SUNYAC Athletes of the Week - October 20, 2025
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The SUNYAC selects its eighth round of 2025 fall Athletes of the Week and its second swimming and diving picks of the 2025-26 season. The conference honors 14 student-athletes from eight different member institutions for their performances during the week of October 13-19.
Men's Cross Country Runner of the Week – Oliver Melara-Perez, New Paltz
Oliver Melara-Perez led the men's team with a thirty-first place finish in a new personal best time of 25:26.5 in the 8K. Melara-Perez performance places him second on the program's all-time 8k performance list.
Women's Cross Country Runner of the Week – Elizabeth Lucason, Morrisville
Lucason led the entire field for a second straight racing week, posting the individual win for a second consecutive week at the Cross Country only Championships (CCOC's) hosted by William Smith College Saturday in Geneva. Lucason bested the field by more than two minutes in the 6K race, claiming the win with a time of 22:15.1 in the field of 47, a 5:59 per mile pace. Her time was a new record mark for the Mustangs in 6K races, besting her own time by more than 15 seconds set earlier this season.
Field Hockey Offensive Athlete of the Week – Marli McDorman, Salisbury
Marli McDorman, the Pocomoke City, Md. native, led the Sea Gulls to a 3-0 record and 2-0 in SUNYAC play this past week. McDorman racked up 10 points with four goals and two assists on just eight shots.
Field Hockey Defensive Athlete of the Week - Gail Comiskey, New Paltz
Comiskey continued her career season, as the Hawks played the No. 1 team in the country Tuesday in Christopher Newport. The Captains had the ball in SUNY New Paltz's defensive half for the majority of the game and Comiskey stood on her head, tying a career-high 15 saves. The game was scoreless at 0-0 through 40-plus minutes until Christopher Newport was awarded a stroke. Comiskey even guessed right on the stroke, but the shot was hit with enough pace, ricocheting off the post and in giving her no chance on the stop. She didn't let up anything else from that point forward and the Hawks fell in a valiant effort, 1-0. Comiskey faced 28 shots, 18 on goal, for a .938 save percentage. She then aided in a 9-0 shutout victory over Morrisville Friday, playing 30 minutes and making one stop on the one shot faced. She ended the weekend with a save percentage of .941 and goals against average of .67.
Men's Soccer Offensive Athlete of the Week – Xavier Kamba, Plattsburgh
Junior forward Kamba played a pivotal role in leading the Cardinals to a thrilling come-from-behind 2-1 victory over New Paltz. With Plattsburgh trailing 1-0 early in the second half, Kamba sparked the rally by netting the game-tying goal in the 58th minute before completing the comeback with the game-winning strike in the 79th minute.
Men's Soccer Defensive Athlete of the Week – James Cintron, Oneonta
Cintron finished the week with 14 saves for a .933 save percentage, and he recorded one shutout to help Oneonta go 1-0-1 in SUNYAC play. Cintron started the week with a season-high 11 save performance in a 1-1 draw to Buffalo State. The junior keeper then totaled three saves and picked up his sixth shutout of the season in the Red Dragons 2-0 victory at Canton.
Women's Soccer Offensive Athlete of the Week – Gianna Cirilla, Cortland
Cirilla recorded four points on two goals, including scoring two game-winning goals, in a 2-0-1 week for the Red Dragons. In a 2-0 home victory over Fredonia on Wednesday evening, the freshman netted the game-winning goal with a brilliant left-footed finish into the right corner of the net. She also netted the game-winning goal in a 5-0 road win at Morrisville on Saturday afternoon.
Women's Soccer Defensive Athlete of the Week – Katie Diem, Cortland
Diem scored two points with one goal, and also captained the Cortland backline to a 2-0-1 record and three shutouts last week. The senior scored Cortland's fifth goal on a free kick in a 5-0 win at Morrisville on Saturday, and helped the Cortland defense allow just one shot on goal. She also started and played the entire 90 minutes as center back in a 2-0 home victory over Fredonia on Wednesday evening. Diem finished the weekend by helping Cortland post a third shutout of the week, and 10th consecutive shutout to set the program record, in a 0-0 tie at Penn State-Harrisburg on Saturday.
Women's Volleyball Offensive Athlete of the Week - Reagan Dyba, New Paltz
Dyba led the Hawks offensively in two SUNYAC home sweeps on the weekend. She posted a game-high 9.5 points in the win over Potsdam Friday night, registering seven kills, averaging 2.33 kills per set with an assist, two aces while adding seven digs and a block. Against Plattsburgh, Dyba registered a game-high 15 points and 12 kills, averaging four kills per set, while hitting .286 and added an ace, nine digs and a career-high four blocks, averaging 1.33 blocks a set and five points per set to lead her team to a dominant, 3-0 win over the Cardinals.
Women's Volleyball Defensive Athlete of the Week - Maeve Musielak, Fredonia
Maeve Musielak led the Devils to a pair of SUNYAC wins, dropping both Oswego and Canton by 3-0 scores. She totaled 31 digs for a 5.17 digs for set average. She also added in four service aces and 10 kills.
Men's Swimmer of the Week - Isaac Stoeckle, Penn State Behrend
Stoeckle won the 100 back (51.68) three seconds ahead of the next finisher and 200 back (1:59.06). He also led off the fourth place 200 medley relay (1:36.22) with a PR of 23.54 and he was part of the third place 200 free relay team (1:27.10).
Men's Diver of the Week - Benjamin Heyman, Oneonta
Sophomore Ben Heyman won the one-meter dive in Saturday's dual meet against Oswego with 180.05 points.
Women's Swimmer of the Week - Camryn Watters, Penn State Behrend
Watters won both the 100 back (59.17) and 200 back (2:13.62) and was a member of the fourth place 200 free relay team, as well as the sixth place 200 medley relay team.
Women's Diver of the Week -Macayla Hodkinson, Oneonta
Senior Macayla Hodkinson won the one-meter dive in Saturday's dual meet against Oswego with 211.85 points, which was 40 more than the second-place finisher.
