Crossroads League Announces Athletes of the Week | October 19-25
JACKSON, Mich. – The Crossroads League Athletes of the Week were announced on Monday, recognizing the league’s top individual performances from October 19 through 25. Sports Information Directors from the league institutions nominate student-athletes for the awards and vote on each week’s winners.
Men’s Basketball Offensive Player of the Week
Gage Sefton, Grace
Sefton opened the season on fire, scoring 29 points on 11-of-12 shooting from the field for No. 1 Grace in a 99-83 win over IU-Northwest. The senior guard made four-of-five looks from deep and added five rebounds and one assist.
Men’s Basketball Defensive Player of the Week
Keaton Lawson, Huntington
Lawson impressed in his collegiate debut for RV Huntington, highlighting a 99-68 win for the Foresters with five steals and 11 total rebounds. The wing also scored 19 points on six-of-10 shooting and added two assists and one block.
Women’s Basketball Offensive Player of the Week
Kaycie Warfel, Taylor
Warfel netted 27 points in the season-opener, powering Taylor to a 70-64 win over IU-Southeast. The second-year guard added eight rebounds and helped secure the win with 17 points in the second half.
Women’s Basketball Defensive Player of the Week
Megan Zeitz, Spring Arbor
Zeitz grabbed six steals and a trio of defensive rebounds for No. 25 Spring Arbor in its 87-44 season-opening win against Cleary. Zeitz finished the evening with 11 points, four rebounds, four assists and the six thefts.
Women’s Volleyball Attacker of the Week
Chloe Cook, Marian
Cook’s 20 kills against No. 15 Grace helped the Knights to a five-set upset of the Lancers. The senior hitter finished the week with 4.2 kills per set on a .431 percentage for Marian in wins over Grace and Spring Arbor.
Women’s Volleyball Setter of the Week
Margo Hernandez, Taylor
Hernandez kept No. 11 Taylor rolling in wins over Spring Arbor and Huntington, averaging 11.0 assists, 2.0 aces, 1.9 digs and 0.6 blocks per set. The setter was active in a four-set win against HU with 47 assists, seven digs, four kills, two blocks and four service aces.
Women’s Volleyball Defender of the Week
Evie Dart, Marian
Dart led Marian to wins over No. 15 Grace and Spring Arbor, tallying six solo blocks for the Knights in a four-set win against SAU. Dart also had three blocks in MU’s five-set upset of Grace.
Men’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week
Nicolas Balbin, Saint Francis
Balbin scored the game-winner for Saint Francis in its 3-2 win at Goshen. In addition to the decisive goal, the senior also assisted USF’s first score of the contest.
Men’s Soccer Defensive Player of the Week
Jakob Karlson, Taylor
Karlson anchored the Taylor defense in a 1-0 victory at Huntington from his right back position. The junior also scored the lone goal of the contest on a header to help the Trojans to the victory.
Women’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week
Abby Hodkin, Grace
Hodkin notched a first-half hat trick for No. 2 Grace in its 8-0 win over Mount Vernon Nazarene. Hodkin finished GC’s lone match of the week with those three goals on five total shots.
Women’s Soccer Defensive Player of the Week
Gracie Beld, Spring Arbor
Beld helped No. 11 Spring Arbor to a shutout victory over Bethel, scoring one goal and helping the SAU defense hold the Pilots to just two shots in a 3-0 victory.
Men’s Cross Country Runner of the Week
Jesse Songo, Goshen
Songo scored his third individual title of the season, winning the NAIA Great Lakes Challenge with a time of 24:07. Songo’s time was the second-fastest in Goshen history, trailing only his record time from earlier this fall.
Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Week
Jaynie Halterman, Taylor
Halterman made her return in style, topping a field of 185 athletes at the NAIA Great Lakes Challenge with a time of 17:29 in the 5k race. The event marked the two-time NAIA National Champion’s first race of the season.
Men’s Golfer of the Week
Sam Dykema, Indiana Wesleyan
Dykema finished the fog-shortened Whistling Straits Classic in a tie for first place with a single-round score of 71.
Women’s Golfer of the Week
Maria Kennard, Marian
Kennard led No. 8 Marian at the Five Oaks Invite, shooting scores of 75, 73 and 73 to take home medalist honors.
Men’s Bowler of the Week
Joe Merz, Spring Arbor
Merz finished third overall out of over 100 individuals at the AHBA. The sophomore posted a total of 1,378 in six games, reaching a high score of 278 and helping Spring Arbor to a runner-up team finish.
Women’s Bowler of the Week
Ella Steinke, Spring Arbor
Steinke took first place at the AHBA with a score of 1,302 pins. The junior had a game-high of 279 and led Spring Arbor to the team championship.
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