GANSEVOORT, N.Y. – SUNYIT continues to be well-represented on the NEAC Student-Athlete of the Week roll, as men's cross country runner Derek Struck (Knox, N.Y. / Berne-Knox-Westerlo) and women's volleyball player Kaitlyn Harrington (Central Square, N.Y. / Paul V. Moore) were honored on Monday by the conference.
Struck split the Men's Runner of the Week award with Penn State-Abington's Alex Kane for the second straight week, giving Struck an incredible 3 NEAC Runner of the Week awards already this season. Struck, a sophomore, took first place at the eight-kilometer Hobart Invitational this past Saturday, defeating the rest of the 77-runner field with a time of 27:19.7 and besting the second-place finisher by 13 seconds. This is Struck's second first-place finish this year and third top-five finish of the season. The Wildcats finished second overall out of seven teams.
Harrington earns her first award of the 2013 season after leading the Wildcats to a perfect 4-0 week, including three conference wins, behind totals of 65 kills (4.33 k/set), 38 digs (2.53 d/set), 11 serve aces, five assists, four assisted blocks and 78 points (5.2 p/set) through 15 sets. The senior outside hitter was sensational at the net, posting a .315 hitting percentage (65-14-162), which included hitting .395 behind 16 kills and only one error on 38 attempts in a 3-0 sweep over College of Saint Elizabeth during conference crossover play this past weekend. She registered a kills-digs double-double in each of her three other matches on the week as well, helping her become the conference leader in kills (161) on the year this far. The Wildcats are now a conference-best 3-0 in the NEAC and 13-1 overall.