Westwood, Mass.- The NEWMAC has announced its Athlete of the Week honorees for the week ending 11/3/24.  The full list of honorees can be found below.
 
Field Hockey
 
Offensive Athlete of the Week- Lauren Meinhold (Gr., M), WPI
 
Graduate student Lauren Meinhold (Boxboro, Mass.) had a pair of strong showings as the Engineers concluded the regular season with a pair of victories last week.  The fifth year began her week by doling out assists on WPI’s first three goals in a 4-0 road shutout of Keene State.  The midfielder proved her versatility by netting the first two goals in the Crimson and Gray’s blanking of Wellesley on Saturday.  Meinhold has a team-best nine goals and nine assists after her seven-point performance this past week.
 
Defensive Athlete of the Week- Ellie Powers (Sr., B), Babson College
 
Senior Ellie Powers (Bethlehem, Pa.) helped No. 7 Babson close the regular season with a pair of lopsided wins last week. The senior center back helped the Beavers allow just three shots on goal in a 5-1 win over the University of New England on Tuesday and blanked Mount Holyoke 8-0 to conclude league play unbeaten for the eighth year in a row on Saturday. Powers also scored her first goal of the season late in the first quarter of Babson’s win over UNE.
 
Football
 
Offensive Athlete of the Week- Mike Ingraffia, (Gr., QB), WPI
 
Graduate student Mike Ingraffia (Kings Park, N.Y.) continued his torrid stretch of play by throwing for five touchdowns for the second consecutive week as WPI went on the road and cruised to a 28-14 victory over Coast Guard on Saturday afternoon.  The graduate student finished 17-for-20 with 255 yards through the air, while also rushing for 31 yards. Ingraffia threw a touchdown strike in each of the four quarters, including a pair in the second frame and now has 14 touchdown passes over the past three weeks and 21 for the season.
 
Defensive Athlete of the Week- Dylan Denicker (Sr., DB), SUNY Maritime
 
Senior Dylan Denicker (Queens, N.Y.) made six tackles while also recording three pass breakups in the Privateers' 25-22 victory over Salve Regina on Saturday. Denicker recovered a fumble on the goal line to prevent a Salve Regina touchdown and preserve a 19-12 Maritime lead midway through the third quarter.
 
Special Teams Athlete of the Week- Brock Dubey (Gr., K), WPI
 
Graduate student Brock Dubey (Dudley, Mass.) opened the scoring with a 32-yard field goal on WPI's opening drive and then nailed all five of his PATs as the Engineers went to Coast Guard and toppled the Bears 38-14.  The graduate student reached the 100-career milestone with his second PAT of the afternoon and is 2-for-2 on the season on field goals and 25-of-25 on PATs.
 
Men’s Soccer
 
Offensive Athlete of the Week- Matias Gutierrez (Sr., M), Babson College
 
Senior Matias Gutierrez (Coral Gables, Fla.) scored two goals and added an assist for a career-high five points to help No. 11 Babson cruise to a 6-0 win over Coast Guard in Saturday’s regular season finale. He put away his own rebound in the 24th minute, helped set up another marker less than two minutes later and then completed his first career brace with a header in the 65th minute as the Beavers finished league play unbeaten for the third year in a row. 
 
Defensive Athlete of the Week- Beckett Hobbs (So., GK), Emerson College
 
Sophomore Beckett Hobbs (Issaquah, Turkiye) posted 10 saves in a 2-0-0 week for Emerson. He finished with five saves as Emerson earned a key 1-0 victory at Coast Guard. Hobbs tallied five saves as the Lions defeated Clark 3-1 in the final regular season match to secure a place in the NEWMAC Championship tournament.
 
Women’s Soccer
 
Offensive Athlete of the Week- Sean Luk (Jr., F), MIT
 
Junior Sean Luk (Bel Air, Md.) scored three goals in a 2-0 week to help secure an undefeated NEWMAC Conference record at 11-0 while earning the top seed in the Championship. Luk scored twice in MIT's victory over Wellesley and added another score against Emerson. She brings her season total to six to rank third on the team while her 19 points are tied for second in the conference. 
 
