2022-23 Wildcats of the Week

2022-23 Wildcats of the Week

2022-23 Wildcats of the Week

Entering its eighth year, the Wildcat of the Week award focuses on individual performances on the field/court/course over the past seven days. Every Monday, two student-athletes (one male and one female) will be selected and featured on the home page as this week's Wildcat of the Week.

Monday, April 24, 2023:

Male – Josh Lovely – Fr. – Men's Lacrosse:
Josh Lovely (Columbus, Ohio) led the Wildcats with 15 points in two games last week. He scored five goals and added five assists against Domincan to become the third player (fourth time) to reach 10 points in a game in program history. He then came back and scored five goals at Felician in the team's 24-6 victory. Lovely is currently fourth on the team with 27 points this year, scoring 19 goals while adding eight assists.

Female – Amelie Gamache – Jr. – Women's Lacrosse:
Amelie Gamache led the Wildcats with 14 points in two games last week, adding six draws, two caused turnovers, and a ground ball. She scored two goals on two shots at Jefferson, adding two assists and five draws in the loss. She then came back and scored three goals while dishing out seven assists for 10 points, adding a caused turnover, a draw, and a ground ball in the team's victory. She is currently fourth in the CACC with 44 assists and second on the team with 73 points.

Monday, April 10, 2023:

Male – Jack McDonald – Jr. – Baseball:
Coming off a week where he was named the NCBWA East Region Player of the Week, Jack McDonald stayed hot for the Wildcats, helping the team to a 5-0 week. He hit 5-for-9 with two homers, four RBI, nine walks, and scored seven runs. He finished with a .556 batting average, a 1.222 slugging percentage, and a .778 on-base percentage. He had one hit in all five games, including homers at Kutztown and in game two against Bloomfield.

Female – Sara Miller – Jr. – Softball:
Sara Miller helped lead the Wildcats to a 4-0 week last week, single-handedly beating Goldey-Beacom in game one of the doubleheader. She batted 5-for-9 in the four games with three walks and two sacrifice flies, finishing with a .556 batting average, a 1.111 slugging percentage, and a .571 on-base percentage. She went 3-for-3 with a double and two RBI in game one against Jefferson and then 2-for-2 with a two-run homer, a two-run double, and a sacrifice fly for five RBI in a 5-3 victory over Goldey-Beacom in game one. She also went 2-2 on stolen base attempts, finished with seven RBI, and scored four runs.

Monday, March 27, 2023:

Male – Christian Dollard – Fr. – Men's Track and Field:
Christian Dollard's personal best day in the discus circle led him to his first weekly major award of his young career. Dollard to his credit battle rainy conditions, that any discus throw can find difficult, but despite the elements Dollard still was able to lead the way in the Discus Event. Dollard best toss of 36.04 meters was the best of nine throwers. Dollard currently sits at third in the CACC in Discus and is leads all freshmen in the event.

Female – Bella Eleazar – Jr. – Softball:
Bella Eleazar helped lead the Wildcats to a 5-1 overall record last week, batting 8-for-19 for a .421 batting average. She went 3-for-4 in game two at Georgian Court, hitting a double and collecting an RBI. She then went 2-for-3 in game one at West Chester and finished the week by going 3-for-7 with a run scored and a stolen base in a doubleheader at Felician.

Monday, March 13, 2023:

Male – Akeel Blake – So. – Men's Track & Field:
Akeel Blake helped produce 29 points for the Wildcats competing at the Myrtle Beach Collegiate Challenge this weekend. As a team, the Wildcats finished sixth overall with 63 points. The weekend started with Akeel winning the long jump event on Friday. He outjumped 26 markers and finished with a 7.00 meter jump to earn 10 points for the Wildcats. He then competed in the high jump on Saturday, beating 10 other jumpers and his score from last weekend with a height of 1.93 meters for 10 more points. He produced a season's best 14.27 meter jump in the triple jump, finishing second overall for eight more points. He capped his weekend off by being the opening leg of the teams 4x400 meter relay team which finished eighth, racing to a time of 3:32.35 for one team point.

Female – Lexi Moore – Jr. – Softball:
Lexi Moore went a perfect 5-for-5 in the Wildcats' doubleheader against Alliance last week, scoring five runs in the Wildcats' CACC sweep. She went 3-for-3 with a triple and a walk in game one, collecting four RBI and scoring three runs. Moore than went 2-for-2 with two runs in the nightcap, finishing off her 5-for-5 afternoon. She currently has a .385 batting average with a team high 20 hits on the year, reaching base at a .429 clip so far.

