PSAC Athletes of the Week - 11/12 Monday, November 12, 2018 10:30 AM MEN'S SWIMMER OF THE WEEK Brent Benedict Gannon (Jr. / Freestyle) Corry, Pa. / Corry Benedict was a six-event winner Saturday at the Allegheny Gator Invitational, leading the Gannon men's swimming and diving team to a team championship with 803 points ... Benedict was the individual winner in the 50-yard freestyle (21.84), 100-yard butterfly (51.00) and 100-yard IM (53.85). He swam the anchor leg on Gannon's winning 200-yard freestyle (1:26.86), 200-yard medley (1:37.08) and 400-yard freestyle (3:13.28) relay teams. WOMEN'S SWIMMER OF THE WEEK Kira Goin California (Sr. / Butterfly/Freestyle) Pointe-Claire, Quebec / Dawson College Goin posted a pair of victories and reached the league standard in both events on Wednesday, as the Vulcans faced Saint Francis, a Division I program. She recorded the win in the 100 butterfly with a time of 59.46 seconds to win the event by two-tenths of a second and hit the league-qualifying mark. Goin also registered a victory in the 200 butterfly by nearly eight seconds with a time of 2 minutes, 9.73 seconds and improved her PSAC-qualifying time by over 4.5 seconds. MEN'S BASKETBALL EASTERN DIVISION ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Marcus Adkison Millersville (Sr. / G) Annandale, Va. / St. Andrew's Episcopal Adkison averaged 23.5 points, 4.0 steals and 3.0 assists per game in a road loss to Shepherd and a neutral site win over defending Mountain East champ Wheeling Jesuit. Adkison shot 55.6 percent from the field and made 11 of 18 threes. Adkison totaled 23 points and five boards while shooting 5 of 10 from three in the 81-73 loss to Shepherd. Millersville bounced back the next day, defeating Wheeling Jesuit 91-71, and Adkison hit 6 of 8 from deep, 8 of 12 from the field for 24 points. MEN'S BASKETBALL EASTERN DIVISION FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK Ryan Smith East Stroudsburg (Fr. / F) Willow Street, Pa. / Lampeter-Strasburg Smith averaged 12.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game for the defending PSAC champion Warriors in their season-opening tournament at Shaw over the weekend. He totaled 16 points, seven rebounds and three steals against the host Bears on Sunday, hitting 5-of-10 shots from the field and 5-of-7 free throw attempts. Smith recorded nine points and nine rebounds for the Warriors against Saint Augustine's on Saturday. He added a pair of blocks in that contest. MEN'S BASKETBALL WESTERN DIVISION ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Jacobo Diaz IUP (Sr. / F) Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain / CBA Gran Canaria Diaz averaged 22 points and 6.5 rebounds in a pair of contests while No. 8 IUP opened the 2018-19 season with a pair of wins. The senior tallied 24 points and nine rebounds while dishing out a trio of assists against Concord. On Saturday, he dropped 20 points and turned in four steals. For the weekend, Diaz shot 58.1% from the floor. MEN'S BASKETBALL WESTERN DIVISION FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK Jermaine Hall, Jr. California (Fr. / G/F) Baltimore, Md. / Severn School Hall averaged 15.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game, as the Vulcans faced a pair of MEC opponents at the Joe Retton Classic hosted by Fairmont State. He shot 46.7 percent (14-of-30) from the floor while playing all 40 minutes in each of his initial two college games. A Baltimore native, Hall led all players with 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting, including a pair of long range, and added eight rebounds, two steals and a block against the host Fighting Falcons. Hall then scored 11 points on 5-of-15 attempts with eight rebounds, two assists and two steals in the losing effort versus Notre Dame (Ohio). WRESTLER OF THE WEEK Brock Biddle Pitt-Johnstown (R-Fr.) Martinsburg, Pa. / Central Martinsburg In collegiate dual meet debut on Wednesday, Biddle won a 12-6 decision at 174 lbs. over Chance Morgan in #6 Pitt-Johnstown's 38-0 win at West Liberty. In Sunday's 19-15 win at #5 Wheeling Jesuit, Biddle wrestled at 184 lbs. and won a 16-6 major decision over #4 Aidan Pasiuk that gave Pitt-Johnstown a 15-12 lead with two bouts remaining FIELD HOCKEY ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Kelli Shapiro East Stroudsburg (Sr. / MF) Ocean, N.J. / Ocean Township Shapiro factored in 10 of ESU's 12 goals on the week, continuing an offensive surge in which she has totaled 20 points (8 G, 4 A) over the Warriors' last three games. The senior contributed two goals and a career-high three assists in a 6-2 non-conference win over Molloy on Wednesday. She became the first ESU player in over two years to score four goals in a game on Saturday, also adding an assist in a 6-1 road PSAC victory at Mansfield. Her nine points at Mansfield are the most by a PSAC player in any game this season, and her seven points vs. Molloy are tied for the fourth most. WOMEN'S BASKETBALL EASTERN DIVISION ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Taylor Montana Bloomsburg (Jr. / F) Berwick, Pa. / Berwick Montana led the Huskies to a 2-0 record over the opening weekend of the season by averaging 14.5 points and 6.0 rebounds in the two victories. Montana scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds in Friday's 69-51 victory over Fayetteville State and then scored 13 points and pulled down five rebounds in the 54-47 win over Lincoln on Saturday. Montana was 12-of-19 (63.2%) from the field which has her third in the PSAC in field goal percentage early in the season. Montana was an All-PSAC East Second Team selection a season ago. WOMEN'S BASKETBALL EASTERN DIVISION FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK Taylor Leidy Lock Haven (Fr. / G) Alexandria, Pa. / Juniata Valley For the weekend, Leidy posted averages of 10.