Sidney graduate Pat Simonds is catching on at Colgate University.
Wide receiver Simonds had three catches for a team-high 75 yards Saturday, when his Colgate football team fell, 34-31, to visiting Fordham. Simonds' outing included a college-long 44-yard reception in the opening quarter.
One season after earning no statistics in six appearances, sophomore Simonds has 199 yards on 13 catches in four games with the Raiders (2-2). His total receiving yards and 15.3 yards per catch each rank second on the team.
Simonds caught his first collegiate touchdown pass a week earlier, helping to rally Colgate to a 31-28 overtime victory over host Dartmouth on Sept. 15. His 17-yard TD reception pulled the Raiders within 28-20 with 10 minutes, 31 seconds left in regulation.
Colgate, which fought back from a 28-0 deficit, tied it when Simonds caught a two-point conversion pass from quarterback Alex Relph. Jordan Scott scored Colgate's final touchdown on a 33-yard run with 6:41 remaining in regulation to set up the tying conversion pass. Simonds finished with 38 yards on four catches.
Colgate is an NCAA Football Championship Subdivision program (formerly known as Division I-AA) that is affiliated with the Patriot League.
Melissa Blass
Oneonta High graduate Blass received City University of New York Athletic Conference volleyball rookie of the week honors Sept. 17.
A freshman hitter for the City College of New York, Blass had a .385 hitting percentage and 26 kills in a 3-0 week for the Beavers en route to the conference honor. Blass has started all 10 matches for CCNY (7-4 overall, 3-1 CUNYAC) and has 76 kills for a .261 hitting percentage this season.
Caitlin Catella
Ithaca College senior Catella (Oneonta High) helped the Bombers' women's cross country team to a 28th-place finish in the 47-team Paul Short Invitational at Lehigh University on Saturday.
Catella crossed in 23:53, placing 214th out of 314 women as 19th-ranked Ithaca earned a third-place finish among Division III programs.
Eileen Coyle
Oneonta High graduate Coyle received Region III Female Athlete of the Year honors from the NJCAA after scoring 101 points for the Herkimer women's soccer team in 2006.
Coyle, who transferred to Geneseo this fall, earned first team NJCAA and NSCAA All-American accolades in each of her two seasons with the Generals, who announced Coyle's Region III award last week. She finished with 43 goals and 15 assists in 19 games last season, when Coyle earned her second straight player of the year honors in women's soccer from Region III and the Mountain Valley Conference.
Coyle has five goals this season for Geneseo, which is 3-5-1 overall and 1-3-1 in the SUNY Athletic Conference. She scored the decisive goal with five seconds left in the first overtime of a 2-1 home victory over New Paltz on Friday.
The Daily Star named Coyle its co-Player of the Year in girls soccer in 2004, when she shared the honor with former Oneonta High teammate Breanna Gault _ the starting goalie at SUNY Delhi this fall.
Allan Guiney
Cooperstown graduate Guiney is running cross country for Hamilton College this fall.
Guiney, a senior, finished 12th during the Liberty League championships this past Saturday at Clarkson University. His time of 27:24 helped the Continentals to place second in the seven-team event, matching their best finish in the history of the league championships. Hamilton also finished as runners-up in 1999.
Guiney also contributed a 17th-place finish during the Rochester Institute of Technology Quad Meet at Genesee Valley Park on Sept. 8.
Bethany Head
Worcester graduate Head has started all 10 games for the Wilkes University women's soccer team, which is 4-6 this season.
Senior defender Head scored her only goal this fall in a 3-2 loss at Stevens Institute of Technology on Sept. 18.
Chad Herring
Unatego graduate Herring has appeared in all five games for the Ithaca College football team as a freshman safety. Herring has one forced fumble, one unassisted tackle and three assisted tackles for the Bombers, who are 3-2 overall and 0-2 in the Empire 8 Conference.
Freshman defensive end Derek Plance (Delhi) also appears on Ithaca's roster this season.
Mick McDaniel
The NJCAA selected Margaretville graduate McDaniel of Tompkins-Cortland Community College as its Region III Athletic Director of the Year, the college announced Thursday.
McDaniel, who started his job at TC3 in 2000, earned the award for the 2006-07 academic year.
Phoebe Potter
Gilboa graduate Potter is a junior defender and has appeared in all eight games for the Hamilton College women's soccer team. Potter helped the Continentals move to 7-0-1 overall and 2-0-1 in the Liberty League with a 1-1 double-overtime tie of sixth-ranked William Smith this past Saturday.
Brittany Sines
Afton graduate Sines is competing for the Wilkes University field hockey team this fall. A sophomore midfielder, Sines has started all 10 games for the Colonels (4-6) and has one assist.
Briana Turi
Cooperstown graduate Turi received NJCAA Division III Player of the Week honors for women's soccer for her contributions to the Tompkins-Cortland Community College team last week.
Turi, a team captain, has anchored a defense that has allowed five goals to eight opponents this season. Last week, she helped limit Finger Lakes to four shots in a 2-0 victory over a foe that features two scorers ranked among the NJCAA's top 20 in the country.
Turi earned back-to-back Daily Star First Team All-Star honors in 2005 and 2006 as the sweeper of the Cooperstown girls soccer team.
The ninth-ranked Panthers are 8-2 overall and 7-1 in Region III play.
