Pioneer Weekly Update: Edition 12

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Men's Basketball: 0-1

Baldwin Wallace connected on 10 three-pointers in the 1st half as they shot past Alfred State 85-52 in the season opener for both teams. The Yellowjackets connected on 13 three-pointers in the contest.

Juwan Toliver (Buffalo/McKinley) led Alfred State with 13 points while Owen Spencer (Perry) added 10. Tahaij Lewis (Rochester/Greece Olympia) finished with nine points and 10 rebounds while Marcus Rhett (Middletown) came off the bench and finished with seven points.

Women's Basketball: 1-1

The Pioneers split a pair of games this weekend at the USCAA tip-off classic at Penn State Fayette. they fell 81-52 to Bluefield (WV) State and then rebounded for a 65-53 victory over Penn State Greater Allegheny.

Versus Bluefield, Emily Kelley (Wellsville) had nine points and 10 boards to lead the way in her collegiate debut. Kesley Shaulis (Ovid/South Seneca) also scored nine points while Janae Gibson (Bronx/Pelham Prep) added seven points and seven rebounds. Rayanna Anderson (Wellsville) and Skylar Shaulis (Ovid/South Seneca) both finished with seven while AP Acosta (Bronx/Evander Childs) and Emily Benes (Buffalo/Mount Mercy) both had six.

Heading into the final quarter Alfred State was tied 41-41 vs. PSGA. Benes gave the Pioneers a lead early in the 4th and Skylar Shaulis connected on two straight three-pointers to give the Pioneers a 49-41 lead with 7:38 remaining. The Lions were unable to get closer than seven the rest of the way. The Pioneers ended up outscoring PSGA 22-11 in the final stanza.

Kelley led the team with 15 points and 14 rebounds while Gibson had a monster double-double finishing with 14 points and 20 boards. Skylar Shaulis came off the bench and finished with 14 including hitting the only two three-pointers on the day for the blue & gold. Kelsey Shaulis and Benes both chipped in eight points.

Men's Cross Country: 36th at NCAA Mideast Regional

The men's cross country team finished 36th out of 52 teams that scored at the 2018 NCAA Mideast Regional hosted by DeSales University. The Pioneers were competing at the NCAA DIII Regional level for the first time ever.

Shawn Rutledge (Watkins Glen) led the blue & gold with a finish of 28:52. He crossed the finish line of the 8k course in 145th place. Jacob Drew (Corning Painted Post) was 169th (29:11), Austin Demberg (Westtown/Minisink Valley) was 227th (30:16), Ryan Lohr (West Seneca West) was 241st (30:35), and Matthew Connolly (Elmira Notre Dame) rounded out the top five with a 249th place finish (30:40). Conrad Kroll (Westtown/Minisink Valley) and Joe Kretschmar (Phoenix, AZ) also competed. Kroll finished in 31:49 and Kretschmar finished in 32:02.

The Pioneers ran to a score of 1,020. Carnegie Melon took the men's team title with a score of 76 followed by Haverford (84), and Johns Hopkins (134). In total 357 runners crossed the finish line. 

Women's Cross Country: 34th at NCAA Mideast Regional

The women's cross country team finished 34th out of 47 teams that scored at the 2018 NCAA Mideast Regional hosted by DeSales University. The Pioneers were competing at the NCAA DIII Regional level for the first time ever.

Julia Russell (Candor) was the top finisher for the blue & gold. She ran the 6k course in 24:50 to earn 73rd place. Veronica Dailey (Addison) was 120th (25:38), Kathryn Watkins (Addison) was 219th (27:41), Katherine Frascella (Franklinville) was 252nd (28:28), and Molly Heaphy (West Hempstead/Long Island Lutheran) was 292nd (30:39). Emily Brigman (Lancaster) and Betsy Butlak (Angola/Lake Shore) also raced. Brigman finished in 30:56 while Butlak crossed the finish line in 31:26.