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.5 steals over 34.5 minutes per game. In the season opening win over Concord, Leidy scored 13 points to go along with seven rebounds, five assists and two steals. She also went 2-for-3 from behind the arc. In the second game against Fairmont State, she stuffed the stat sheet once again as she finished with seven points, seven rebounds, five assists and a steal. WOMEN'S BASKETBALL WESTERN DIVISION ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Seairra Barrett California (Sr. / F) Center Twp., Pa. / Central Valley Barrett averaged 37.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.5 steals per game over the weekend, as the Vulcans opened the year with a pair of double-digit victories while hosting a MEC/PSAC Conference Challenge. She also posted a .534 field-goal percentage and a .785 free-throw percentage while playing 78 of a possible 80 minutes over the weekend. After missing all of last year due to injury, Barrett scored a career-high 41 points on 19-of-36 shooting and added seven rebounds and five steals on Saturday in an 84-68 win over West Liberty. The Central Valley product then finished with 34 points on 12-of-22 attempts from the floor and 10-of-14 from the free-throw line in a 70-53 victory against Charleston on Sunday. Barrett also added six rebounds, three assists and four steals versus the Golden Eagles. WOMEN'S BASKETBALL WESTERN DIVISION FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK Boston McKinney Gannon (Fr. / G) Boliva, Ohio / Tuscarawas Valley McKinney scored in double figures in both games over the weekend. The freshman helped propel Gannon to wins over Elizabeth City State (91-89, OT) and Johnson C. Smith (69-58). She averaged 11.5 PPG on 50% shooting. She shot 42.9% from three (three makes). McKinney scored 13 points in the first game of the season and followed it up with 10 on Sunday. She dished out 12 assists over the weekend. FOOTBALL EASTERN DIVISION OFFENSIVE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK A.J. Long West Chester (R-Jr. / QB) Bethlehem, Pa. / Syracuse Long was named the PSAC MVP for the Championship Game Saturday in a 33-10 victory against Slippery Rock. He threw for 153 yards and three TD's while using his legs to rush for 135 yards on 30 carries and scoring a touchdown. Long and the Golden Rams secured the No. 3 seed in the Atlantic Region and will host a NCAA DII postseason game Saturday. FOOTBALL EASTERN DIVISION DEFENSIVE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Tyler Emge Shippensburg (Sr. / LB) Blandon, Pa. / Fleetwood Emge led SU with nine tackles and opened the scoring with a 20-yard INT return for a TD. FOOTBALL EASTERN DIVISION SPECIAL TEAMS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Alex Gooden Bloomsburg (Jr. / RB/KR) Parkesburg, Pa. / Octorara Gooden accounted for both Bloomsburg touchdowns in the Huskies' 28-13 loss at California on Saturday afternoon. He returned a kickoff 86 yards for another score late in the third quarter. It was Bloomsburg's first kickoff return for a touchdown since Jesse Cooper returned a kickoff 91 yards for a score at Millersville on October 4, 2008. He finished with 20 carries for 68 yards and one score, three catches for 34 yards, and two kickoff returns for 117 yards - totaling 219 all-purpose yards on the afternoon. FOOTBALL WESTERN DIVISION OFFENSIVE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Marcus Jones Gannon (Sr. / RB) Painesville, Ohio / Riverside Jones capped his incredible career with one of the best rushing performances in Division II history, running for 410 yards and seven touchdowns Saturday against Lock Haven. His 410 yards is the fourth-highest single-game total in DII history, and one of just six 400-yard games ever. His seven touchdowns was one short of the Division II record, and the most at any NCAA level this season. FOOTBALL WESTERN DIVISION DEFENSIVE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK London Cloud California (Jr. / LB) Bedford, Ohio / Bedford Cloud set a career high with a staggering 17 tackles on Saturday afternoon, as the Vulcans closed the year with a 28-13 victory against Bloomsburg at Adamson Stadium. He recorded the most tackles in a game since former linebacker Dontey Brown finished with 18 stops versus Mercyhurst in the 2009 season. Cloud helped anchor a defense that allowed only 208 total yards and one touchdown (BU scored second touchdown on kickoff return). The Ohio native also finished with 1.0 TFL and 0.5 sack against the Huskies to finish the year with team-best marks of 15.5 TFL and 5.0 sacks. FOOTBALL WESTERN DIVISION SPECIAL TEAMS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Jake Chapla Slippery Rock (Jr. / PK) Pittsburgh, Pa. / Plum Chapla connected on a 32-yard field goal in the PSAC Championship Game against West Chester. The field goal tied him for the most field goals in a career at SRU. The junior booted a pair of punts that traveled further than 50 yards and averaged 41 yards per punt on the blustery Saturday.