General | 5/6/2024 12:53:32 PM
Below are the Empire 8 Players of the Week, released on May 6, 2024, for games played from April 29 – May 5, 2024. It is the 34th Empire 8 weekly honors release of the 2023-24 season. Sports featured include baseball, softball, men’s and women’s lacrosse, men’s tennis and men’s and women’s outdoor track and field.
BASEBALL
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Jeff Stearnes, Russell Sage, Jr., INF, Vergennes, VT/Vergennes Union
Stearnes continued his torrid streak to end the regular season, batting .550 while hitting six home runs and driving in 15 batters for the Gators, as they clinched the Empire 8 Regular Season Championship and top seed in the upcoming E8 Tournament. He began the week by going 4-for-5 with a double, two home runs and five RBI against SUNY Cobleskill on Tuesday and homered twice and drove in five runs the following day against Union. Stearns walked twice and scored two runs in Friday’s 9-4 win over Houghton and followed that up with his third multi-homer and five-RBI game of the week in Saturday’s 7-0 victory. Overall, he recorded a 2.091 OPS on the week. Stearns earned E8 Player of the Week honors for the second straight week.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK – Matthew Denatale, Russell Sage, Gr., P, Rhinebeck, NY/Rhinebeck
Denatale threw a nine-inning five-hit shutout to close out the regular season, as Russell Sage clinched the top seed in the upcoming Empire 8 Tournament with a 7-0 win over Houghton on Sunday. Denatale scattered five hits and three walks, while striking out five batters to pick up his fifth win of the season. It is his second consecutive E8 weekly accolade and thirds overall of the season.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Jackson Frey, St. John Fisher, Fr., OF, Grand Island, NY/Grand Island
Frey hit .600 (9-for-15) during the week with nine runs scored, five walks, a double, home run and four RBIs in leading the Cardinals to four wins in four games. He had at least two hits in all four contests, including a 3-for-4 outing with a home run, two RBI and four runs scored in game two against Alfred on Saturday. He reached base all five times in game one (two hits, three walks and scored three times). Frey recorded a 1.567 OPS on the week to earn his second E8 weekly accolade.
SOFTBALL
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Emma Heartquist, Russell Sage, So., C/OF, Stuyvesant, NY/Ichabod Crane
Heartquist hit .538 (7-of-13) with a pair of doubles, a triple and two RBI in helping lead the Gators to the fourth seed in the upcoming Empire 8 Tournament. She was 2-for-3 with a triple and run scored in a game one win over Elmira on Saturday and was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and run batted in to clinch the sweep for Russell Sage.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK – Leah Madore, Russell Sage, So., P, Williamsville, VT/Brattleboro Union
Madore went 3-0 with a 0.37 earned run average and 30 strikeouts across 19.0 innings of work. Opponents only managed 10 hits and one earned run as the righty tossed three complete game victories, including both ends of Saturday's must-win sweep of visiting Elmira to put the Gators into the E8 Tournament for the fourth straight year. She struck out eight batters over seven innings in game one and was even stronger in game two, allowing just three hits striking out 12 batters in five innings in the 10-0 win. It is her second E8 weekly accolade of the season. It is Madore’s second E8 weekly accolade of the season.
MEN’S LACROSSE
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Sean Donaldson, St. John Fisher, Fr., M, Springfield, PA/Springfield
Donaldson tallied nine points on six goals and three assists in helping lead the Cardinals to their fifth straight Empire 8 Championship. He began the week by recording two goals and two assists in St. John Fisher’s 30-7 E8 semifinal win over Hartwick on Wednesday. Donaldson added four goals and an assist, all in the first 17:37 of the contest, helping the Cardinals jump out to an insurmountable lead on their way to a 20-8 final over Nazareth in the title game on Saturday.
GOALIE OF THE WEEK – Ben Hammond, St. John Fisher, Sr., G, Manlius, NY/Fayetteville-Manlius
Hammond was named the Empire 8 Tournament Most Valuable Player for the second time (2022) after recording a .591 save percentage, while stopping 13-of-22 shots as the Cardinals rolled to their fifth straight league title. He made seven saves, while allowing just three goals over 39 minutes in the semifinal win over Hartwick and stopped six shots in Saturday’s E8 Championship win over Nazareth. Hammond was one of four St. John Fisher student-athletes to earn All-Tournament Team honors. It is Hammond’s fifth E8 weekly accolade of the season.
