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Landmark Announces Athletes of the Week

TOWSON, Md. - The Landmark Conference has released the Athletes of the Week. The conference will recognize a student-athlete for each sport based on their contributions to their team throughout the season.

For the spring season, baseball, softball, and lacrosse will be announced on Monday, followed by golf, tennis, and outdoor track and field on Tuesday.

  • Baseball Athlete of the Week: Andres Cruz (Wilkes University)
    Cruz's stellar play at the plate helped the Colonels secure a 4-0 week against Lycoming and Moravian. He batted .428 (6-for-14), racked up seven RBI, walked once, and scored four runs. His best game of the week was in the series finale against the Greyhounds. In that game, Cruz went 2-for-4 with a single, a solo home run, and two RBI to help Wilkes complete the weekend sweep and improve to 6-0 in Landmark Conference play.

    Baseball Pitcher of the Week: Aj Llorente (Lycoming University)
    On Sunday, Llorente tossed a two-hit shutout in his first Landmark Conference start of the season to down the defending conference champions, Catholic, 11-0. Llorente retired the last 14 batters, striking out four, and allowing only two hits and a walk against the Cardinals. Llorente threw just 74 pitches in the shutout win.

  • Men's Lacrosse Offensive Athlete of the Week: Steven Dezelic (Catholic University)
    Dezelic recorded two hat tricks this week across two games, totaling six goals and two assists for eight points. Against Mary Washington, Dezelic scored three goals on a .750 shooting percentage, leading the team to a 9–8 victory over the Eagles. His first goal gave Catholic a 5–4 lead, and he later added an insurance goal to make it 7–4. He also scored Catholic’s final goal of the game, which ultimately locked in the win. Dezelic notched his third hat trick of the season against Moravian on Saturday, adding two assists to finish with five points in the contest. 

    Men's Lacrosse Defensive Athlete of the Week: Carson Kirchner (University of Scranton)
    Kirchner put together a strong week in goal, stepping up big for his team in two games. Against Goucher, he played 45 minutes and made nine saves while allowing just one goal. Earlier in the week against Sewanee, Kirchner faced a ton of action and came up with an impressive career-high 21 saves over 60 minutes. Altogether, he finished the week with 30 saves in the cage with a 5.14 goals against average. 

    Women's Lacrosse Offensive Athlete of the Week: Maddie Traynor (Catholic University)
    Traynor had a stellar week for the Cardinals offensively, contributing to half of the team’s point total. She scored six goals and logged five assists for 11 points for the 20-4 victory against Moravian. Traynor now leads the team with 14 goals this season and 20 total points and has a shot on goal percentage of .793.

    Women's Lacrosse Defensive Athlete of the Week: Aerin O'Brien (Susquehanna University) 
    O’Brien played a key role in leading the River Hawks to a 2–0 week with wins over Elizabethtown and Alvernia. She contributed eight saves in their 12-2 win over the Golden Wolves. She tallied 15 saves in Saturday’s 16–6 victory over Elizabethtown, surpassing the 500-career saves milestone and becoming just the fourth goalie in Susquehanna program history to reach that mark.

  • Softball Athlete of the Week: Katie McHugh (Catholic University) 
    McHugh put up a monster week offensively over four games, going 7-for-12 (.583) with five extra-base hits, six RBI, and seven runs scored. She went 2-for-5 with a home run and a triple in a doubleheader against Washington College before collecting five hits in the conference opening doubleheader against Lycoming. 

    Softball Pitcher of the Week: Kyra Holtje (Moravian University) 
    In the circle, Holtje went 2-0 with a shutout, a 0.54 earned run average, five strikeouts, and no walks in 13 innings of action, keeping opponents to a .133 batting average. She had a pair of strikeouts in a two-hit shutout against Lebanon Valley College before recording three strikeouts in a 3-1 victory versus Wilkes University in the Greyhounds conference opener.