NCAC Athletes of the Week - Week of Feb. 27, 2024

­­North Coast Athletic Conference Athletes of the Week – Week of Feb. 27, 2024
 
Baseball Player of the Week – Luke Thomas, Wittenberg
Wittenberg senior Luke Thomas (Tallmadge, OH/Tallmadge) and the Tigers went 2-1 against Ferrum last week. In the three-game series, Thomas totaled 10 hits in 14 at-bats, hitting .714 while also recording a .929 slugging percentage. The senior tallied three doubles, three RBI, two stolen bases, and seven scored runs. In the field, Thomas recorded three putouts and 10 assists.
 
Baseball Pitcher of the Week – Nick Falter, Denison
Denison junior Nick Falter (Powell, OH/Olentangy Liberty) and the Big Red defeated second-ranked Salisbury 9-1 on Saturday. The pitcher only allowed two hits and one earned run through six innings of work and 23 batters faced. Falter finished the game with a 1.17 ERA, striking out nine batters, two of which were caught looking.
 
Men's Lacrosse Athlete of the Week – Luke Fisher, Denison
Denison senior Luke Fisher (Alexandria, VA/St. Stephens & St. Agnes) tallied nine points, netting  six goals and dishing three assists, to help guide the Big Red to a 14-11 win over Albion on Saturday. In the final four minutes of the half, Fisher helped Denison escape an 8-8 tie, scoring three of the Big Red's four second quarter goals. He then added another goal halfway through the third quarter to extend the lead to 13-8. In addition to scoring or assisting on each of Denison's final three goals of the game, he also added four ground balls and a caused turnover against the Britons.
 
Women's Lacrosse Athlete of the Week – Jessica Flick, Wittenberg
Wittenberg senior Jessica Flick (Lebanon, OH/Lebanon) and the Tigers defeated Muskingum 17-7 on Saturday, marking the program's first season-opening win since the 2019 season. In the team's first win since March 29, 2023, Flick tallied a game-high five goals.
 
Softball Player of the Week – Meghan McCans, Wittenberg
Wittenberg sophomore Meghan McCans (Arcanum, OH/Arcanum) batted .643 in 2-2 week against Maryville (1-1) and Emory (1-1). The sophomore tallied nine hits in 14 at-bats with two RBI, six runs scored, and four stolen bases. McCans went 3-for-4 with one run and two steals in a 5-4 win over Emory and then hit 3-for-4 with an RBI, a run, and a steal in an 11-9 win over Maryville. Additionally, McCans went 2-for-3 with an RBI, a run, and a steal in a 10-2 loss to the Eagles and 1-for-3 with an RBI, run and walk in a 4-3 loss to the Scots.
 
Softball Pitcher of the Week – Lilly James, Wittenberg
Wittenberg sophomore Lilly James (Troy, OH/Troy) earned a pair of wins as a relief pitcher against Emory and Maryville last week. In a 5-4 win over Emory, James pitched 3.2 scoreless innings, allowing zero hits and only one walk while also striking out two. She pitched four innings and allowed one earned run on five hits and one walk while striking out five in an 11-9 win over Maryville on Saturday. She then pitched 2.1 relief innings in a tough 4-3 loss to the Scots on Sunday, allowing one earned run on five hits and no walks while striking out one. On the week, the sophomore posted a 1.40 ERA and eight strikeouts.
 
Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week – Paulo Pocasangre Kreling, Kenyon
Kenyon sophomore Paulo Pocasangre Kreling (Guacimo, Costa Rica/Interamerican High School CATI) had a successful week of competition, going 5-1 in both singles and doubles play against No. 37 Mary Washington (3-6), Shenandoah (7-2), and Stevens Institute of Technology (7-2). Against nationally ranked Eagles, Pocasangre Kreling won the No. 2 singles flight, 6-4, 6-1, before dropping a close No. 1 doubles match, 7-8. Pocasangre Kreling quickly bounced back, going undefeated in his tightly contested No 1. singles and doubles matches versus Shenandoah and Stevens Institute of Technology. Against the Hornets, the sophomore finished 6-4, 6-3 in singles and 8-7 with sophomore Eliezer Gonzalez (Bogota, Columbia/Liceo Boston) in doubles. On Sunday against the Ducks, Pocasangre Kreling picked up his final two wins of the week, going 8-7 in doubles with Gonzalez and 6-4, 6-2 in singles.
 
Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week – Caroline Sproule, Wittenberg
Wittenberg junior Caroline Sproule (Lewis Center, OH/Olentangy Orange) went a perfect 4-0 at No. 1 singles and doubles against both Baldwin Wallace (8-1) and Lourdes (8-1). Against the Yellow Jackets, Sproule won 4-6, 5-1 (retire) and also picked up an 8-4 doubles win with partner Kylie Wilson (Powell, OH/Olentangy Liberty). Sproule went on to win 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 in singles and collected an 8-5 victory with Wilson in doubles against the Gray Wolves.
 
NCAC Milestones & Records (Feb. 19 - 25)
 
DePauw, Women's Basketball – The Tigers will make their 23rd overall NCAA tournament appearance. DePauw holds a 34-20 (.630) record on the national stage including a pair of national titles in 2007 and 2013 and another trip to the national semifinals in 2002.
 
Ohio Wesleyan, Women's Basketball – The Battling Bishops will make their second-consecutive and eighth overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament. OWU holds a 7-7 (.500) record on the national stage, including a trip to the national semifinals in 2001.
 
Wabash, Men's Basketball – The Little Giants will make their 12th NCAA Tournament appearance and its eighth NCAA DIII Tournament appearance in program history. The Little Giants earned berths in three consecutive NCAA DIII Tournaments from the 1979-80 season through the 1981-82 season when Wabash won the national championship.
 
Wabash, Men's Lacrosse – The Little Giants posted their first shutout win since 2018 with their 14-0 victory at Anderson University Wednesday evening.
 
Wooster, Men's Basketball – Junior guard Jamir Billings (Lorain, OH/Lorain) tied his single-season program record with 84 steals. Billings finished with the exact number of assists (164) and steals (84) as he had as a first-year … Senior forward Nick Everett (Salem, OH/West Branch) broke the NCAC and Wooster records for single-season field-goal percentage. Everett posted a .728 field-goal percentage on the year, besting the .696 mark Matt Schlingman recorded during the 2004-05 season.
 
Wooster, Women's Lacrosse – Junior midfielder Kenzie Morris (Chardon, OH/Chardon) scored her 100th collegiate goal in Saturday's 17-5 win over Baldwin Wallace.
 
Wooster, Men's Indoor Track & Field – Junior Will Callender (Seattle, WA/Roosevelt) broke the 3,000-meter and 5,000-meter program records at the NCAC Indoor Track & Field Championships after crossing the line in 8:39.94 and 14:56.50, respectively. Callender also became the program's first repeat NCAC Athlete of the Year on the men's side …. First-year King Jeju (Johannesburg, South Africa/Silver Oaks International) became the program's first men's NCAC Indoor Track & Field Newcomer of the Year … Sophomore Lorenzo Freeman (Fairburn, GA/Riverwood International Charter School) broke the school record in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.41 during the NCAC Championships.
 
 

Related Stories

Related Videos

Now Playing: