General | 2/5/2024 12:37:26 PM
Below are the Empire 8 Players of the Week, released on February 5, 2024, for games played from January 29 – February 4, 2024. It is the 22nd 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
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Logan Blankenberg, Nazareth, Gr., G, Ontario, NY/Wayne Central
Blankenberg led Nazareth to a 3-0 week with a road win at Utica Tuesday and home victories over Alfred and Elmira. He averaged 23.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game for the week with a high of 32 points in the 118-59 win over Elmira Saturday. He was 10-for-12 from the field, including a blazing 7-for-8 from 3-point range in the win. His sixth 3-pointer of the night late in the first half put him over 1,000 career points as he became the 30th player in Nazareth history to reach the milestone. He scored 21 in the win at Utica and added 17 in the Alfred victory. It is his second straight E8 weekly accolade.
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – JaJuan Preaster, Houghton, Sr., F, Orlando, FL/Central Florida Christian
Preaster stuffed the stat sheet in his lone game last week, a 108-82 victory over Elmira on Tuesday. Preaster landed a career high 36 points to go with nine assists, eight rebounds, and three steals while shooting 14-of-25 from the floor (including a perfect 2-for-2 from behind the arc) and went 8-of-10 from the free throw line. He is now second in the E8 in scoring, third in assists, fourth in field goal percentage, sixth in rebounds, and ninth in steals.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – James Wang, Houghton, Fr., F, Vancouver, British Columbia/Montverde
Wang scored 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor, nabbed two steals, and added a pair of blocked shots in just 19 minutes of play during a 108-82 Highlander victory over Elmira on Tuesday. Wang is second in the Empire 8 in blocked shots, despite only averaging 16 minutes per game, and is shooting 48 percent from 3-point range. It is Wang’s second E8 Rookie of the Week honor.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Molly Benetti, Nazareth, So., F, Syracuse, NY/West Genesee
Benetti led Nazareth to a 3-0 week as the Golden Flyers won on the road at Utica Tuesday and at home against Alfred and Elmira over the weekend. She averaged 17.0 points and 6.7 rebounds per game for the week and added eight blocks and eight assists. For the week, she shot a blistering 72 percent from the floor (23-for-32) with 20 points and seven boards against Utica, 13 against Alfred and 18 on 8-of-10 shooting in the win over Elmira. It is her third E8 weekly accolade of 2023-24.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Vanessa Hall, Utica, Fr., F, Whitesville, NY/Whitesville Central
Hall averaged 18.7 points and 7.3 rebounds in three E8 games during the week and played a crucial role in the team's 58-55 victory over Russell Sage on Saturday. She dropped 24 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor with seven boards and one steal against Hartwick Friday and added and then 21 points, nine rebounds, and one steal against Sage the following day. It is Hall’s fourth E8 weekly accolade of the season.
MEN’S INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD
TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Kaleb Luton, Nazareth, Gr., Sprints/Hurdles/Jumps, Amherst, NY/Sweet Home
Luton returned to action after an injury and finished third (first among Division III competition) in the 60-meter hurdles at the Bomber Invitational at Ithaca College on Saturday. He clocked an 8.23 to win his heat in the preliminaries and then ran an 8.18 in the finals losing only to a pair of runners from Division I Cornell. He was also 13th in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.19 seconds (just .01 off his career-best). Luton, who is currently tied for 11th nationally in the 60-meter hurdles, earned his second E8 weekly accolade of the season.
CO-FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Sean Cochrane, St. John Fisher, Sr., Jumps, Avon, NY/Avon
Sean Cochrane took home first place in the high jump with a height of 2.01 meters (6’ 7”) at the Brockport Multi Invite on Saturday. Cochrane is currently tied for ninth in Division III this season in the event. It is Cochrane’s second E8 weekly honor of the season.
CO-FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Hunter Logan, Utica, Jr., Throws, Fort Plain, NY/Herkimer College
Logan, for the fourth time this season at the Utica University Fast Trax Invitational took first place in the shot put, with a throw of 16.03 meters (52’ 7.25”). That is his second-best mark this season, as he is currently 21st in Division III in the event. It is Logan’s second E8 weekly accolade of the season.
WOMEN’S INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD
TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Olivia Gilbert, Alfred, Sr., Middle-Distance, Ontario, NY/Wayne Central
Gilbert not only won the women’s 600-meter dash on Saturday, but also broke the SUNY Brockport Invitational meet record while falling just short of the all-time Alfred University school record. Gilbert tied for the ninth fastest time in Division III during the 2024 indoor season with her time of 1:38.44. Her new time topped her previous personal best time of 1:41.55 as she was just 0.44 seconds away from tying the school record of 1:38.00. Gilbert defeated the rest of the 16-runner field by almost an entire three seconds or more. It is her second straight E8 weekly accolade.
FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Veronica Duell, St. John Fisher, Jr., Jumps, Bergen, NY/Byron-Bergen
Duell won the long jump for St. John Fisher at the SUNY Brockport Multi-Invite on Saturday with a leap of 5.68 meters (18’7.75”). That jump currently leads the Empire 8 and is sixth among all NCAA Division III student-athletes this season.
MEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Ryan Hough, Nazareth, Sr., Sprint Freestyle, Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua Academy
Hough had another strong showing at the midweek meet with Brockport Wednesday. Hough won the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 21.63 and was second in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 56.33. He swam the critical final leg of the 200-free relay and led Nazareth to a come-from-behind victory with a final time of 1:31.22. Nazareth trailed by just over a second heading into the final leg of the race. It is Hough’s third weekly honor of the season.
WOMEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Caroline Coleman, Nazareth, Jr., Freestyle, Eden, NY/Eden
Coleman posted a win in the 200-yard freestyle race with a strong final lap to win by .21 seconds with a time of 2:04.57 and was second in the 100-yard freestyle with a personal-best time of 56.69, as Nazareth ended the regular season at SUNY Brockport on Wednesday. It is Coleman’s second E8 weekly accolade of the season.
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Gavin Newman, St. John Fisher, Jr., S, Commack, NY/Commack
Newman dished out 101 assists in 12 sets to go along with 19 digs, seven service aces, seven kills and six blocks, as the Cardinals went 3-1 over the weekend at the Bengal Invite hosted by Buffalo State College. In a five set thriller against UC-Santa Cruz, Newman recorded 47 assists with just one error, and added four service aces, two block assists and nine digs. On Saturday against Buffalo State, the setter collected 22 assists in three-set sweep and added two solo blocks and two digs. In the final match of the week against Hobart, Newman distributed 25 assists with no errors, adding four kills, to block assists and five digs, as Fisher rolled to a three-set sweep. It is Newman’s second E8 weekly accolade of 2024.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Luke Jata, Elmira, Fr., OH, Smithtown, NY/Hauppauge
In four matches at the Misericordia Cougar Classic this past weekend, Jata helped the Soaring Eagles to a 2-2 record after posting 23 kills, eight digs and four blocks over the course of the weekend. On Friday, Jata finished the evening with 10 kills, six digs, a pair of service aces, and two total blocks. On Saturday in Elmira's pair of victories, he slammed 13 kills, a pair of digs, and a pair of blocks. It is Jata’s second E8 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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