PSAC Athletes of the Week - 2/6 Monday, February 6, 2017 2:30 PM Women's Indoor Track Athlete of the Week Julie Friend California (Jr. / Distance) Markleysburg, Pa. / Uniontown Friend shattered the school record and posted the fastest time in the PSAC this winter in the 5,000-meter run over the weekend while competing at the Youngstown State National Invitational. She won the event by over 25 seconds and eclipsed the school record set in 2013 by over one full minute after crossing the finish line in 16 minutes, 45.93 seconds. Friend boasts the best time in the league this year by over 75 seconds and ranks fifth in the country in the 5,000 meters. Women's Indoor Field Athlete of the Week Sarah Hunt Shippensburg (Sr. / Jumps) Fairfield, Pa. / Fairfield Area Hunt put forth a historic performance in the long jump Friday night, crushing her own school record in the event with a 20-foot mark, to highlight the night for the Shippensburg University women's indoor track & field team at the Susquehanna University Challenge. Hunt, on her second jump attempt, posted a mark of 20 feet, 0 ½ inches (6.11 meters) that satisfied the extremely difficult NCAA automatic qualifying standard, putting her No. 1 on the NCAA Division II performance list and guaranteeing her a trip to the NCAA Division II Indoor National Championships. The accomplishment was perhaps slightly foreshadowed, as in her first attempt Friday night, Hunt matched her previous indoor personal best and school record on an impressive mark of 19 feet, 6 ¾ inches (5.96 meters). Men's Indoor Track Athlete of the Week Steve Morgan East Stroudsburg (Sr. / Hurdles) Egg Harbor, N.J. / Egg Harbor Township Morgan lowered his NCAA DII provisional mark in the 60m hurdles at the Armory Invitational on Friday, completing the event in 8.06 ... that time is quicker than both his previous season-best of 8.18 and his career-mark of 8.14 set at the Armory on Feb. 5 last season .. it is the second-fastest time in ESU program history, behind only an 8.04 from Rusty Smith set at the NCAA Championships in 2008 ... he is now tied for 10th nationally among DII runners in the event ... part of a 4x200m relay at the DeSchriver Invitational on Sunday which took first place in a time of 1:31.44 which is No. 6 all-time in program history Men's Indoor Field Athlete of the Week Patrick O'Connor Seton Hill (So. / Jumps) Middlesborough, England / Macmillan Academy O'Connor set a new SHU record with his jump of 2.10 meters in the high jump at the Youngstown State National Invite on Saturday. He finished second in the meet. His jump is tied for the best mark in the PSAC this season and is tied for the seventh best in NCAA Division II. Wrestler of the Week Austin Matthews Edinboro (Jr.) Greenville, Pa. / Reynolds Matthews won by fall at 3:47 over 7th-ranked Chandler Rogers (14-4) of top-ranked Oklahoma State. Matthews fell behind 2-0 following a takedown in the first 30 seconds, and still trailed 2-1 after one period. He would turn the tide in the second period from the top position. The redshirt junior would get Rogers in a cradle and register the pin. Matthews, ranked 17th by InterMat, is now 14-5. Women's Basketball: Eastern Division Co-Athlete of the Week Brielle Kelly Mansfield (Jr. / F) Long Valley, N.J. / West Morris Central Kelly went beast mode in Saturday's 71-51 win over Cheyney putting up 22 points and a career-best 18 rebounds ... Kelly is one of just eight athletes in the country to pull down 18 or more boards this season ... on Wednesday, Kelly scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds in a 56-49 loss to Millersville ... Kelly went a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line this week. Women's Basketball: Eastern Division Co-Athlete of the Week Imani Brown East Stroudsburg (Jr. / G) Lake Hopatcong, N.J. / Jefferson Brown ... Led ESU with 18.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game as the Warriors defeated Cheyney (86-54) and Millersville (90-81) last week to extend their winning streak to five games ... Saturday's win over the Marauders moved ESU a half game ahead of West Chester for second place in the PSAC East standings ... hit 6 of 9 shots from the field and all five of her free throw attempts in an 18-point effort against Cheyney, scoring those 18 points in only 19 minutes of game action ... added 19 more points and seven rebounds against Millersville ... has shot over 60 percent in three of ESU's victories during its current win streak, and has led the Warriors in rebounding in each of their past four games ... made three 3-pointers on the week, and