NCAC Athletes of the Week | Feb. 25

North Coast Athletic Conference Athletes of the Week | Feb. 25, 2025
 
Baseball Player of the Week – Tommy Chilicki, Wittenberg
Wittenberg junior Tommy Chilicki (Lewis Center, OH/Olentangy) helped the Tigers collect a season-opening 6-1 win over No. 13 Baldwin Wallace. The junior went 4-for-5 at the plate, which included a double, three singles, and three RBI, while also scoring a run and collecting five total bases in the win.
 
Baseball Pitcher of the Week – Nick Falter, Denison
Denison senior Nick Falter (Powell, OH/Olentangy Liberty) earned the win in the Big Red's 13-4 victory over No. 11 Christopher Newport. Pitching 5.2 innings, Falter allowed just four hits and one walk, while recording seven strikeouts.
 
Men's Basketball Athlete of the Week – Kyle Lillwitz, DePauw
DePauw senior Kyle Lillwitz (Lemont, IL/Lemont) delivered a career-high 26 points in the Tigers' 76-70 win over Wooster on Saturday. The senior shot 9-for-15 from the field, including 4-of-8 from three-point range, and 4-for-5 from the free-throw line while also adding four rebounds, two steals, and one assist in the win. Lillwitz hit a three-pointer with 1:45 left to give DePauw a 70-65 lead and then, with the Tigers leading 73-70, the guard made a steal with 23 seconds remaining, drove the length of the court and finished with a dunk.
 
Women's Basketball Athlete of the Week – Kasey Schipfer, Ohio Wesleyan
Ohio Wesleyan senior Kasey Schipfer (Mechanicsburg, OH/Mechanicsburg) guided the Battling Bishops to a 2-0 week that secured the program's first outright NCAC title since the 1999-2000 season and set a school record for consecutive wins with 16. In a 71-57 win over DePauw, Schipfer led the team with 18 points, shooting 8-of-13 from the field and 2-of-2 from the line, to go alone with four rebounds, two assists and one steal. She followed that performance with 32 points in a 77-60 victory over Denison, hitting 14-of-20 shots and adding five rebounds, three steals, one assist and one block. Schipfer averaged 25.0 points and 4.5 rebounds for the week and moved into the top 50 all-time in Division III and second all-time in the NCAC with 2,073 career points.
 
Men's Lacrosse Athlete of the Week – Quinn Fitzgerald, Wabash
Wabash senior Quinn Fitzgerald (Indianapolis, IN/Brebeuf Jesuit) led the Little Giants to a 12-6 victory over Muskingum on Saturday, scoring seven goals and providing two assists for nine total points. Fitzgerald opened the scoring with an assist on Wabash's first goal, then netted his first goal of the game with 6:41 remaining in the first period, giving the Little Giants the lead for good. The senior added another goal in the first period to extend Wabash's lead to 5-1, then scored two more goals in the second period for a 7-3 halftime advantage. Fitzgerald kept up his momentum with back-to-back goals in the third period to push the Little Giants' lead to 9-4 and capped off the performance with a final goal in the opening minute of the fourth period.
 
Women's Lacrosse Athlete of the Week – Kylie Thompson, Oberlin
Oberlin first-year Kylie Thompson (Redondo Beach, CA/Redondo Union) had an impressive outing in the Yeowomen's 21-3 win over Ohio Northern, scoring six goals on 6-of-7 shooting and adding two assists for a team-high eight points. The rookie also recorded four ground balls and caused two turnovers. Thompson's eight-point performance ties for fourth all-time in Oberlin history for points in a single game and marks the second-highest point total ever by a first-year.
 
Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week – Ethan Green, Denison
Denison junior Ethan Green (Salt Lake City, UT/Skyline) had a standout performance at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship, going 5-0 in both singles and doubles at the No. 1 position. He secured a singles victory over No. 7 Efe Comu from Emory (6-3, 6-2) and partnered with classmate Kael Shah (Nairobi, Kenya/ES American School Barcelona (Spain)) for a 6-0 triumph over Emory's Ajay Kartik and Dean Kamenev. Green also defeated No. 1 UChicago's Derek Hsieh (6-2, 6-7, 6-1) in singles and he and Shah secured a doubles win over UChicago's Andrei Leonov and Pat Otero (7-6). Green's singles match against No. 4 Case Western's Ajay Mahenthiran was unfinished, but he was leading 5-4 in the third set when the match was called. As a team, Denison placed third at the indoor championship.
 
Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week – Janaki Jagannathan, Wooster
Wooster senior Janaki Jagannathan (Malvern, PA/Whitmore School) recorded wins in both singles and doubles play in the Fighting Scots' match against Capital on Sunday. In doubles, Jagannathan and first-year Elyse Errington (Wadsworth, OH/Wadsworth) rallied to a 7-5 comeback victory over Anna Fletcher and Nicole Flock in the No. 1 flight. In singles, Jagannathan dominated, defeating Fletcher 6-0, 6-0 at the top flight. The win marked her 54th singles victory, moving her into sole possession of second place all-time in program history. Additionally, with 41 doubles wins, she is tied for eighth in program history and is tied for fourth in total wins with 95.
 
Men's Indoor Sprints/Hurdles Athlete of the Week – Joel Adade, Ohio Wesleyan
Ohio Wesleyan sophomore Joel Adade (Columbus, OH/Beechcroft) won the 60-meter dash at the Kenyon Tune-Up with a career-best time of 7.04 seconds, which ranks fourth in the NCAC this season. The sophomore also finished second in the 200-meter dash, clocking in at 23.22.
 