The Pioneers ran to a score of 924. Johns Hopkins won the women's title with a score of 36 and were followed by Dickinson (79) and Carnegie Mellon (137). In total 341 runners crossed the finish line. 

Football: 1-9 

Jalen Long (Rochester/Bishop Kearney) caught seven passes for 103 yards and became the first 1,000 yard receiver in Alfred State history as the Pioneers closed out the 2018 season with a 21-3 loss at Castleton.

With his seven receptions and 103 yards this afternoon, Long finishes the season with 56 catches for 1,020 yards. He is now the single season leader in yards as he eclipsed the previous record held by Mark Wolfe. Wolfe had 927 yards receiving in 2002.

Mitchell Caron got the Spartans on the board on the first play of the 2nd quarter when he dove in from one-yards out. They made it 14-0 heading into halftime when Moe Harris dashed 92-yards with 2:20 remaining. The Pioneers got their lone points of the game on their first drive of the 2nd half. Ryan Shipherd (Randolph) capped a 12-play drive with a 33-yard field goal. Alfred State stopped Castleton in the next four drives but couldn't get any closer. The Spartans put the game out of reach following a Pioneer turnover when Jared Brockway scored on a rush from 13-yards out with 7:55 remaining.

Carter Harman (Liberty) passed for 139 yards while Kiegan Brown (Cortland) led the team with 77 yards rushing on 23 carries.

John Lauretti (Seaford) had a monster afternoon for the defense finishing with 16 tackles and was part of five sacks (3.5 sacks). Being part of five sacks tied the most in a single game in Alfred State history (Jonathan Norman - 9/23/2000). Brandon Davis(Lansing) added eight tackles while Michael Zimmerman (Canandaigua) and Joe Gibson (Hornell) each had six tackles.

Men's Swimming & Diving: Men: 0-3

Austin Miller (Hornell) set a new Alfred State record in the 3m diving competition as the Pioneers battled Oswego on Saturday afternoon. The Lakers defeated the Pioneers 185-99 in a meet that featured numerous sprint events.

Miller won the 3m competition with a score of 265.35 which broke the previous record of current diving coach Nick Beach. Miller also finished 2nd in the 1m with a mark of 203.30.

Tim Olin (Perry) was the only other individual event winner. He won the 50 back in 27.32 and finished 2nd in the 100 free (51.68).

Women's Swimming & Diving: 2-1

Kathryn Lewis (Niagara Wheatfield) won a pair events as Alfred State competed vs. Oswego on Saturday. The Lakers defeated the Pioneers 173 to 114. Lewis won the 200 free in 2:07.58 and then won the 500 free in 5:43.04.

Jessie LaRue (Livonia) continued her strong start to her collegiate career. She was 1st in the 100 IM in 1:10.16 and was 2nd in both the 50 back (30.65) and the 100 back (1:06.50).

Western Equestrian: Reserve hi-point honors in both AM and PM Shows

The western equestrian team had another strong performance as they rode to reserve hi-point honors in both the AM and PM shows on Saturday at Alfred University. The Pioneers competed vs. AU, Cornell, RIT, and Brockport in the show.

Rachel von Hagn (Bath) was earned reserve hi-point honors in the AM show while Alyssa Beardsley (Letchworth) took the same honor in the PM show. von Hagn was 2nd in open horsemanship in both the AM and PM shows while Beardsley was 2nd in open reining and finished 3rd in both open horsemanship shows.

Mackenzie Caletka (Vestal) and Meaghan Castoro (Syosset) both finished 1st in both the AM and PM show in the intermediate II competition. Michael Henry (Youngsville) was 2nd in both shows in the beginner competition. Jennifer Cirigliano (Brewster) was 2nd in the AM show in beginner competition, Caylen Bedow (Fillmore) was 2nd in advanced in the PM, and Morgan Maas (Churchville Chili) was 2nd in the PM show in intermediate I.