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Centennial Conference Athletics

Athletes of the Week: March 27-Apr. 2

Athletes of the Week: March 27-Apr. 2
Posted: Apr 04, 2023

LANCASTER, Pa. -- Three repeat winners highlight this week's Centennial Conference honorees as spring action continues for all 10 conference sports. Conference play is now underway for the spring sports that feature regular season CC matchups - baseball, softball, tennis and lacrosse. 

Justine Bergara of Muhlenberg softball, Jordan Basso of Gettysburg women's lacrosse and Michael Melnikov of Swarthmore men's tennis each earned their second weekly honors of the spring to lead this week's group of award winners. Additional honorees included Isaiah Winikur of Johns Hopkins baseball, Ethan Hamilton of Dickinson baseball, Evie Craig of McDaniel softball, Von Mabbs and Ryan Pretzer of Swarthmore men's lacrosse, Essie Pasternak of Gettysburg women's lacrosse, Anjali Devireddy of Johns Hopkins women's tennis, Nick Razze of McDaniel men's track & field, Noel House of Muhlenberg men's track & field, and Rose Teszler and Adria Retter of Swarthmore women's track & field.

Continue reading below for more information on each of this week's honorees. 

Visit Centennial.org for more information on Centennial Conference athletics. Also, be sure to like the Centennial on Facebook, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and follow @CentennialConf on Twitter and Instagram. 

BASEBALL

Player of the Week
 Isaiah Winikur, Gr., OF, Johns Hopkins
 Wynnewood, Pa. | Towson
 Winikur put together an impressive week at the plate, going 5-for-13 with two homers and four RBIs in a 3-0 week for the Blue Jays. Winikur kicked things off with a bang for the Blue Jays against 13th-ranked Catholic, smacking a lead off solo homer in the top of the first. He concluded the week with a 3-for-4 performance against Haverford in which he cranked a two-run shot to cap off the unbeaten week. Winikur is the team leader in RBIs with 22 and is tied for second in the conference in homers with six.

Pitcher of the Week
Ethan Hamilton, Jr., RHP, Dickinson
Wyndmoor, Pa. | Springfield Township
Hamilton was masterful in his first conference start of the season, firing seven innings of one-hit baseball while fanning seven Washington College batters on 100 pitches. He also recorded eight groundouts and six flyouts to account for the remaining 14 outs. The junior righthander allowed just one unearned run to cross the plate in a 12-1 win in game one of the doubleheader. 

SOFTBALL

 Player of the Week
 Evie Craig, Sr., C/INF, McDaniel
 Valby, Denmark | International School of Hellerup
 Craig went 7-for-10 at the plate with three extra-base hits, six RBIs, four runs scored and four walks in four games last week. She led the Green Terror with four hits in a doubleheader against Marymount (Va), going 4-for-6 with a walk and four RBIs before going 3-for-4 on the day with three walks, two RBIs and two runs in the team's Centennial Conference opener against Haverford. In addition to posting a .700 batting average for the week, she had an .800 on-base percentage and a 1.000 slugging percentage.

Pitcher of the Week
Justine Bergara, So., P, Muhlenberg
Sylmar, Calif. | Sierra Canyon
Bergara secured Pitcher of the Week honors for the second time this spring after tossing 10 scoreless innings in two appearances, allowing only three hits while striking out 13 to earn a save and a win. She tossed three hitless innings in relief in the first game of the King's doubleheader to tie a school record with her third save of the season. In the second game of the Franklin & Marshall doubleheader, Bergara twirled a three-hitter for her first career shutout. She fanned 10, becoming the first Muhlenberg pitcher since 1994 to reach double digits in strikeouts while pitching a shutout in a Centennial Conference game. In her two outings, Bergara held opponents to a .094 batting average.

MEN'S LACROSSE

Offensive Player of the Week
Von Mabbs, Jr., M, Swarthmore
Concord, Mass. | St. Mark's
Mabbs tallied 13 points on six goals and seven assists as the Garnet took down No. 18 Muhlenberg, 18-8, and Franklin & Marshall, 13-6, last week. Mabbs had a career-high nine points against the Mules with four goals and a career-best five assists. He then closed his week with two goals and two assists in a total team effort against the Diplomats.

