GANSEVOORT, N.Y. – Three SUNYIT Athletes were selected Athlete of the Week in their respective sports on Monday. Two athletes garnered their first career awards:
Deasia Goodson (Freeport, N.Y. / Freeport) of the SUNYIT Women's Volleyball Team won her first SAOW award. Goodson earned the Defensive Player of the Week award for a fantastic tournament at Oswego State. The sophomore middle hitter dominated play at the net, registering eight solo blocks and 15 total blocks through 15 sets to lead the Wildcats to a perfect 5-0 week, including four wins at the Oswego State Invitational this past Friday and Saturday. She had at least one solo block in each of the five matches on the week, while posting two solo blocks in three matches and assisting on at least two blocks in three matches as well. She was also strong offensively, compiling 38 kills and registering a stout .416 hitting percentage (38-6-77), which included a match-high 10 kills in a 3-0 sweep of Marywood during SUNYIT's last match at the Oswego Invitational en route to being named to the All-Tournament Team. Goodson's play was a major reason why SUNYIT did not drop a set throughout the entire week. The Wildcats are currently a NEAC-best 9-1 overall this season.
Joining Goodson with his first-ever award was freshman Bryan Kilpatrick (Endicott, N.Y. / Endicott). The freshman made multiple standout plays on the defensive side of the ball to help the Wildcats shutout conference foe Lancaster Bible College 2-0 on Saturday during the team's lone contest on the week. Kilpatrick helped hold the Chargers to just two shots on the day and has now led a SUNYIT defense that has allowed just one goal in its last four outings, while giving up just three all season. The Wildcats now sit at 2-0 in NEAC play and 4-0-1 overall on the year.
Derek Struck (Berne, N.Y. / Berne-Knox-Westerlo) was named Co-NEAC Men's Cross Country Runner of the Week, his second selection of the young season. The sophomore placed fourth out of 163 runners at the University of Rochester Yellowjacket Invitational this past Saturday, finishing the eight-kilometer course in 26:12.3. The top three finishers all represented the University of Rochester, leaving Struck as the first runner to finish from the remaining 14 schools that competed on the day. As a team, SUNYIT finished sixth overall.
To view the full NEAC Student-Athlete of the Week release, click here.
*Special thanks to Eugenio Mercurio at neacsports.com for reporting contributing to this release