General | 2/21/2022 12:58:35 PM
Below are the Empire 8 Players of the Week, released on February 21, 2022, for games played from February 14-February 20. It is the 23rd Empire 8 weekly honors release of the 2021-22 season. Sports featured include men’s and women’s basketball, men’s lacrosse, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, men’s and women’s indoor track and field and men’s volleyball.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Ryan Gentile, St. John Fisher, Sr., G, Rochester, NY/Spencerport
Gentile set a new program record for most 3-pointers made in a game on Tuesday as the Cardinals downed visiting Elmira College to close out the regular season. Gentile broke a 23-year-old program record on Tuesday after burying 10 made 3-pointers in a 114-78 win over the Soaring Eagles. The senior guard was 10-of-13 from the floor and finished with a career-high 32 points in just 24 minutes.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Bryan Adams, Elmira, Fr., G, Bronx, NY/Gunnery School
Adams helped guide Elmira to a Senior Day win on Saturday over Hartwick while averaging 21.6 points, 4.7 steals, 3.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists in three games last week. Adams wrapped up his season averaging 17.5 points per game, good for 10th in program history for a single-season. He is now a six-time E8 Rookie of the Week.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Maggie Kirby, Hartwick, Sr., G, Selkirk, NY/Bethlehem
Kirby led the Hawks to a pair of wins to end the regular season, averaging 15.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.5 steals per game. She started the week by scoring 14 points to go along with six boards in a win over Keuka. On Saturday, Kirby poured in 17 points to go with five rebounds and four steals in a victory over Elmira. She has now scored in double figures in nine straight games. It is Kirby’s second weekly honor of the season.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Syrita Faraj, Russell Sage, Fr., G, Troy, NY/Tamarac
Faraj averaged 21.0 points on 47.1 percent shooting and 9.5 rebounds across two games last week. She led all players with a double-double of 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting and 12 rebounds on Friday at Elmira. She followed that up with a team-high 16 points in Saturday's victory at Keuka. The road win helped Russell Sage earn a spot in the E8 Championship Tournament. It is the fourth E8 weekly honor of the season for Faraj.
MEN’S LACROSSE
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Brett Randall, Nazareth, Gr., A, Rochester, NY/Brighton
Randall led Nazareth with eight points on two goals and six assists in the season-opener at Springfield College on Saturday. He assisted on four of Nazareth’s five second half goals.
GOALIE OF THE WEEK – Eric Almquist, Nazareth, Sr., G, Wakefield, MA/Malden Catholic
Almquist made 13 saves in the season opener at Springfield College on Saturday. He also had four ground balls and two caused turnovers.
MEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING
CO-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Michael Schultz, Hartwick, So., Butterfly/Individual Medley, Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley
Schultz was named the Empire 8 Swimmer of the Championship Meet, held in conjunction with the Allegheny Empire Championships from Webster Aquatic Center from February 16-19. Schultz won a pair of individual championship events and was part of two winning relay teams, while garnering a pair of runner-up finishes. Schultz won the 200-yard individual medley (1:56.07) and 200-yard butterfly (1:51.76) events and was also part of the winning 400-yard medley (3:32.57) and 400-yard freestyle (3:09.36) relay teams. He was also second in the 100-yard butterfly and 800-yard freestyle relay. It is Schultz’s fifth E8 weekly honor of the season.
CO-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Jacob Smith, Nazareth, Fr., Diving, Oswego, NY/Oswego
Smith garnered Empire 8 Diver of the 2022 Championship Meet, held from February 16-19. Smith, who was also named 2022 Allegheny Empire Co-Diver of the Meet after winning both E8 championship diving events. He annexed the 3-meter title with a score of 387.50 and also won the 1-meter championship, recording 386.15 points.
WOMEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING
CO-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Taylor Robey, Nazareth, Gr., Sprint Freestyle, Hurley, NY/Kingston
Robey was named the Empire 8 Swimmer of the Championship Meet, held in conjunction with the Allegheny Empire Championships from Webster Aquatic Center from February 16-19. Robey broke Empire 8 Championship records in both the 50-yard freestyle in 22.95 seconds and 100-yard freestyle with a time of 50.54 seconds. She also won the 200-yard freestyle in 1:55.02 and was part of the victorious 200- and 400-yard freestyle relay teams in addition to the 200- and 400-yard medley relay squads. She has now won 18 different Empire 8 Championship events in her illustrious career. It is Robey’s fourth E8 weekly honor of the season.
CO-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Allie Norwood, Nazareth, Sr., Diving, Lockport, NY/Lockport
Norwood garnered Empire 8 Diver of the Championship Meet for the third consecutive season. Norwood, who was also named 2022 Allegheny Empire Diver of the Meet, won the 3-meter title with an impressive score of 477.65 and was third in the hotly contested 1-meter championship, recording 450.15 points. Norwood has earned three E8 weekly accolades this season.
MEN’S INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD
TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Andrew Ford, St. John Fisher, Sr., Clinton, NY/Clinton
Ford posted the Cardinals' best 3,000-meter run time of the year in Friday's race at the Nazareth Conference Tune-Up, as he placed seventh and set a personal best time in the race at 8:55.81.
FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Christopher Perez, Nazareth, Sr., Throws, New York, NY/Cristo Rey
Perez finished second in the weight throw with a personal record and the top throw in Empire 8 this season with a 16.78 (55' 3/4") at the Nazareth Conference Tune-Up on Friday afternoon. His throw is now also a top-50 performance nationally.
WOMEN’S INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD
TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Natalie Ricci, Russell Sage, Sr., Sprints, Cohoes, NY/Cohoes
Competing at the Nazareth Conference Tune-up Meet, Ricci set a program mark with her fourth place finish in the 60-meter invitational race as she posted a time of 8.15 breaking her effort of 8.31 set two weeks ago. She also picked up fourth place in the 200-meter dash with a school record time of 26.52 to break another of her own records (27.31). It is Ricci’s second E8 weekly honor of the season.
FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Lea Richard, Nazareth, So., Throws, Gansevoort, NY/South Glens Falls
Richard finished third in the weight throw with a personal record, school record and the top E8 distance of the season with her toss of 15.72 (51' 7") meters on Friday at the Nazareth Conference Tune-Up Meet. She also placed ninth in the shot put (11.06. meters - 36' 3 1/2").
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Paul Hackford, St. John Fisher, Gr., S, Jarbacoa, Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park
Hackford was the driving force behind No. 14 Fisher's win over No. 13 Nazareth in the team's lone match of the week. Hackford played in all four sets and finished with a match-high 23 assists to go along with 10 digs, three kills, a game-high five blocks and two service aces as the Cardinals came out on top in four sets.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Alberto Mauricio, Elmira, Fr., OH, San Pedro De Macoris, Dominican Republic/Liceo Gaston Fernando Deligne
Mauricio averaged 7.3 kills per match while adding 14 digs and three blocks to his ledger in three contests, including a two-block performance against NYU on Saturday, a season-best. It is Mauricio’s fourth E8 honor of 2022.
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.
EMPIRE 8 SOCIAL MEDIA
YouTube –
Facebook –
Twitter –
Instagram