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Dennis Rudolph '18 | Baseball
Senior Dennis Rudolph '18 produced one of the best seasons of his four-year career in the heart of the Elmira lineup. He slashed a career-best .376/.432/.496 and recorded team highs in hits (50), extra-base hits (10) and stolen bases (19). The Glen Ellyn, Illinois, native led the team with 16 multi-hit performances and paced the Empire 8 Conference in both triples (4) and stolen bases. Among his many highlights in 2018 was his inside-the-park home run, the third homer of his career, in a victory over Medaille. For his efforts, Rudolph garnered his first-ever E8 All-Conference nod as a member of the Second Team. The outfielder is also a member of the program's first graduating class of four-year letter winners, having been in the starting lineup since Elmira's inaugural season in the spring of 2015. |
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Marissa Olsen '19 | Cheerleading
As voted on by the team, third-year flyer Marissa Olsen '19 is the recipient of the 2018 Booster Club Cheerleader of the Year. Olsen, who earned "Most Improved" as a freshman and "Best Top" during her sophomore and junior years, was also elected the cheer team MVP this season. In 2018, Olsen was a key member of an Elmira squad that won gold at the EC College Cheerleading Challenge, Battle at the Capitol, and Advanced Spirit Nationals. After earning a ninth-straight Gold Paid Bid to nationals in August, the Soaring Eagles also finished among the top-four at NCA College Nationals in Daytona Beach, Florida, for the fifth consecutive season. |
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Atu Machika '18 | Field Hockey
Fourth-year standout Atu Machika '18 became the first Soaring Eagle to earn Empire 8 All-Conference honors during all four collegiate seasons as a member of the EC field hockey team. In the fall of 2017, Machika was named to the E8 All-Conference First Team, after the do-it-all midfielder started all 17 games and posted nine points on three goals and three assists. Machika logged multiple points in a 6-3 home win over Wells College (1g-1a), in addition to earning an assist in a 2-1 victory over the College at Brockport. For her career, Machika has started all 67 games across four seasons. She'll graduate tied for ninth in program history in goals (12), eighth in assists (10) and seventh in points (34). |
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Justin Porrett '19 | Men's Basketball
For the second season in a row, point guard Justin Porrett '19 has been honored as the Men's Basketball Booster Club Player of the Year. Porrett logged a record-breaking season at the helm of a new-look, up-tempo offense employed by the Soaring Eagles in 2017-18. The third-year guard led all of NCAA Division III in assists per game (8.8) and broke a 31-year old program record for total assists (212), on top of per-game averages of 12.3 points and 6.2 rebounds. In a 111-100 victory over St. Lawrence University, Porrett established a new team and Empire 8 Conference record with 19 dimes. Off of the court, he collected CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team honors for carrying a cumulative 3.56 GPA. |
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James Fritsche '18 | Men's Cross Country
After leading the Elmira men's cross country team in every race in the fall of 2017, senior James Fritsche '18 has been selected as the team's Booster Club Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. Fritsche continued to improve as the race season progressed and was clocked with his two best 8K times during the championship portion of the schedule. At the NCAA Division III Atlantic Regional in Houghton, New York, he ran a season-best 29:09.40, the fourth-best 8K time of his collegiate career. The Bolton, Connecticut, native also boasts a 3.99 GPA and has been crowned a Scholar-Athlete Award winner as both a junior and senior at the annual Athletic Awards Reception. |
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Charl Pretorius '19 | Men's Golf
Charl Pretorius '19 turned in another standout season with the EC men's golf team in 2017-18, and as a result, received back-to-back Booster Club Player of the Year Awards. The third-year linksman shaved a fraction of a point off of his average round score (84.1) and his score versus par (plus-12.4) from a year ago. His best finish of the year was a ninth-place showing with an 83 ( 11) at the Elmira College Fall Invitational, and he carded a season-low 81 ( 9) in the second round of the 2017 ECAC Division III Men's Golf Championship. |
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Nick Ford '20 | Men's Ice Hockey
The progression of Nick Ford '20 from his rookie campaign to his sophomore season in 2017-18 was remarkable. Ford produced one of the high-scoring seasons by a Soaring Eagle in the last quarter century and was rewarded with United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) All-Conference First Team and American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) All-America Second Team honors. In all, the New Lenox, Illinois, native amassed 50 points on 25 goals and 25 assists. Ford ranked second in the country in both total points, points per game (1.79), goals, and goals per game (0.89). He is the first EC player since Dave Evans '97 to recorded 50-or-more points in a season, and his 25 goals are the most by a Soaring Eagle since Randy Murphy '95 netted 29 in 1993-94. |