Defensive Athlete of the Week- Patricia Bandrup (Jr., GK), Wheaton College  
 
Junior Patricia Bandrup (Poway, Calif.) posted a 0.50 goals against average, while owning a sparkling .917 save percentage with 11 saves. Bandrup stopped five of six shots in a 3-1 win over Clark University on October 30 and capped the week with a six-save shutout in a 0-0 draw with visiting United States Coast Guard Academy on November 2.

Women’s Swimming & Diving

Diver of the Week- Fiora Beratahani (So.), MIT

Sophomore Fiora Beratahani (San Jose, Calif.) swept the boards with an NCAA Regional mark score of 288.46 on the 1-meter and a score of 270.01 on the 3-meter in the No. 5 MIT women's swim and dive's 242-57 win over Springfield.

Relay of the Week- 200 Medley Relay, WPI 

The foursome of Audrey Dino (St. Louis, Miss.), Alia Ureta (Hackensack, NJ), Sarah Kang (Richmond, VA) and Leah Kolb (Canton, MI) clocked a time of 1:50.93 to take first place in the 200-medley relay as WPI went 3-1 in a multi-level dual meet at home against Babson, Brandeis, Coast Guard and Smith.

Swimmer of the Week- Iris Yang (Sr.), MIT

Senior Iris Yang (Seattle, Wash.) swam the fastest time in Division III with her win in the 100-Back in MIT's 242-57 win over Springfield. Yang won the event in 55.80.

Men’s Swimming & Diving

Diver of the Week- Christian Butler (So.), Springfield College

Sophomore Christian Butler (North Haven, Conn.) registered a first-place finish on the 3-meter board with a score of 259.96 and a second-place finish on the 1-meter board with a score of 276.53 against No. 3 MIT on Saturday.

Relay of the Week- 200 Medley Relay, Coast Guard Academy 

Michael Carden (Kennesaw, Ga.), John Kaleta (Morrow, Ohio), Charles Gaines (Macon, Ga.), and Noah Reice (Wilmington, Del.) won the 200 yard medley relay at the WPI quad meet with a time of 1:35.35, good for 22nd in the nation. 

Swimmer of the Week- Jason Wang (Gr.), MIT

Graduate student Jason Wang (Boca Raton, Fla.) won two events and placed third in another as the No. 3 MIT Swimming and Diving team defeated Springfield 200-95. Wang finished third in the 100-free with a time of 47.71. In the 200-fly he finished first with a time of 1:53.35 and followed with a victory in the 400 IM with a time of 4:01.23. His 400 IM time is currently the third fastest in DIII and his 200 fly time is the ninth quickest in the nation. 
 
Women’s Volleyball
 
Offensive Athlete of the Week- Abby Hunt (Jr., OH), Smith College
 
Junior Abby Hunt (Mandeville, La.) had another great performance this week. In a 3-1 win over Babson, who received votes in the latest AVCA poll, Hunt had 17 kills, hitting .350. During the match against Maine Maritime on Saturday, she hit a blistering .714 with 16 kills and only one error on only 21 swings. On the week, she averaged 4.70 kills per set, on .532 hitting.
 
Defensive Athlete of the Week- Kaija Kunze-Hoeg (Jr., L), Wellesley College
 
Junior Kaija Kunze-Hoeg (Eagan, Minn.) recorded 47 digs in two matches last week. In a five-set comeback over Emerson, Kunze-Hoeg scooped up 37 digs (7.4 digs per set), the second most in a single game in Blue program history. The junior added a trio of aces in a win versus Salem State.
 
About the NEWMAC

The NEWMAC is an association of 12 selective academic institutions: Babson College, Clark University, U.S Coast Guard Academy, Emerson College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mount Holyoke College, Salve Regina University, Smith College, Springfield College, Wellesley College, Wheaton College, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, that are committed to providing high quality competitive athletic opportunities for student-athletes within an educational and respectful environment that embodies the NCAA Division III Philosophy. The conference also partners with four Associate Members: Norwich University (Football), Simmons College (Rowing), SUNY Maritime College (Football), and U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Football), while sponsoring 20 sports.