Defensive Player of the Week
Ryan Pretzer, Fr., GK, Swarthmore
Raleigh, N.C. | Ravenscroft
Pretzer totaled 31 saves and a 68.9% save percentage to help lift the Garnet to impressive wins over No. 18 Muhlenberg and Franklin & Marshall. The first-year made 16 saves against the Mules while collecting 15 saves and a career-best .714 save percentage versus the Diplomats. Pretzer allowed just seven goals per game in the two victories. 

WOMEN'S LACROSSE

Offensive Player of the Week
 Jordan Basso, Jr., A, Gettysburg 
 Rye, N.Y. | Rye
 Basso was named Offensive Player of the Week for the second time this year after leading the Bullets to two victories on the week with a team-best 13 points on seven goals and six assists. She netted five goals and handed out three assists in a 17-9 win over No. 3 TCNJ on Wednesday before scoring twice and dishing out three helpers in a 21-8 win over Washington College on Saturday. She also had two caused turnovers and four ground balls.

Defensive Player of the Week
Essie Pasternak, Sr., M, Gettysburg
Short Hills, N.J. | Blair Academy
Pasternak led the Bullets to a 2-0 week, leading the defense with seven ground balls and four caused turnovers in victories over No. 3 TCNJ and Washington College. The Bullet defense limited the Lions and Shorewomen to an average of 8.5 goals per game en route to the two victories. She also scored a goal in transition in the 21-8 win over Washington.

MEN'S TENNIS

Athlete of the Week
 Michael Melnikov, Fr., Swarthmore
 Karlsruhe, Germany
 Melnikov received CC weekly honors for the second time this spring after winning at the top doubles and singles positions in a thrilling 5-4 win over No. 8 Johns Hopkins. Melnikov teamed with Utham Koduri for an 8-7 (1) victory over JHU's Thomas Yu and James Yu, the top ranked doubles team in the Atlantic South region. The rookie then went on to defeat Thomas Yu at No. 1 singles, 6-2, 1-6, 12-10, in a back-and-forth battle between two of the conference's best players. Yu is the top ranked singles player in the region, while Melnikov is ranked fifth. The victory marked the first time since 2016 that the Garnet have defeated the Blue Jays. 

WOMEN'S TENNIS

Athlete of the Week
Anjali Devireddy, Sr., Johns Hopkins
Austin, Texas | Westwood 
Devireddy helped Johns Hopkins to wins at Division I Towson and No. 20 Swarthmore last week. She and Ali Bader won 6-0 at third doubles versus the Tigers. She then came from behind to win at fourth singles 5-7, 6-2, 1-0 (5). Devireddy clinched the Blue Jays' win at Swarthmore with a 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 win at fourth singles.

MEN'S OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD 

Track Athlete of the Week
Nick Razze, Sr., McDaniel 
Pitman, N.J. | Pitman 
Razze posted the second-fastest time in Division III in the 400 hurdles on Saturday at the Colonial Relays in Virginia. His time (53.63) also ranks fifth all-time in Centennial history in the event. 
 
Field Athlete of the Week
Noel House, Jr., Muhlenberg
Wynnewood, Pa. | Lower Merion
House finished first in the javelin with a distance of 64.12 meters (210-4) - the top throw in Division III this season - at the Muhlenberg Outdoor Invitational. The mark was the second-best in program history and the third-best in CC history. Of the four athletes to surpass 200 feet in CC history, three have been Mules.

WOMEN'S OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD  

Track Athlete of the Week
Rose Teszler, Sr., Swarthmore
Newton, Mass. | Newton North
Teszler posted the 10th-fastest 400-meter time in the nation and was part of the 14th-fastest 4x400 relay time at the Danny Curran Invitational. The senior won the 400 with a time of 58.26 and was a member of the second-place 4x400 squad at 4:01.57. 
 
Field Athlete of the Week
Adria Retter, Sr., Swarthmore
Quakertown, Pa. | Quakertown
Retter recorded the top discus throw in the nation and a third-best shot put mark at the Danny Curran Invitational hosted by Widener. The senior won the discus with a throw of 49.22 meters and won the shot put at 14.14 meters. Both marks rank second on the Centennial all-time list. Retter's personal-best discus mark is nearly 5 meters further than the second best throw in the nation.