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Jacob Mattice '21 | Men's Lacrosse
The graduation of former starting goalie Cameron Prior '17 left large shoes for the EC men's lacrosse team to fill, but first-year netminder Jacob Mattice '21 proved to be a worthy successor. The dual-sport athlete, who also plays in goal for the men's soccer team, made 11 starts and paced all goalies in the Empire 8 with 13.36 saves per game. He posted double-digit saves on nine occasions, including a season-high 22 against Nazareth College and 20 against SUNY Oneonta. He earned his first career win with 12 saves in an 11-10 victory over Houghton, which included a last-second stop to preserve the one-goal lead. |
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Colin Morrison '19 | Men's Soccer
Third-year back Colin Morrison '19 was a leader from the back line for the Soaring Eagle men's soccer team in 2017. With Morrison's guidance and experience, Elmira allowed just 1.41 goals per game in the ultra-competitive Empire 8, and the team shut out both Nazareth College (2-0) and Utica College (1-0) in tightly-contested conference victories. Morrison's endurance was on display all year long, as the Carlsbad, California, product played every minute in 16 of EC's 17 games, including all 110 minutes in double-overtime draws against both D'Youville College and St. John Fisher College. |
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Stephen Gervase '20 | Men's Tennis
Following a successful rookie campaign, Stephen Gervase '20 was inserted into the top-half of the Elmira lineup in 2017-18. He finished the year second on the team in total wins (10) with five in both singles and doubles action. As one-half of EC's top doubles tandem, Gervase earned four of his five doubles wins against Empire 8 Conference competition. Of his five singles wins, the second-year netter from Lebanon, Connecticut, posted a perfect 2-0 mark in the No. 2 spot, including an unblemished 6-0, 6-0 second singles win in the Empire 8 opener against Utica. |
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Matthew Buffum '18 | Men's Volleyball
Fourth-year middle blocker Matthew Buffum '18 guided the EC men's volleyball team to a nine-game improvement in the win column and a return to the United Volleyball Conference (UVC) Tournament in 2018. The 6-foot-7-inch senior from Chesterfield, Missouri, set new program single-season records for attack percentage (.416) and total blocks (135), and ranked among the national leaders in hitting percentage and blocks per set (1.04). His performance allowed the Soaring Eagles reach the 20-win plateau this season and rank as high as No. 13 in the AVCA Top 15 rankings. Both the UVC and Empire 8 Conference crowned Buffum as an All-Conference First-Teamer, and he joined former All-American Erik Griffin '16 as just the second player in team history to earn AVCA Division III Player of the Week honors. |
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Maddy Johnson '19 | Softball
For the first time since 2013, the EC softball team landed a player on the Empire 8 All-Conference First Team, and that was center fielder Maddy Johnson '19. After leading all of NCAA Division III in batting average early in the 2018 season, Johnson ranked second in the conference in average (.472) and on-base percentage (.525), both of which set new single-season career-highs for the Rome, Pennsylvania, product. In just 23 games, Johnson posted a career-best 34 hits with at least one base knock in 19 of her appearances. While excelling at the plate as a left-handed slap hitter, the junior was a commendable defender in the outfield; she committed just one error and flashed the leather with a highlight-reel diving catch in the season-opening win vs. Hilbert. |
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Cassie Chun '18 | Sports Medicine
Cassie Chun '18 has been recognized by the EC Sports Medicine staff as the Booster Club Outstanding Student Assistant for the 2017-18 academic year. Chun, who also plays for the women's golf team, has assisted the Sports Medicine Department since August of 2016 and has worked with a variety of sports, including baseball, men's ice hockey, women's tennis, women's volleyball and women's basketball. She's been lauded by the Sports Med staff for her hard work and initiative. As a member of the women's golf team, the Commack, New York, native played a combined 10 rounds in six tournaments as a senior. |
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Emily Green '18 | Women's Basketball
In her senior campaign, Emily Green '18 posted career numbers and helped the women's basketball team jump out to a historic start. Green scored a single-season best 10.7 points per game while collecting 2.8 rebounds and dishing out 1.8 assists per contest in 2017-18. The fourth-year guard was second on the team in 3-pointers (44) and led starters with a 75.0 free-throw percentage. The Fredericksburg, Virginia, native tied a career-high with 21 points against St. John Fisher College, and tallied 20 in a victory over Wells College. With Green's contributions, the EC women's basketball team opened the year with seven consecutive victories and finished above .500 for the first time since 2013-14. |
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Claire Preisch '21 | Women's Cross Country