Men's Indoor Distance/Mid-Distance Athlete of the Week – Matt Rowley, DePauw
DePauw senior Matt Rowley (Downers Grove, IL/Downers Grove North) won the 1,000-meter run at the Wittenberg Invite with a time of 2:29.93. With a converted time of 2:32.02, the senior set a new DePauw program record, breaking the previous mark of 2:32.23 set by Simon Flory in 2004.
 
Men's Indoor Field Athlete of the Week – Daniel Jansen, DePauw
DePauw senior Daniel Jansen (Okawville, IL/Okawville) claimed the heptathlon title at the 2025 NCAC Indoor Track and Field Combined Events Championships with a total of 4,663 points, breaking his own program record from last season. Jansen's performance included first-place finishes in the 60-meter hurdles (8.56 seconds) and high jump (1.86 meters), as well as a share of the pole vault title (3.90 meters). He also earned second in the shot put (11.16 meters), fifth in both the 60-meter dash (7.43 seconds) and long jump (6.08 meters), and sixth in the 1,000-meter run (3:01.25).
 
Women's Indoor Sprints/Hurdles Athlete of the Week – Liberty Scott, DePauw
DePauw sophomore Liberty Scott (Galveston, IN/Lewis Cass) won the 60-meter hurdles at the Wittenberg Invite with a program-record time of 8.78 seconds. The sophomore first broke the school record in the prelims with an 8.80, surpassing the previous mark of 8.98 set by Erin Pasch in 2022, before improving her time in the finals. Scott also set a personal best in the 200 meters, placing sixth with a time of 25.98. Her performances rank her second in the NCAC in the 60-meter hurdles and fourth in the 200 meters (converted to 26.39).
 
Women's Indoor Distance/Mid-Distance Athlete of the Week – Elianne Retzlaff, Kenyon
Kenyon senior Elianne Retzlaff (Minnetonka, MN/Minnetonka) won the 3,000-meter race at the Kenyon Tune-Up with a season-best time of 11:44.85. Retzlaff led a dominant performance by the Owls, as they swept the top four spots in the event.
 
Women's Indoor Field Athlete of the Week – Katie Moore, DePauw
DePauw senior Katie Moore (Lawrenceville, IL/Lawrenceville) won the pentathlon at the 2025 NCAC Indoor Track and Field Combined Events Championships with a total of 3,395 points, tying for second in program history. The senior claimed the title after she finished first in the 800-meter run (2:24.82) and second in the 60-meter hurdles (9.09 seconds), high jump (1.48 meters), shot put (10.45 meters), and long jump (5.10 meters).
 
NCAC Milestones & Records (Feb. 17-23)
 
Denison, Men's Indoor Track & Field – Senior Chris Slater (Hudson, OH/Hudson) broke two program records at the Wittenberg Invitational, surpassing his previous marks in both the shot put and weight throw. The senior won the shot put with a toss of 15.75 meters and placed second in the weight throw with a throw of 19.81 meters. In league standings, Slater ranks first in the weight throw and second in the shot put.
 
DePauw, Baseball - Head coach Jordan Niespodziany captured his first career victory at the helm of the Tigers with an 8-6 win over 14th-ranked Case Western Reserve.
 
Hiram, Women's Indoor Track & Field – First-year Alisah Ward (Conway, AR/Conway) set a new program record in the 500-meter dash at the Mount Union Tune-Up, finishing in 1:23.50 to break a mark that has stood since 1997 (1:24.44).
 
Kenyon, Men's Indoor Track & Field – Junior Owen Rodstrom (Cleveland, OH/St. Ignatius) won the 800-meter race at the Kenyon Tune Up with a career-best time of 2:02.06.
 
Oberlin, Men's Basketball – Junior Milun Micanovic (Podgorica, Montenegro/Western Reserve Academy) recorded a career-high 28 points in a thrilling 68-67 win over Kenyon on Wednesday. The junior also recorded career bests in field goals (10), free throws (7), steals (3), and minutes played (33) against the Owls.
 
Ohio Wesleyan, Men's Basketball – Senior post Tony Carter (Cleveland, OH/Parma Heights Holy Name) played in his 114th game as a Battling Bishop on Saturday, tying the school record set by Mark Slayman (1986-90) and matched by Seth Clark (2013-14, 2015-18) and Nate Axelrod (2014-18).
 
Ohio Wesleyan, Women's Basketball – Senior guard Elizabeth Homan (Cincinnati, OH/Anderson) dished out eight assists against Denison on Saturday, which brought her career total to 681 and moved her into 10th all-time in Division III history.
 
Wabash, Men's Basketball – Senior Noah Hupmann (Sunset, SC/Covington Christian) matched his season high with 16 rebounds in a 71-60 win over Oberlin on Saturday. With four blocks in the game, the senior moved into second place on Wabash's all-time career blocks list with 167. Hupmann currently leads Division III with 93 blocks this season and is just seven away from tying the NCAC single-season record of 100.
 
Wittenberg, Baseball – Head coach Mitchell Griffith earned his first win at the helm in the Tigers' season-opening 6-1 victory over No. 13 Baldwin Wallace.
 
Wooster, Women's Lacrosse – Junior Brynne Snaguski (Palos Verdes Estates, CA/Palos Verdes Peninsula) had a standout performance in Saturday's 19-7 win over Baldwin Wallace, recording a career-high four goals and two assists to share a team-high six points … Senior Kenzie Morris (Chardon, OH/Chardon) scored her 150th career goal in Saturday's win, becoming the ninth player in program history to reach the milestone and the first since Ellie Hudson-Heck (2013-16).
 
Wooster, Women's Swimming & Diving – Senior Ollie Bream (Melbourne, Australia/Firbank Grammar School) tied the program record in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:02.95 at the Kenyon First Chance Meet on Friday. With that time, Bream owns the 11th-fastest time in Division III this season.

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