is now tied for eighth in program history with 78 for her career ... has 10+ points in seven of the last eight games. Women's Basketball: Eastern Division Freshman of the Week Sierra Taylor Kutztown (Fr. / G) Williamstown, N.J. / Camden Catholic Taylor led KU in scoring and assists last week with 11.5 points and five assists per game in a 1-1 week for KU – all in just 26 minutes per game. She also added five rebounds per game. Taylor scored 13 points with two assists at Shippensburg Wednesday, and in KU's win Saturday vs. Lock Haven, shot 3-for-4 at the free throw line in the final minute to secure KU the six-point victory. Those three foul shots neared Taylor to triple-double numbers with 10 points, eight rebounds and a season-high eight assists. The eight rebounds were one short of tying her season-best. Women's Basketball: Western Division Co-Athlete of the Week Olivia McCabe Pitt-Johnstown (Jr. / F/C) Portage, Pa. / Portage Area McCabe averaged 15.5 points and 14.5 rebounds in a pair of contests. The junior scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds against Gannon. The Portage, Pa., native amassed a career-high 22 rebounds to go with 17 points and four assists against Edinboro. Women's Basketball: Western Division Co-Athlete of the Week Maggie Mitchell Gannon (Jr. / G) Newark, Ohio / Newark Mitchell played a key role in the Gannon Lady Knights' two victories over Pitt-Johnstown and Seton Hill last week. Mitchell led the Lady Knights with a team-high 16 points and seven assists in a 65-60 victory over Pitt-Johnstown. It was Mitchell's sixth 6+ assist game of the season. At Seton Hill, Mitchell put up a career-high 33 points on 11-of-16 shooting and 7-of-9 from behind the arc. The Lady Knights upset the Griffins, 81-71. Mitchell's 33-point outburst was tied for the third-highest scoring performance by a conference player this season. Women's Basketball: Western Division Freshman of the Week Alexis Hartwick Pitt-Johnstown (Fr. / G) Stellton, Pa. / Central Dauphin Hartwick averaged eight points in a pair of contests. Hartwick scored 12 points against Gannon while dishing out an assist and a steal. Men's Basketball: Eastern Division Athlete of the Week Ethan Ridgeway Kutztown (Jr. / G) West Chester, Pa. / Bayard Rustin Ridgeway was KU's consistent leader last week, as KU defeated #9 Shippensburg by six on the road and Lock Haven at home on Saturday by 31. Ridgeway led the team with 19 ppg and 9.5 apg, while also adding 7.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game. At SHIP, he led the charge offensively with 20 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Saturday, he once again flirted with a triple-double. The junior notched 18 points, 11 assists, seven rebounds and three steals for his team-leading sixth double-double of the season. He shot 7-of-12 from the field and 4-of-4 from the free throw line. Ridgeway is three assists shy of breaking KU's single-season assist record. Men's Basketball: Eastern Division Freshman of the Week Amir Hinton Lock Haven (Fr. / G) Philadelphia, Pa. / Abington Despite a loss at No. 10 Kutztown, Hinton was it again and scored a game-high 27 points. He was 11 of 21 from the field, hit one 3-pointer (1 of 3) and he was 4 of 5 from the free-throw line. He added four rebounds (3 Off.), an assist, a block and a steal in 34 minutes of play. Hinton is averaging 23.6 points per game this season through 20 total games and ranks No. 2 in the PSAC. Men's Basketball: Western Division Co-Athlete of the Week Jake Laravie Pitt-Johnstown (Sr. / G) Kettering, Ohio / Archbishop Alter Game-high 19 points at Gannon on 02/01/17 --Career-high 33 points vs. Edinboro on 02/04/14 --Broke Pitt-Johnstown school records with 11 3-pointers and 10 assists without a turnover vs. Edinboro --shot 11-14 from field and 11-13 from 3-point range vs. Edinboro Men's Basketball: Western Division Co-Athlete of the Week Noah Davis Seton Hill (Sr. / F) Bellwood, Pa. / Bellwood-Antis Davis averaged 24.5 points per game as SHU went 2-0 on the week. He scored 26 points in the win over Clarion and added 23 points in the come from behind win over Gannon. Davis shot 17-26 from the floor and added 10 rebounds. Men's Basketball: Western Division Freshman of the Week Nathan Davis Seton Hill (Fr. / G) Bellwood, Pa. / Bellwood-Antis Davis helped the Griffins to a 2-0 week by averaging 16.5 points per game. He scored a game high 28 points in the Griffins come from behind win over Gannon. Davis scored 20 points in the second half vs Gannon on 7-10 shooting from the floor as SHU overcame a 17 point halftime deficit.