Freshman Claire Preisch '21 led the Soaring Eagles to the finish line in all nine races during the 2017 season. She ran a program-record 4K at the Hamilton College Short Course Invitational (16:47.00) in early September and the third-best 6K in team history at SUNY Poly's Wildcat Classic (25.42.20) two weeks later. On November 11 at the NCAA Division III Atlantic Regional Championships in Houghton, New York - Elmira's first-ever regional race in the program's four-year history - Preisch was clocked with the fifth-fastest 6K time (25:54.30). The Milton, Pennsylvania, native placed 13th at the Cross Country Only Conference (CCOC) Championships and 28th at the Empire 8 Conference Championships. |
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Audrey Clarke '18 | Women's Golf
In 2017-18, Audrey Clarke '18 solidified her name among the greatest women's golfers in EC history. She placed sixth at the 2017 Empire 8 Conference Championships and was named to the E8 All-Conference Second Team, making her the first player in program history to collect All-Conference honors in all four collegiate seasons, in addition to four consecutive Booster Club player of the Year Awards. The Churchville, New York, native carded one of the best rounds of her career at the EC Fall Invitational with a 5-over-par 77. That score was good enough to earn individual medalist honors and establish a new team record for career tournament wins with seven, breaking a two-way tie with former Elmira great Briana MacDonald '14. |
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Kelcey Crawford '18 | Women's Ice Hockey
On the ice, Elmira goalie Kelcey Crawford '18 proved to be one of the nation's best. The United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) Goalie of the Year and a American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) Second-Team All-American, Crawford backstopped the nationally-ranked Soaring Eagles to the inaugural UCHC Tournament title and a runner-up finish in the NCAA Division III Championship. The Purcellville, Virginia, native established new program records for wins (22), saves (622) and save percentage (.955), in addition to setting a new single-game record with 62 saves in a thrilling 4-2 upset over rival Plattsburgh State on November 26. Against the Cardinals in the NCAA semifinals, Crawford recorded 41 saves to help EC punch its ticket to the title game with a 3-2 double-overtime win. |
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Kelcey Crawford '18 | Women's Lacrosse
Like several of her ice hockey predecessors, Kelcey Crawford '18 also received All-Conference honors from the Empire 8 Conference as a member of the Elmira women's lacrosse team. As a defender, she received her third consecutive E8 All-Conference Second Team award. In 11 games, Crawford picked up a team-leading 42 ground balls, caused 27 turnovers, and posted career-highs in points (7) and goals (4). On the Empire 8 leaderboards, the senior standout was second in caused turnovers per game (2.45) and third in ground balls per game (3.82). She'll graduate third all-time in program history in caused turnovers (82) and eighth in ground balls (146). |
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Lindsay Proulx '18 | Women's Soccer
For the second consecutive season, Lindsay Proulx '18 appeared in the starting lineup in all 16 games, one of just three players to do so in 2017. The fourth-year back was a cornerstone on Elmira's defensive corps, as she amassed a team-leading and career-high 1,427 minutes of playing time for the Purple and Gold. The Canton, New York, native was a leader by example while playing every minute in 14 contests in her final collegiate campaign. That included all 92 minutes in a nail-biting 3-2 overtime victory over Wells College and all 110 minutes in a 1-1 double-overtime draw against Empire 8 Conference foe Alfred University, both of which came at home on Campus Field. |
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Megan Fitzgerald '18 | Women's Tennis
Fourth-year netter Megan Fitzgerald '18 capped off a record-setting career with the Purple and Gold as an Empire 8 All-Conference Second Team selection in her first season as Elmira's No. 1 singles player. Fitzgerald recorded identical records of 9-5 in both singles and doubles action in 2017-18, which included five singles wins against Empire 8 competition and four more in doubles action. With 18 total victories, she tied her own mark from the 2014-15 season for eighth place in single-season history. The Thomaston, Connecticut, native also etched her name atop Elmira's all-time wins leaderboard with 81 career victories, and she also owns program records for both singles (40) and doubles wins (41). |
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Natalie Schieder '19 | Women's Volleyball
Third-year outside hitter Natalie Schieder '19 was one of the best in the Empire 8 Conference in 2017. Not only did she help the EC women's volleyball team improve by 14 games in the win column, but the Alden, New York, native collected E8 All-Conference First Team honors after pacing the league in kills per set (4.15). On a national scale, Schieder ranked seventh in all of NCAA Division III in kills (502), which tied her for ninth in single-season program history. Thanks to her 20 double-doubles, the junior also became just the seventh Soaring Eagle in team history to amass at least 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career. Schieder is the first Elmira player to garner an E8 All-Conference First Team bid since former AVCA All-American Taryn Rumsey '14 did so as a senior in 2013. |
