved into first place in the Empire 8 standings with a pair of road wins over Utica and Sage, respectively. Robinson averaged 28.0 points on the week to go along with 7.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and a blocked shot per game. Overall, Robinson was 20-for-22 from the free throw line and connected on six 3-pointers in all. Against Utica, Robinson finished with 28 points, eight rebounds and two dimes on 7-of-14 shooting before adding 28 points and seven boards in a win over Sage. Robinson leads the E8 in scoring, averaging 17.1 points per game in 2019-20.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Harry Ravitz, Elmira, Fr., G, Pelham, NY/Pelham Memorial
Ravitz averaged 12.0 points, 3.0 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.5 rebounds per game, while shooting 57.9 percent from the floor and 50 percent from 3-point range. On Saturday, he turned in a career performance against Alfred, pouring in a career-high 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting. He was 2-for-2 from 3-point range, while adding three steals, a career-high, plus five assists, one shy of his career-best, while playing a season-high 35 minutes.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Nicolette Conkin, Utica, Sr., G, Los Altos, CA/Homestead
Conkin averaged 27.0 points per game over two games as the Pioneers split the week in Empire 8 play. In a Friday loss to Fisher, Conkin turned in a balanced outing with 21 points, two steals, six assists, and five rebounds. On Saturday, she raised her game even further to lead Utica to victory against Nazareth. The senior dropped a career-high 33 points, and also had five steals, seven assists, and five rebounds to propel Utica to an 89-79 win over the Golden Flyers. Conkin is averaging 18.8 points per game in 2019-20, second among all E8 players, while draining a league-best 43 shots from 3-point range.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Ana Ion, Alfred, Fr., G, Bucharest, Romania/Episcopal School of Jacksonville (FL)
Ion averaged 13.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.0 steals per game to lead Alfred last weekend. Ion tallied 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field, adding five rebounds at Elmira College on Saturday. She added 10 points and a season-high three steals at Hartwick on Friday. Ion is averaging a team-best 11.5 points per game in 2019-20, which is tenth among all E8 players.
MEN’S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Jason Hall, Nazareth, Jr., Middle Distance, Victor, NY/Victor
Hall won the 1,000-meter race by nearly two seconds at the RIT Invitational on Saturday with a time of 2:36.94. He beat a handful of Division I and II runners in the 24-runner field.
FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Chase Corcoran, St. John Fisher, Fr., Throws, Skaneateles, NY/Skaneateles
Corcoran set a new school record in the weight throw as the St. John Fisher men's track and field team competed at the RIT Invitational on Saturday. Corcoran threw the weight 17.14 meters to win the competition and break the program record that was previously held by Ross Mathewson. Corcoran’s throw currently ranks seventh in the nation.
WOMEN’S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Riley Corey, St. John Fisher, Fr., Distance, Waterloo, NY/Waterloo
Corey continued to build momentum as she won the 5,000-meter run for the Cardinals after crossing the finish line in 18:57.08 for the first-place finish at the RIT Invitational Saturday. Corey’s time was just seven seconds short of qualifying for the Atlantic Regional Championship. Her mark was 18 seconds faster than the second-place finisher.
FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Madison Palmer, Alfred, So., Throws, East Aurora, NY/East Aurora
Sophomore Madison Palmer hit big marks at the RIT Invitational on Saturday in her throwing events. She placed second in both the shot put and the weight throw, hitting All-Atlantic Regional Track & Field Championship-qualifying marks and besting every Empire 8 opponent at the meet. She threw a distance of 11.80 meters in the shot put and a distance of 14.49 meters in the weight. Both distances are collegiate bests as she is inching closer to school records in both events. The Alfred University record for shot put is 11.95 meters and weight throw is 14.80 meters.
MEN’S SWIMMNG & DIVING
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Andy Edmister, Alfred, Sr., Backstroke, Belmont, NY/Genesee Valley Central
Edmister had a strong week as he won each individual race he competed in during the three meets against Empire 8 opponents, Utica College and Hartwick College and Division II Le Moyne College. He started his week with two backstroke wins against Le Moyne, winning both events with times of 55.47 seconds in the 100- and a time of 2:00.57 in the 200-. He won the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 22.81 against Utica and he won the 100- free in his first appearance at the collegiate level with a time of 49.75 seconds. Edmister won both backstroke events against Hartwick College on Saturday with a time of 55.15 seconds in the 100- and a 2:01.04 in the 200-.
WOMEN’S SWIMMNG & DIVING
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Taylor Robey, Nazareth, Sr., Freestyle, Hurley, NY/Kingston
Robey helped Nazareth win four relays over the weekend including a pair of school records. She was the anchor in the 200-yard medley relay that won at LeMoyne and also annexed the 100-free (54.68) and was second in the 200-free (1:59.99) by just .65 seconds. On Saturday, she again anchored the winning 200-yard medley relay and also helped set records in the 800-free relay and the 400-free relay. Her opening 100-yard split in the 400-free relay was also a school and pool record.
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Josh Bigford, St. John Fisher, So., OH, Cicero, NY/Cicero North-Syracuse
Bigford, the 2019 E8 Rookie of the Year, picked up right where he left off as the sophomore helped lead St. John Fisher College to a pair of wins last week in the team's season debut. Over three matches, Bigford combined to produce 38 kills, 20 digs and 3.0 blocks, while hitting .341, as Fisher defeated Johnson and Wales and Elmira. Bigford got the season started with 12 kills and eight digs against No. 11 Wells before adding a match-high 15 kills and six more digs in a straight-set win over the Wildcats. Bigford closed out the week with 11 kills and six digs in a sweep of Elmira.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Tyler Anderson, Elmira, Fr., RS-OH, Bellemore, NY/John F. Kennedy
Anderson made his collegiate debut over the weekend, finishing with team highs with 12 kills and a .195 hitting percentage. He added seven digs and seven total blocks. Anderson had seven kills and swung at a rate of .263 to go along with six digs and six total blocks in the season opener versus nationally-ranked Wells. He added five kills, one assist, one ace, one dig and one block at St. John Fisher.
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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