Staff Report

Hartwick College basketball players Tiffany Hurley and Joel Blackwell earned Empire 8 Conference Player of the Week honors for the week ending Jan. 27. The Empire 8 honored senior forward Hurley for the third straight week and fourth time this season. Blackwell, a junior guard/forward, received his first conference honor of the season.

Oneonta High graduate Hurley averaged 22.3 points, 15 rebounds and two blocked shots last week. She shot 64 percent from the field in three games and was 84 percent from the foul line. Hurley had 16 points and 15 rebounds in a victory over Elmira last Tuesday, added 27 points and 15 rebounds in another triumph, against Alfred on Friday, and had 24 points and 15 rebounds in a loss to St. John Fisher on Saturday.

Hurley has had 13 double-doubles in 16 games this winter. She had 16 points and 10 rebounds in the second half versus Alfred to help turn a 31-27 halftime deficit into a victory. Hurley is averaging 18.9 points and 12.8 rebounds per game.

Blackwell averaged 18.7 points and 11.7 rebounds in three games last week. He made 54 percent (20-for-37) of his field goals, shot 50 percent (5-for-10) from 3-point range and was 69 percent from the foul line (11-for-16). Blackwell also averaged three steals per game.

Blackwell finished with 21 points and 15 rebounds last Tuesday against Elmira. He had 20 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and four steals against Alfred on Friday, and added 15 points and nine rebounds against St. John Fisher on Saturday.

Blackwell, who has 544 varsity points, leads the Hawks in scoring (15.0 points), rebounds (8.6) and steals (1.6) per game. The Hawks play at Ithaca College at 8 p.m. Friday.

With nine heats and 49 runners competing, Kelleher finished in first place in heat two with a time of 26.83. That clocking turned out to be the top time of the day in a field that included a number of Division I schools.

Kelleher, a sophomore, also finished fifth in the 55-meter dash in 7.53 and had the fifth-fastest time of the day in the 400 meters at 1:00.20. Kelleher was 1/100th of a second off her own school record in the 55 dash.

Kelleher, a Unadilla Valley graduate, has or is part of four school indoor and outdoor track records at Hartwick. She has already qualified for the Eastern College Athletic Conference meet in the 55 dash, 200 meters and 400 meters.

With the New York State Collegiate Track Conference Championships set for Feb. 22-23 at St. Lawrence, Kelleher is looking to defend her championships in the 200 meters (26.77) and the 400 meters (59.99). She was also third in the 55 dash last year in 7.58.