Crossroads League Announces Athletes of the Week | August 27-September 2

Crossroads League Announces Athletes of the Week | August 27-September 2

AVON, Ohio – The Crossroads League Athletes of the Week were announced on Monday, recognizing the top athletes from the week of August 27 through September 2. Sports Information Directors from the league nominate student-athletes for the award and vote on each week’s winners.

Men’s Cross Country Runner of the Week
Justis Paul, Mount Vernon Nazarene
Paul notched a win in his first collegiate race for MVNU, topping the field by 14 seconds with an individual time of 16:16 at the Kenyon Invite.

Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Week
Rachel Gerber, Mount Vernon Nazarene
Gerber ran a time of 20:03 to take third-of-46 at the Kenyon Invite in MVNU’s opening race of the season.

Men’s Soccer Defensive Player of the Week
Philip Keller, Bethel
Keller helped Bethel to wins over Northwestern and Dordt by allowing only one goal over 180 minutes of work in the net and stopping six shots.

Men’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week
Logan Thompson, Mount Vernon Nazarene
Thompson recorded a hat-trick in MVNU’s 8-2 win at Ohio Christian for the first three goals of his collegiate career.

Women’s Soccer Defensive Player of the Week
Brenna Malatestinic, Marian
Malatestinic helped No. 11 Marian split a pair of matches against Top-15 foes, logging four saves in a 1-0 loss to No. 7 Vanguard and earning eight saves in a 2-1 overtime win over No. 12 Keiser.

Women’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week
Corinne Villalobos, Grace
Villalobos scored all four goals for Grace in a 4-0 win against Michigan-Dearborn, helping GC to its best start since 2015.

Men’s Tennis Player of the Week
Eli Steiner, Indiana Wesleyan
Steiner went 7-0 in singles and doubles near the top of IWU’s lineup, helping the Wildcats to a 4-0 team record for the week.

Women’s Tennis Player of the Week
Alex Mella, Indiana Wesleyan
Mella helped Indiana Wesleyan to team wins over Taylor, Indiana Tech, MVNU and Saint Francis by going a combined 8-0 in singles and doubles play.

Volleyball Attacker of the Week
Sydney Ritz, Spring Arbor
Ritz average 3.1 kills, 1.7 digs and 0.7 blocks per set, while posting a .380 hitting percentage for Spring Arbor. Ritz highlighted her week with 19 kills in a five-set win over Robert Morris.

Volleyball Defender of the Week
Megan Hawley, Marian

Hawley piled up 123 digs in five matches for RV Marian, logging at least 25 digs in four of the outings and adding five aces for the Knights.

Volleyball Setter of the Week
Madi Heffron, Marian
Heffron guided the RV MU offense to a 4-1 week with four double-double performances and tallied 105 assists and 51 digs in the five matches.