Athletics

Freshman Amanda Hunt (Laceyville, PA) finished 14th out of 126 runners to lead the Morrisville State College women's cross country team to an 8th place overall finish at the CCOC Championships held at Saranac Lake State Park Saturday afternoon in Geneva. William Smith won the invitational, compiling just 45 team points, while Clarkson took second with 54. Morrisville State tallied 240 to secure the eighth place team position.

Junior Austin Townsley (Horseheads, NY) completed the 8K race in 28:12.97 to lead the Morrisville State College men's cross country team to an overall 4th place team finish at the CCOC Championships held at Saranac Lake State Park Saturday afternoon in Geneva. Clarkson won the invitational with 32 team points, followed by Hartwick with 64. SUNY IT edged Morrisville State for third with 110 points, as the Mustangs tallied 115 for fourth place.

Freshman forward Nikki Francis (Pottstown, PA) scored twice, including the game winner, to lead the visiting Penn State Harrisburg women's soccer team to a 5-1 North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) victory over host Morrisville State College Saturday afternoon in Morrisville. Morrisville State drops to 2-9-1 overall, 1-7-1 in conference play, while the Nittany Lions improve to 6-3 overall, 5-2 in NEAC action.

Visiting Penn State Harrisburg Nittany Lions cruised to a 4-0 North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) victory over host Morrisville State College men's soccer Saturday afternoon in Morrisville. Harrisburg improves to 8-2 overall, and remains in second place in the conference with a 5-1 record, while the Mustangs drop to 2-7-3 overall, 2-3-2 in conference play.

Junior Sara Woodward (Ancram/Pine Plains) scored three goals as Cortland shut out visiting Morrisville State, 7-0. The Red Dragons finish the SUNYAC regular season with a 6-0 record and are 10-3 overall after their ninth straight win. Cortland's 14th-year head coach Cynthia Wetmore became the school's victory leader with the win. Her career record is 218-51, surpassing the 217 victories amassed by Pat Rudy from 1981-95.

Sophomore forward Rebecca Quackenbush (Barker, NY) broke free on a fast break and fired the game winner into the back of the cage to lift the Morrisville State College field hockey team to a 5-4 overtime win over visiting Elmira College Wednesday afternoon in Morrisville. The Mustangs notch their first victory of the 2011 season, while Elmira falls to 2-9 overall.

The Morrisville State College athletic department has named junior cross country runner, Austin Townsley (Horseheads, NY) the Mustang Athlete of the Month for September. Townsley was named the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) runner of the week twice during the month, once for a second place finish (21:05 in the 6K run) at the SUNY IT Wildcat Invitational in early September, and a second time for his first place finish (28:01 time for the 8k run) at the Hobart Invitational midway through the month.

Derek Powers ('95), the men's and women's cross country coach at Morrisville State College showed his teams that he still has what it takes, as he competed in the LaFayette Apple 5K Run this past Sunday, October 9 winning the race and setting a new course record. Powers ran a 16:07 5K, (5:12/mile pace) on his way to winning the 242 participant race by more than 40 seconds ahead of the overall second place finisher. In his age bracket, Powers finished an even three minutes ahead of his nearest competitor.

The New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) announced its football players of the week, naming Morrisville State College freshman linebacker, TJ Barnaba (Marcy, NY) the Defensive Rookie of the Week for the week ending October 8. Barnaba assisted the Mustangs in securing their first victory of the season, a 35-21 conference defeat over Western Connecticut on Saturday. In the contest, he led the team with eight total tackles, including two solo and one for a loss of a yard.

The Morrisville State College women's soccer team dropped a pair of conference games this weekend against Penn State Abington and Penn State Berks, losing 4-0 and 3-0, respectively. Jennifer Zidzik (Lambertsville, N.J.) recorded both losses for the Mustangs in goal, playing the full game for both contests. Morrisville State is now 2-8-1 overall and 1-6-1 in conference play. The women's soccer team is back home on Saturday, October 15 to face Penn State Harrisburg at 3 PM.