General | 2/17/2020 12:55:38 PM
Below are the Empire 8 Players of the Week, released on Feb. 17, 2020 for games played from Feb. 11-Feb. 16. It is the 24th Empire 8 weekly honors release of the 2019-20 season.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Pat Garey, Hartwick, Jr., G, Johnson, City, NY/Johnson City
Garey averaged 20 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game, while hitting a team-best 65 percent (15-for-23) of his shots as in a weekend sweep for the Hawks. On Friday, Garey made 7-of-10 from the floor and 4-of-7 from downtown for a game-high 18 points in a 90-63 win over Houghton. He added six rebounds, five assists, and he tied for a game-high with four steals. On Saturday, Garey tied for a game-high 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting and dished out a game-high five assists and he pulled down five boards in a 77-72 win at Alfred.
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Stephen Gabel, Nazareth, Jr., F, Victor, NY/Fairport
Gabel averaged 19.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game, while shooting 55.6 percent from the field in the weekend sweep of Sage and Utica as Nazareth clinched home court advantage for the Empire 8 Tournament. On Friday, Gabel drained four 3-pointers and shot 7-of-12 overall on his way to 19 points and five boards in the win over Utica. Saturday, he tallied 20 points, seven rebounds, four steals and two assists, as Nazareth took down Sage. Gabel is third in the league, averaging 16.3 points per game and fifth with 7.1 boards.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Charles Davis, Sage, Fr., F, Bronx, NY/Fannie Lou Harner
Davis earned his second straight E8 Rookie of the Week accolade, averaging 13.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, while shooting 78.6 percent from the floor. On Friday, Davis recorded 12 points and five boards off the bench to lift Sage to a big road win at St. John Fisher, to clinch the program’s first Empire 8 postseason berth. On Saturday, he shot 7-of-10 from the field, tallying 15 points and six rebounds at Nazareth.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Jadyn Abrams, Nazareth, So., G/F, Bath, NY/Haverling
Abrams exploded for an Empire 8 single-game record tying and Nazareth program-record 42 points versus Sage on Saturday. She was 13-for-28 from the field, hit four 3-pointers and was 12-for-13 from the line. She also had five steals and eight rebounds in the game. Abrams tied the Empire 8 mark set by Melissa Hartman of St. John Fisher on Dec. 10, 2005 and broke a 40-year old Nazareth record. Abrams is fifth in the league, averaging 14.5 points per game in 2019-20.
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Amy Gardner, St. John Fisher, So., G, Dryden, NY/Dryden
Gardner enjoyed a career-best weekend as she helped lead Fisher to back-to-back wins to clinch the Empire 8 Regular Season Championship for the second time in the last three seasons. Gardner averaged 22.0 points, 2.5 assists, 2.5 steals and 2.0 rebounds over two starts. Against Sage on Friday, she scored a career-high 28 points on 12-of-18 shooting to go along with three rebounds, three dimes and a game-high four steals. Gardner finished the week with 14 points in the clinching win over Utica on Saturday
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Ana Ion, Alfred, Fr., G, Bucharest, Romania/Episcopal School of Jacksonville
Ion tallied 10.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, leading the Saxons to a 2-0 week against Empire 8 foes Elmira and Hartwick for her fourth E8 Rookie of the Week honor in 2019-20. Ion tallied 14 points, knocking down four 3-pointers against Elmira on Friday. Ion is averaging 11.5 points per game to lead the Saxons this season.
MEN’S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Eddie Mahana, St. John Fisher, Sr., Sprints/Hurdles, Clay, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse
Mahana ran the 400-meter dash in a converted time of 49.85 seconds at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational at Division I Boston University for a new personal-best. The time ranks first in the conference, fifth regionally and 23rd nationally. Mahana also anchored the 4x400 relay team that set a conference-best time of 4:25.98 that qualified them for regionals while ranking 12th in the Atlantic region.
FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Zuriel Wright, Utica, Fr., Sprints/Jumps, Parlin, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial
Wright excelled in the high jump as he went on to place 13th overall with a leap of 1.90 meters at this weekend's David Hemery Valentine Invitational at Division I Boston University.
WOMEN’S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Edena Sanchez, Houghton, Jr., Middle Distance, Amsterdam, NY/Amsterdam
Sanchez recorded a time of 2:23.14 in the 800-meters at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational at Division I Boston University over the weekend, which is the fastest time in the Empire 8 this season. Sanchez was also a member of the 4 x 400-meter team that ran 4:10.12 and was part of the distance medley relay squad that crossed the finish line in 13:05.36, which is also the top mark in the Empire 8 this season.
FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Jordan Lehman, St. John Fisher, Jr., Jumps, Port Leyden, NY/South Lewis
Lehman threw 10.74 meters in the shot put and 13.98 meters in the weight throw at RIT Friday that ranks sixth and eighth in the conference respectively. It is her second E8 weekly accolade of 2019-20.
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Matt Straney, Elmira, Sr., MB, Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa
Straney averaged 2.27 kills per set and hit at a .360 attack percentage in a 2-1 week for the Soaring Eagles. On Tuesday, he tallied a career-high 14 kills and added five blocks in a five-set win over Misericordia. On Friday, Straney added five kills and hit at a .556 clip against UVC foe MIT and finished the week by hitting .417 with six kills with six kills, three aces and one block in a three-set win over Bard Sunday.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Neiram Galan-Canales, Elmira, Fr., S, San Juan, Puerto Rico/EEBA Pablo Casals
Galan-Canales made the first start of his career against Bard and orchestrated Elmira's offense with 30 assists for a 10.00 assists-per-set average and led the team to a season-best .492 attack percentage. He added three digs and one service ace to help secure the three-set win on Sunday.
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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