General | 10/30/2023 12:58:21 PM
Below are the Empire 8 Players of the Week, released on October 30, 2023, for games played from October 23 – October 29. It is the ninth Empire 8 weekly honors release of the 2023-24 season. Sports featured include men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, football, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s swimming and diving and women’s volleyball.
MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
RUNNER OF THE WEEK – Bennett Melita, Utica, Fr., Johnstown, NY/Fonda-Fultonville
Melita rolled to the individual title at the 2023 Empire 8 Men’s Cross Country Championship at Parkview Fairways in Victor, NY on Saturday, building an insurmountable lead while cruising to the finish line nearly 13 seconds ahead of the field in a time of 24:54.0 and a 5:01 mile rate. It was the fastest E8 Championship time in the league's 25-year history. Melita has now earned six Empire 8 weekly accolades during the 2023 season.
WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
RUNNER OF THE WEEK – Noelle Linenfelser, Houghton, So., Grand Island, NY/Grand Island
Linenfelser, the 2022 Empire 8 Rookie of the Year, emerged from a bunched up lead pack runners over the final 2,000-meters to earn the individual victory at the 2023 Empire 8 Championship, held at Parkview Fairways in Victor, NY, finishing nearly nine seconds ahead of the field over the 6,000-meter course in a time of 21:38.8. Linenfelser's winning time was the fastest 6,000-meter E8 Championship race time in league history since that distance was adopted in 2017. It is Linenfelser’s second straight and third E8 weekly accolade of the 2023 season.
FIELD HOCKEY
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Alyssa Fitzgerald, Russell Sage, Gr., F, Queensbury, NY/Queensbury
Fitzgerald equaled the program record with four goals on Saturday at Nazareth. The road win helped the Gators qualify for the Empire 8 Championship Tournament for the first time. She scored once in the opening half and added Russell Sage’s third, fifth and sixth goals in the second half. She now has 17 goals on the season.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Hannah Young, Utica, Jr., GK, Jordanville, NY/Little Falls
Young tallied eight saves on 20 shots faced while allowing just two goals over the course of the two games. She earned a shutout Empire 8 victory over Elmira and made six saves against Hartwick. It is her second E8 weekly accolade of the season.
FOOTBALL
CO-OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Cole Burgess, Cortland, Sr., WR, Greenwich, NY/Greenwich
Burgess caught six passes for 135 yards and a touchdown in Cortland's 73-7 win at Hartwick as Cortland tied a school single-game scoring record. His 24-yard touchdown reception came late in the first quarter to complete a 35-point opening stanza for the nationally 16th-ranked Red Dragons.
CO-OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Peyton Nolan, St. John Fisher, Jr., RB, Newton, NJ/Newton
Nolan that impressed tallied 162 yards on 29 carries to go along with two touchdowns in Saturday’s 30-6 win over Alfred University. He did not have a single rush for a loss and averaged 5.6 yards per carry. Nolan scored touchdowns of 6- and 5-yards, both in the second quarter. Nolan surpassed 1,000 yards rushing on the season and became the 11th Cardinal to reach that mark. It is Nolan’s third E8 weekly honor of 2023.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Joseph Milanese, St. John Fisher, Sr., DB, Wyantskill, NY/Averill Park
Milanese was strong on defense that allowed just 73 yards rushing in Saturday’s 30-6 win over Alfred. The defensive back recorded five total tackles and one tackle for loss. Against the passing attack, he had two pass breakups and an interception he returned for 24 yards to flip the field and that led to a Cardinal touchdown in the fourth quarter.
SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Mike Baloga, Cortland, Jr., K, New Windsor, NY/Cornwall
Baloga tied a school single-game record with 10 made point-after attempt kicks and added a 25-yard field goal in Cortland's 73-7 win at Hartwick. Baloga also set a school record with 77 successful consecutive PAT kicks, dating back to last season, including 58-for-58 this fall.
MEN’S SOCCER
CO-OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Mohamed Koroma, Elmira, Jr., F, Dumfries, VA/Finlandia University
Koroma scored twice in Elmira's 4-0 win over Alfred University on Wednesday to clinch the top seed in the Empire 8 conference tournament. His two goals, scored just four minutes apart from each other, put Elmira in control of the game in the first half. Koroma led the team in shots and shots on goal with four.
