Preisch, Schieder Earn EC Athlete of the Week Honors

2017 Nov 6

Claire Preisch '21 of the women's cross country team and Natalie Schieder '19 of the women's volleyball team have been crowned Elmira College Athletes of the Week in recognition of their outstanding performances over the weekend.

Preisch may be a freshman, but she has definitely hit the ground running in her first collegiate cross country season. The Milton, Pennsylvania, native led the EC women to the finish line on Saturday morning at the Hamilton College Short Course Invitational, hosted by the Continentals on the Hamilton campus in Clinton, New York, by taking 66th place out of a competitive field of 137 runners.

More notably, the standout rookie re-wrote her own program record at the 4,000-meter distance, a mark she set in her debut at the SUNY Poly Short Course Invitational on September 2. Preisch took advantage of the relatively flat Hamilton course and beat her own time by a whopping 1:51.40, as she navigated the 4K in just 16:47.00.

Schieder helped the Elmira women's volleyball team rebound from a season-opening loss a Pitt-Bradford on September 6 to sweep all three matches at the EC Quad Match on Friday and Saturday. The two-time E8 All-Conference honoree paced the team in kills (43) and kills per pet (3.58), while posting a team-high .343 attack percentage. Schieder also recorded team bests with 42 digs and two double-doubles in four matches last week.

The Alden, New York, native began the 2017 campaign with a season-high 13 kills to go along with a season-high-tying 12 digs for her first double-double in the loss at Pitt-Bradford. On Friday night against SUNY Delhi, Schieder registered 10 kills, seven digs and two total blocks, as the Purple and Gold swept the Broncos 3-0. In the opening match on day two of the EC Quad Match opposite Alfred State, she floored 11 kills with 11 more digs, before concluding the weekend with a season-high .643 attack percentage (9k-0e-14ta), 12 digs and three service aces in a straight-set sweep of Cazenovia.