LANCASTER, Pa. -- The first Centennial Conference weekly awards of fall 2023 have been announced following the opening weekend of action from Sept. 1-3. CC teams in field hockey, football, men's soccer, women's soccer and volleyball combined for a 50-33-11 (.590) record to open the season while two men's cross country teams took home titles.
See below for the full list of Centennial winners for the opening weekend.
MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
Athlete of the Week
Emmanuel Leblond, So., Johns Hopkins
Mountain View, Calif. | Mountain View
Leblond picked up right where he left off after finishing 26th in the 2022 NCAA Championship, claiming first overall in Friday's Baltimore Metro Invitational. In a field that included Loyola (Md.) and a Centennial Conference foe in McDaniel, the sophomore led nearly the whole way, sitting in the top three for the first 3K before running the fastest final split in the meet to cross the line in first with a time of 15:22.37.
2023 Men's Cross Country Weekly Awards
Sept. 6 -
Emmanuel Leblond, Johns Hopkins
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
Athlete of the Week
Sara Stephenson, Gr., Johns Hopkins
Weston, Mass. | The Rivers School
Going up against a field that included Division I Maryland, Stephenson took home first place at Friday's Baltimore Metro Invitational. The graduate student started the race in seventh, gaining one place at the 3K mark before running an incredible 6:52.99 final 2K — over 10 seconds faster than the second-place finisher — to claim the top spot.
2023 Women's Cross Country Weekly Awards
Sept. 6 -
Sara Stephenson, Johns Hopkins
FIELD HOCKEY
Offensive Player of the Week
Siena Urbanski, Sr., F, Johns Hopkins
Chester Springs, Pa. | Downingtown East
Urbanski led Johns Hopkins to a pair of nationally-ranked wins over the weekend. She scored the game-winning goal in a 2-0 win versus No. 16 Washington & Lee at a neutral site on Saturday. She then scored an insurance goal in Hopkins' 3-1 win at No. 25 Shenandoah on Sunday.
Defensive Player of the Week
Maeve Montgomery, Jr., D, Ursinus
Millersville, Pa. | Penn Manor
Montgomery totaled five defensive saves in a 1-1 week for the Bears. The junior defender recorded four defensive saves and added the game-winning goal in Sunday's win over No. 20 William Smith. She also picked up one defensive save in a 1-0 loss at No. 3 Rowan.
2023 Field Hockey Weekly Awards
Offensive Player of the Week
Sept. 6 -
Siena Urbanski, Johns Hopkins
Defensive Player of the Week
Sept. 6 -
Maeve Montgomery, Ursinus
MEN'S SOCCER
Offensive Player of the Week
Julian Faust, So., M, Ursinus
Cherry Hill, N.J. | Saint Joseph's Prep
Faust led the Bears to a 2-0 week with 11 points behind four goals and three assists. On Friday, he paced the Bears offense with three goals and two assists in his collegiate debut, leading Ursinus to an 8-0 victory over Medgar Evers, which marks as the most goals in a game for Ursinus since 1993. He followed up his performance landing a goal and an assist in the Bears' victory over Penn St. Berks on Sunday. His eight points vs. Medgar Evans is tied for the fourth-most all-time in a game in the Ursinus record book.
Defensive Player of the Week
Austin Heid, Gr., GK, McDaniel
Middle River, Md. | Mount Carmel
Heid anchored the Green Terror defense with a pair of shutouts over the weekend. He recorded four saves in a scoreless draw against Immaculata on Friday and three saves against Penn College in a 1-0 Green Terror win on Sunday.
2023 Men's Soccer Weekly Awards
Offensive Player of the Week
Sept. 6 -
Julian Faust, Ursinus
Defensive Player of the Week
Sept. 6 -
Austin Heid, McDaniel
WOMEN'S SOCCER
Offensive Player of the Week
Katie Sullivan, Jr., F, Johns Hopkins
Yardley, Pa. | Villa Joseph Marie
Sullivan led the top-ranked Blue Jays to a pair of victories on the opening weekend. She scored twice and added an assist in a 3-0 season-opening victory against Sewanee and then scored Hopkins' first goal in a 3-1 win over 16th-ranked Scranton.
Defensive Player of the Week
Lila Brown, So., D, Dickinson
Washington, D.C. | Sidwell Friends School
Brown helped Dickinson to a 2-0 start and was named Tournament MVP of the Seahawk Classic. She was a key cog in a backline that held both host St. Mary's and Salisbury off the scoreboard with victories of 5-0 and 4-0, respectively. Brown and the Red Devil defense limited the opposition to just 11 shots (5 on target), while she also contributed an assist over the weekend.
2023 Women's Soccer Weekly Awards
Offensive Player of the Week
Sept. 6 -
Katie Sullivan, Johns Hopkins
Defensive Player of the Week
Sept. 6 -
Lila Brown, Dickinson
VOLLEYBALL
Offensive Player of the Week
Kaylee Zhang, Sr., OH, Swarthmore
San Jose, Calif. | Valley Christian
The reigning Centennial Conference Player of the Year led the Garnet to a 3-0 opening weekend with wins over Scranton (3-2), Smith (3-1) and SUNY New Paltz (3-1), earning MVP honors at the Scranton Volleyball Invitational. Zhang registered a team-high 42 kills with a .269 hitting percentage and also notched 54 digs, four blocks and five service aces for a well-rounded stat sheet. The senior tallied 18 kills in an impressive regional win over Scranton for her highest kill total among the three matches. She then wrapped up her weekend with 14 kills versus Smith and 10 kills against New Paltz.
Defensive Player of the Week
Chelsea O'Leary, Sr., L, Gettysburg
Mechanicsburg, Pa. |
Cumberland Valley
O'Leary led the Bullets to a 3-1 weekend at the Battlefield Classic with 73 digs over the four matches, averaging 5.62 digs per set over her 13 sets played. She started the weekend with 20 digs in a 3-0 win over Penn State Mont Alto and added a season-best 23 in a four-set loss to Washington and Lee. She also had 19 against York. O'Leary added five aces and nine assists.
2023 Volleyball Weekly Awards
Offensive Player of the Week
Sept. 6 -
Kaylee Zhang, Swarthmore
Defensive Player of the Week
Sept. 6 -
Chelsea O'Leary, Gettysburg