Monday, February 27, 2023:

Male – Taalib Holloman – Jr. – Men's Basketball:
Taalib Holloman led the Wildcats in their two games last week by scoring 17 points per game while shooting at a 50 percent clip (12-of-24). He scored seven points at Holy Family but then exploded for 27 points against Goldey-Beacom on 9-of-14 shooting from the field and 7-of-8 from the foul line to help the Wildcats clinch a playoff berth. He also grabbed seven rebounds against the Lightning and dished out two assists. Holloman scored 20 of his points in the first half, shooting 7-of-10 from the floor.

Female – Sydney Jones – So. – Bowling:
Sydney Jones finished second overall at the New Jersey Open this past weekend, setting a new WilmU program record for a six-match traditional total pinfall. Four of her six traditional matches were over 200 pins, including a big 245 match against Bloomfield on Sunday morning to propel her from third to second overall. She had matches of 191-244-255-218-198-245 for a program record of 1,351 total pinfall for a 225.17 average. She was only 23 pins off the leader from Fairleigh Dickinson. She was named to the All-Tournament Team for placing second overall.

Monday, February 20, 2023:

Male – Skip Burton – Fr. – Men's Basketball:
The freshman guided the men's basketball team to a 2-0 week, including a 19-point second half comeback at Georgian Court in his first start of the season. Burton the Wildcats with 10 assists in two games last week while only committing one turnover. He dished out five assists without a turnover against Queens and then dished out five more in his first start of the season with only one turnover at Georgian Court. Burton also scored 11 points at Georgian Court and grabbed five rebounds. 

Female – KC Miller – Sr. – Bowling:
KC Miller helped lead the bowling team to a 5th place finish at their own Wildcat DII/DIII Invite while also earning All-Tournament Team with a 5th place individual finish on Saturday. Miller jumped into fifth place with a tournament high 269 in the final match. She also had a 248 against Chestnut Hill and bowled games of 149-198-248-195-269 to finish with a 1,059 for a 211.80 average. The 269 is the fifth best game for a Wildcat in program history.

Monday, February 6, 2023:

Male – Amiri Stewart – Jr. – Men's Basketball:
Amiri Stewart was named the CACC Defensive Player of the Week after helping the Wildcats to a 2-0 week, extending their winning streak to four games. Stewart was a monster on the defensive end of the court, but also provided an offensive presence for the Wildcats. He picked up a season high four blocked shots and two steals against Chestnut Hill while adding 15 points and seven rebounds. He then sparked the 11-point comeback against Bloomfield, finishing with 10 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and a season high five steals against the Bears.

Female – Jade Roberts – So. – Women's Basketball:
Jade Roberts scored in double figures in each of the Wildcats' games last week but also produced her first double-double against Bloomfield. She scored 15 points while hitting three three-pointers against Chestnut Hill, adding five rebounds and three assists against the Griffins. She came back and had a career high 10 rebounds to go with 10 points against Bloomfield for her first career double-double.

Monday, January 16, 2023:

Male – Randy Rickards – Sr. – Men's Basketball:
Randy Rickards led the men's team in scoring 36 points in two games last week, averaging 18 points and 9.5 rebounds a game. He scored 19 points to go with three rebounds, four assists, and a steal against Georgian Court, shooting at a 7-for-10 clip. He then came back and scored 17 points to go with 16 rebounds, three steals, and two blocks at Alliance while shooting 7-of-9 from the floor. He shot 14-of-19 from the floor for the week, good enough for a .737 shooting percentage. He also went 8-for-11 from the foul line for the week.

Female – Fatou Ndao – Gr. – Women's Basketball:
The graduate student center led the Wildcats in three games last week, averaging a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds a contest. She also defended the rim with eight blocked shots. The week started with an 18-point, 12-rebound performance against Georgian Court. She then played all 40 minutes and posted 14 points and nine rebound at Chestnut Hill the next night. She finished her week by leading the Wildcats to their second win of the season with seven points and nine rebounds, adding four blocked shots. Half of her 30 rebounds came on the offensive glass for the week.

Monday, December 5, 2022:

Male – Justin Thomas – Jr. – Men's Basketball:
Justin Thomas led the Wildcats to a 2-0 week last week, averaging 17.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. Scored 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting, hitting a pair of three-points at Kuztown and then scored 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting, including 3-of-4 from deep in a CACC victory at Chestnut Hill. Also grabbed seven rebounds while adding an assist and a steak against the Griffins. Thomas grabbed three rebounds while adding four assists and two steals at Kutztown.

Female – Daja Claiborne – So. – Women's Basketball:
Daja Claiborne led the Wildcats last week in two games, averaging 8.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. She shot 4-of-7 from the floor in scoring eight points while grabbing six rebounds against Elizabeth City State on Saturday. She came back and scored eight points and grabbed six more rebounds while adding an assist and a blocked shot at Bowie State on Sunday. She is averaging 7.0 points and 6.7 rebounds per game this season.