WOMEN’S LACROSSE
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Sydney Carpenter, St. John Fisher, Jr., M, Hilton, NY/Hilton
Carpenter was named the 2024 Empire 8 Women’s Lacrosse Championship Most Valuable Player for the third straight year after tallying 13 points on 10 goals and three assists to go along with 17 draw controls in the two Empire 8 Tournament contests. She scored four goals and had nine draw controls in the E8 semifinal win over Hartwick on May 3. Carpenter saves her best for the title game, exploding for a career-high nine points on six goals and three assists to go along with eight draw controls, four ground balls and three caused turnovers in St. John Fisher’s 20-5 win over Utica University in the title game on Saturday. It is Carpenter’s third E8 weekly accolade of the 2024 season.
GOALIE OF THE WEEK – Maggie Cross, St. John Fisher, Fr., G, Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua Academy
Cross made 13 saves and allowed just seven goals (4.00 goals against average and a .650 save percentage) in two games last week to help the Cardinals win their 12th straight Empire 8 Tournament. She made a season-high seven saves in three quarters of play in the 19-2 win over Hartwick in the E8 Semifinal Wednesday and added six more saves in the 20-5 victory over Utica in the title game Saturday.
MEN’S TENNIS
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Levi Webb, Houghton, Sr., Houghton, NY/Fillmore
Webb was named the 2024 Empire 8 Men’s Tennis Championship Most Valuable Player after leading Houghton to its second straight league title and third in the last four seasons. He teamed with Nolan Zach to earn an 8-1 win at first doubles in Houghton’s 5-0 semifinal win over Alfred on Friday. The next day, Webb and Zach earned an 8-3 win at first doubles, while Webb helped the Highlanders clinch the title with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Max Funicello at second singles, as Houghton defeated Nazareth, 5-1 in the title match. It is Webb’s third E8 weekly honor of the season.
MEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD
TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Cade Eells, Nazareth, Jr., Distance, Ithaca, NY/Ithaca
Eells was named the 2024 Empire 8 Outdoor Championship Track Athlete of the Meet. set a new meet record in winning the 3,000-meter steeplechase on Friday, recording a time of 9:18.54. On Saturday, he placed second in the 1,500-meters with a time of 4:05.83 and was third in the 5,000-meters, hitting the finish line in 15:31.25. It is Eells’ third E8 weekly accolade of the season.
FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Jack Pomykaj, Nazareth, So., Pole Vault/Jumps/Multi-Events, Hilton, NY/Hilton
Pomykaj was named the 2024 Empire 8 Outdoor Championship Field Athlete of the Meet. He enjoyed a tremendous weekend, setting a new Empire 8 Championship meet record in winning the decathlon with 5.954 points. In addition, he was second in the long jump with a leap of 6.71 meters, placed third in the pole vault, clearing with 4.30 meters and was also part of the 4 x 100-meter relay team that crossed the finish line second in 43.01 seconds.
WOMEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD
TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Mackenzie Mix, Utica, Jr., Sprints, Camden, NY/Camden
Mix was named 2024 Empire 8 Outdoor Track Athlete of the Meet after sweeping all three sprint events and leading the Pioneers to runner-up honors in a pair of relays. Mix took the 100-meters in 12.30 seconds, annexed the 200-meters in 25.54 seconds and rolled to the win in the 400-meters in 57.60 seconds. She also was part of the relay teams that placed second in the 4 x 100-meters (50.00 seconds) and 4 x 400-meters (4:06.47). It is her third straight E8 weekly accolade.
CO-FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Makenna King, St. John Fisher, Sr., Throws, Norwood, NY/Norwood-Norfolk
King was named the 2024 Empire 8 Women's Outdoor Championship Field Athlete of the Meet. She won the E8 discus throw title for the third consecutive with a career-best throw of 45.65 meters. King was also second in the shot put with a toss of 13.34 meters and set a second career-best in the hammer throw, firing it 45.83 meters to place fourth overall.
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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