CO-OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Timmy McQueeney, Hartwick, So., M, Wading River, NY/Shoreham Wading River
McQueeney was instrumental in Hartwick's 2-0 week. He started the week by helping the Hawks to a 2-0 win on the road against Sage on Wednesday, scoring the second goal of the game with a header in the box. McQueeney would score what would ultimately be the game-winning-goal on Saturday in Hartwick's Empire 8 Tournament First Round win at home against Utica, putting the goal away in the 42nd minute of play.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Rodrigo Fernandez, Hartwick, Sr., D, Leon, Mexico/Instituto Centraa
Fernandez anchored Hartwick's back line in their final regular season game at Russell Sage on Wednesday as the Hawks limited the Gators to just one shot on goal in the 2-0 shutout win. He followed that up helping the Hawks to another 2-0 win over Utica in the first round of the Empire 8 Tournament.
WOMEN’S SOCCER
CO-OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Karryne Mims, Houghton, Fr., F, Jamestown, NY/Jamestown
Mims scored three goals and added an assist for the Highlanders in two games. She wrapped up the regular season by scoring a goal and adding an assist in a 3-1 win over Keuka Wednesday. She followed that up by netting goals number eight and nine of her freshman campaign during Houghton's 3-2 loss to Russell Sage in the opening round of the Empire 8 Conference Tournament on Saturday. Mims leads the E8 in goals scored. It is her second E8 weekly accolade of the season.
CO-OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Gianna Viscusi, Russell Sage, So., F, Duanesburg, NY/Schalmont
Viscusi scored with three seconds remaining to propel Russell Sage into the E8 Championship Tournament Semifinals in Saturday’s wild 3-2 win over Houghton in the opening round. She also added an assist earlier in the game. On Wednesday, Viscusi scored the in a 2-0 win at Hartwick.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Kiani Barnard-Pratt, Alfred, So., GK, Westford, MA/Westford Academy
Barnard-Pratt helped advance through the opening round of the Empire 8 Women’s Soccer Championship Tournament as the No. 6 seeded Saxons needed penalty kicks to get past No. 3 Utica University. Before Saturday’s win, Barnard-Pratt had nine saves in a 2-0 loss to the E8 Regular Season Champions, Nazareth University. On Saturday, she made 13 saves during the 110 minutes of play to keep the game at 0-0 to go to PK’s. During penalty kicks, she made two great saves to set teammate, Lina Young up for the game-winning penalty kick. It is her second straight E8 weekly accolade and third of the season.
MEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Hassan Abdelwahed, Hartwick, Fr., Breaststroke, New Hartford, NY/New Hartford
Abdelwahed helped the Hawks to an Empire 8 dual meet win over Nazareth on Saturday. The first year placed first in the 100-yard breaststroke, 200-yard breaststroke, and 200-yard individual medley. He also posted a time of 27.08 in the 50-yard breaststroke split for the 1st place 200 medley relay team.
WOMEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Mia Spencer, Alfred, Sr., Breaststroke/Freestyle, Omaha, NE/Omaha Central
Spencer won three times on Friday evening in a dominant win over Pitt.-Bradford. She started her evening with a time of 2:24.84 in the 200-yard individual medley, defeating the rest of the pool by almost 10 seconds. She then added a time of 1:06.36 in the 100-yard butterfly and closed out the evening with a relay win. She teamed with Kamila Roman, Alexandra Simmons and Sarah Anderson for a time of 1:46.97.
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Kaileigh Brandow, Hartwick, Sr., OH, Manorville, NY/Eastport South Manor
Brandow came up big for the Hawks in their three-set road win at Houghton on Saturday. She posted 13 kills on 22 attempts for a .500 attack percentage across the three sets. Brandow also added two aces, one block assist, and six digs for 15.5 points in the match.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Kaylene Noble, St. John Fisher, Fr., OH, Fayetteville, NY/Fayetteville-Manlius
Noble helped the Cardinals earn the E8 regular season title and top-seed in the upcoming E8 Women’s Volleyball Tournament. Overall, she hit .346 with 47 kills, five service aces and four blocks. She started the week with 14 kills on a .400 hitting percentage to go along with two blocks and six digs against Utica Friday. In a matchup against Keuka Saturday, Noble recorded 16 kills on a .467 hitting percentage, while adding two aces, two blocks and 15 digs. She added 17 kills and nine digs in a non-conference showdown against Misericordia. It is Noble’s fourth E8 weekly honor of the season.
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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