Monday, November 21, 2022:

Male – Randy Rickards – Sr. – Men's Basketball:
Randy Rickards led the Wildcats in averaging 17 points, 7.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 2.5 steals a game while shooting .609 from the floor in two games last week. The forward shot 8-of-11 from the floor for 17 points while grabbing nine rebounds and dishing out six assists against Shippensburg in the team's 2022-23 home opener. He then went on the road and had 17 points, five rebounds, and four steals at Lock Haven.

Female – Amber Washington – Jr. – Women's Basketball:
Amber Washington led the Wildcats in averaging 10.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game in two games last week. The junior guard scored 11 points while grabbing three rebounds at NCAA Division I opponent Delaware State. She then then grabbed a career high 17 rebounds while scoring nine points at Mercy on Saturday.

Monday, October 3, 2022:

Male – Trent Taylor – So. – Men's Cross Country:
Sophomore Trent Taylor led the Wildcats at the Don Cathcart Invitational as he turned in a time of 26:26.3, which earned him 7th overall out of 87 runners. Taylor held a 3:18 average pace per kilometer. It was his second fastest 8K time of the year, helping the Wildcats to a third place finish overall.

Female – Heather Pedrick – Jr. – Volleyball:
The junior right side hitter led the Wildcats with 21 kills in two matches last week, leading the team to a 2-0 CACC mark. She also led the team with five aces, tied the team lead with five blocks, and finished third overall with 14 digs. She started with seven kills, six digs, two aces, and two blocks at Goldey-Beacom in the Wildcats' 3-0 win. She then led the team with 14 kills while hitting .321, eight digs, three aces, and three blocks at Alliance in another 3-0 match for the Wildcats. She averaged 3.50 kills, 2.33 digs, and 0.83 blocks per set last week

Monday, September 19, 2022:

Male – Tajhay Williams – So. – Men's Soccer:
The sophomore has scored in three straight games, including the game-winner against Dominican on Saturday. He scored the game's second goal of a 3-0 victory at Chestnut Hill, getting on the end of a Richard Thompson cross in the 48th minute. He then scored the third goal of a 5-2 victory against Dominican, ultimately being the game-winner for the Wildcats. He is now tied for second on the team with six points this season.

Female – Samantha Emmi – Jr. – Women's Soccer:
The junior has now scored in three straight games, including three goals last week in two games. She scored both goals of a 2-2 tie at Chestnut Hill, getting on the end of a corner for the first and then blasting in a 20-yard freekick for the second. She then got on the end of another corner on Saturday against Dominican, giving the Wildcats a 1-0 lead going into the halftime break. She is now tied for fifth in the CACC with four goals on the year.

Tuesday, September 6, 2022:

Male – Tyler Cleaves – So. – Men's Golf:
Tyler Cleaves finished tied 10th overall out of 120 golfers at the Wildcats for invitational of the year at the Vulcan Invitational. Cleaves finished at the top of the board in Par 4 scoring, with an overall score of -6, and finished top on the team in birdies with 10. His lowest scoring round was a 68 (-3) on Sunday. Cleaves helps the Wildcats finish 6th overall out of 18 teams.

Female - Kacey Affrunti - Gr. - Volleyball
Kacey Affrunti led the Wildcats to their first victory of the 2022 season over Davis & Elkins last Saturday, September 3, in Pueblo, Colorado. The Wildcats were trailing 2-1 and clawed their way back to a 3-2 victory. In the match, Affrunti finished with 18 kills and a hitting percentage of .412. Affrunti finished the weekend with 37 kills on 70 attempts, for a percentage of .400. Affrunti and the Wildcats return home this Friday, September 9, as they host their Wildcat Regional.

Monday, August 29, 2022:

Male – Marius Skattum Dahl – Jr. – Men's Soccer:
Marius Skattum Dahl scored the lone goal for the Wildcats in their 2022 season-opening weekend. He gave the Wildcats a 1-0 lead against American International in the 48th minute. He made a great run to the back post and was rewarded with a low cross from Mads-Emil Roestbjaerg with an open net in front of him. They would go on to tie the Yellow Jackets, 1-1, and go 0-1-1 on the weekend.

Female – Emilie Larsen – So. – Women's Soccer:
The sophomore transfer had a great debut weekend for the Wildcats, scoring both of their goals in a 0-1-1 week to start the season. Trailing 1-0 against Bentley, she put a left-footed blast into the top left corner from 20-yards out in the 83rd minute to ensure the 1-1 draw in the season opener. Then she came out and put early pressure on Adelphi, causing a turnover on their back line and waltzed in for an easy goal in the fifth minute against the Panthers. She had two goals and four points over the week.