Ryan Hetrick, who is in his second year at West Point, was awarded the “Superintendent’s Award for Excellence” this month for finishing in the top 5 percent of his class. Given to cadets who prove themselves to be outstanding in academics, military and physical, the award is based on the Cadet Award Score, which is a combination of the three programs.

The insignia for the Superintendent’s Award of Excellence is a gold star encircled by a gold wreath and is presented to the top five percent of all cadets in each class.

ııı

The Alfred University football team received votes in the 2018 D3Football.com Preseason Top 25 Poll.

Maple Grove graduate Ryan Hetrick earned the Superintendent’s Award for Excellence at the United States Military Academy. Submitted photo

The Saxons received 23 votes in the 2018 D3Football.com Preseason Poll, missing the top 25 by only 26 votes. The D3Football.com Top 25 is voted on by a panel of 25 coaches, sports information directors and media members from across the country, and is published weekly. Points are awarded on a 25-24-23-22-etc. basis. Defending NCAA Division III national champion Mount Union is ranked first to open 2018, receiving 623 points, including 24 first-place votes.

Included on the Alfred team are senior quarterback Bryce Morrison (Kennedy/Randolph), junior offensive lineman Wes Senn (Randolph/Randolph), junior quarterback Ben Burk (Jamestown/Southwestern) and freshmen Kanin Tanner (Jamestown/Jamestown) and Carter Russo (Bemus Point/Maple Grove), who are listed as a wide receiver and a defensive end, respectively.

Senn and Morrison were named team captains Tuesday.

The Empire 8 is represented well in the 2018 D3Football.com Preseason Top 25 Poll with Brockport ranking sixth in the nation. Alfred (23) and St. John Fisher (2) received votes.

ııı

The Princeton University football team was picked to finish second in the Ivy League preseason media poll, which was announced earlier this week by the league office. While defending champion Yale earned the top spot in the poll, an impressive five teams earned at least one first-place vote in the poll.

Yale took the top spot with 11 of the 17 first-place votes, while Princeton was the only other team in the league with more than one first-place vote (the Tigers earned three). Harvard, Columbia and Penn each grabbed one first-place vote apiece, and they filled the next three spots in the poll; Columbia and Penn actually share the fourth spot. The remainder of the poll went Dartmouth, Cornell, and Brown.

One of the key members for the Tigers is senior wide receiver Stephen Carlson (Jamestown/Jamestown).

Last season, the 6-foot-4, 230-pounder earned second-team All-Ivy League honors after ranking fourth in the Ivy League in both receptions (71) and receiving yards (935). Eleven of those receptions were for touchdowns, which was a Princeton record entering the year, though teammate Jesper Horsted ended the season with 14.

ııı

Jonah Tanner (Bemus Point/Maple Grove) is a senior defensive back on the Allegheny College football team this fall.

In 2017, Tanner totaled 39 tackles, including two for loss, intercepted a pass and recovered a fumble. His most productive games were an eight-tackle performance against Dennison and had seven tackles against Oberlin.

ııı

A.J. Hulton (Chautauqua Lake/Westfield) is a senior linebacker on the Edinboro University football team.

In 2017, he appeared in 10 games, including seven starts, and finished seventh on the team in tackles with 49, including a career-high seven vs. Lock Haven. He had six tackles in four other games.

ııı

Two area residents are playing volleyball at Buffalo State this fall.

Brooke Federko (Jamestown/Jamestown) and Brooke Latour (Lakewood/Southwestern), both sophomores, are a setter and an outside hitter respectively.

ııı

EDITOR’S NOTE: The student/athletes mentioned above are only a sampling of area residents who are continuing their careers in their chosen sports. The Post-Journal welcomes updates from its readers. Those interested in including an athlete in a future Where Are They Now, email sports@post-journal.com.