General | 1/15/2024 12:35:02 PM
Below are the Empire 8 Players of the Week, released on January 15, 2024, for games played from January 8 – January 14, 2024. It is the 19th Empire 8 weekly honors release of the 2023-24 season. Sports featured include men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s indoor track and field, men’s and women’s swimming and diving and men’s volleyball.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Oscar Wolter, Alfred, Jr., F, Munich, Germany/Lycee Jean Renoir
Wolter led the Saxons to a pair of Empire 8 wins over Hartwick College and Russell Sage College over the weekend, averaging 16.0 points, 14.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. Against Hartwick, Wolter finished the game with a double-double performance that consisted of 12 points and 10 rebounds. Wolter shot 5-of-11 from the field against the Hawks. Against Russell Sage, Wolter put up a career-high 20 points and 18 rebounds for the Saxons. He shot 8-of-13 from the field and recorded five assists to go along with a steal.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Aiden Carnevale, Elmira, Fr., F, Thornton, CO/Colorado Prep
Carnevale helped the Soaring Eagles to a 3-0 conference record with victories over Houghton, Russell Sage, and Hartwick. He averaged 10.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.0 block per game, while shooting 63 percent from the floor. Against Houghton, Carnevale went 8-for-12 from the floor in 34 minutes, including a 2-of-3 effort from deep to finish with 18 points and 10 rebounds. On Friday at Sage, Carnevale tallied seven rebounds and five points, while also collecting two blocks, two steals, and three assists. To finish the weekend, Carnevale collected nine points and eight rebounds against Hartwick, while also recording four assists and a block.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Sareena DiCerbo, Hartwick, Sr., G, Schenectady, NY/Colonie
DiCerbo's consistency over the weekend helped the Hawks get to a .500 mark in Empire 8 play with wins over Alfred and Elmira. She started the weekend on Friday against Alfred with 10 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists. DiCerbo followed that up with a double-double against Elmira, scoring 15 points and pulling down 12 rebounds. DiCerbo, who logged a career-high 39 minutes of work on Saturday, was also a force defensively with two blocks.
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Claire Kruszka, St. John Fisher, Sr., G, Lake View, NY/Frontier
Kruszka averaged 13.0, 8.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game points in St. John Fisher's two wins last week. On Tuesday, she recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 boards to go along with four assists and four steals in a win over Keuka. On Friday, Kruszka poured in 16 points to go along with six boards and four assists in a 65-49 win over previously unbeaten Houghton.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Madalyn Kelly, Nazareth, Fr., G, Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder
Kelly came off the bench to tie for the team lead with 14 points as Nazareth won its 12th consecutive game with an 81-45 win over Utica on Tuesday. The freshman was 5-for-9 from the field including a 4-for-8 performance from 3-point range. She added two assists, two steals and four rebounds in the win.
MEN’S INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD
TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Andy Hadasz, Utica, Jr., Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro
Hadasz was phenomenal on Friday at the Utica Winter Open, winning the 200-meter dash in a time of 22.15 seconds, which leads the Empire 8 and ranks eighth nationally to date in Division III. It was a new indoor best for the established Pioneer sprinter. He improved his No. 2 all-time program performance in program history with Friday's time.
FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Jack Rathburn, Utica, So., Pole Vault, Clarendon Hills, IL/Westmont
Rathburn was the winner of the pole vault at the Utica Winter Open on Friday, where he outdueled Oneonta's Michael Carey. His 4.00 meter clearance to take the win places him eighth all-time in the fifteen-year history of the program. It is the third-best performance in the Empire 8 this season.
WOMEN’S INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD
TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Arianna McClendon, Utica, Fr., Sprints, New York Mills, NY/New York Mills
McClendon recorded a pair of wins in the 4 x 200-meter relay and 500-meter dash at the Utica Winter Open Friday. She wrote her name into the school record books in the latter, going the two-and-a-half lap distance in 1:19.1 to win and secure the school record in that event. She bested her previous 500-meter time from the season opener by over two seconds. McLendon was part of the 4 x 200-meter relay that won by over five seconds in a time of 1:49.18.
FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Jane Fahy, Utica, Gr., Throws, Oriskany, NY/Oriskany
Fahy had the finest indoor shot put performance of her career to take victory in Friday's Utica Winter Open meet. Fahy obliterated her own school record with a new indoor personal best mark of 13.71 meters. That mark currently sits a terrific fourth nationally. She broke the record once before earlier in the night at 13.34 meters on her second throw.
MEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING
CO-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Wade LaMastus, Alfred, Jr., Breaststroke, Maumee, OH/Anthony Wayne
LaMastus helped the Saxons pick up their second Empire 8 dual meet win in a row over Nazareth University, scoring more points in a single meet against the Golden Flyers since 2008. LaMastus started the meet by swimming the breaststroke leg of the 200-short course medley relay, teaming with his brother, William, Keagan Winkky and Emmanuel Drappatz for a first place time of 1:51,72. LaMastus’s breaststroke leg time of 31.55 was the fastest in the pool with only one other swimmer clocking under 32.00. He then picked up wins in the 100-breaststroke with a time of 1:10.20, beating the rest of the pool by over a second, and the 200-breaststroke with a time of 2:39.34, dominating the rest of the pool by almost nine seconds. LaMastus ended his day with a second place finish in the 200-meter freestyle relay, swimming the third leg to combine for a time of 1:41.92.
CO-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Mikey Schultz, Hartwick, Sr., Butterfly/Individual Medley, Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley
Schultz helped the Hawks to a split in their tri-meet against Springfield and Union on Saturday. Schultz was a three-time individual winner in the 100-yard butterfly (51.29), 200-yard butterfly (1:54.93), and 200-yard individual medley (1:58.02).
WOMEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Caroline Coleman, Nazareth, Jr., Distance Freestyle, Eden, NY/Eden
Coleman started the second semester in impressive fashion, as Nazareth earned a dual meet win over Alfred. She started the meet against Alfred University with the anchor leg of the winning 200-meter medley relay as Nazareth won in 2:13.59. After a short break, she won the 800-meter freestyle race in 10:21.63 and later in the meet, posted the winning time in the 400-meter freestyle in 4:57.43.
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Owen Wickens, Nazareth, Sr., OH/L, Rochester, NY/McQuaid Jesuit
Wickens led No. 13 Nazareth to a pair of season-opening victories as he registered two 20-kill performances with 20 in the win over Randolph Macon and 26 kills in the second match of the day against Roanoke. He had the final three points in the fifth set with three consecutive kills as Nazareth came-from-behind after losing the first two sets to win the five-set match. He added 11 aces including a career-high nine aces against Roanoke with 10 digs and seven blocks in the two matches.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Luke Jata, Elmira, Fr., OH, Smithtown, NY/Hauppauge
Jata began his collegiate career by slamming 12 kills to go along with eight digs, two service aces and a block for the Soaring Eagles as they split matches against Misericordia and SUNY Poly Saturday. He had eight kills and two digs against Misericordia and six digs, four kills, two aces and a block in a three-set victory over SUNY Poly.
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