Staff Writer
Amanda Martin of the women’s track and field team took home first place at the Snowflake Classic and Alistair Matthews helped lead the men’s volleyball team with outstanding individual performances, earning them the Springfield Student Newspaper Players of the Week award for 3/29/12 through 4/05/12.
Athletes of the Week for 3/29/12–4/05/12
Amanda Martin
During the Snowflake Classic, held at Tufts University, Martin did not shy away from the competition. Martin won the long jump with a jump of 5.12 meters. Her day was not done there. Martin also received second-place honors in the triple jump, which she considers her best event, with a distance of 11.04 meters. This Saturday, Springfield travels to Middlebury where Martin looks to bring the momentum she gained by performing well at the Snowflake Classic. This past weekend was an event held for all three NCAA Divisions. The Pride return home for the Springfield Invitational, Apr. 21.
Q. Heading into the Snowflake Classic, was there more incentive for you to perform at a high level?
A. It’s a great opportunity to be able to compete with athletes at a higher level and to be able to perform well against them. However, competition is competition and no matter what division the teams and athletes are from I still go into the meet with the same mind-set to try my best and win.
Q. How does it feel placing first in the long jump this past weekend?
A. It feels very satisfying to place first at a meet as big as the Snowflake because it shows that all my hard work is paying off and that I can compete with athletes at a higher level.
Q. How does the rest of the season look for the team?
A. The rest of the season looks promising for the team because we work hard at practice on a daily basis and try our best both at practice and at meets.
Q. What do you look to improve on during the season?
A. I look to improve on my distances in both long and triple jump over the rest of the season but other than that I plan on continuing to work hard everyday to get better overall.
Alistair Matthews
Matthews helped to lead the men’s volleyball team to a victory in the Vassar Invitational with a team-best 18 kills. Along with this, Matthews was also selected as last week’s Sports Imports/AVCA Men’s Division III National Player of the Week for his work for the Pride in the Springfield Invitational, which the Pride won in four straight games. Matthews has 173 kills on the season, which puts him at third on the team, and a 2.75 kills per game average, which is the best on the team. The junior opposite hitter has been an integral part of the team all season and has helped to lead the Pride to a 25-5 record. The volleyball team will finish out their regular season before participating in the NCAA Division III Men’s Volleyball National Championship at Blake Arena from Apr. 27-29.
Q. The team has been extremely successful this season; what do you attribute that to?
A. We are a very cohesive group and we work hard together every day towards our common goal of winning the National Championship.
Q. How does it feel playing so well in front of the home fans?
A. Playing at home in Blake Arena is always an advantage for us. We couldn’t ask for better fans and they always show so much support, which really helps us.
Q. The team seems to mesh well together; what is the chemistry on the team?
A. Our team chemistry has been great this year and I feel we are working together as a team rather than individually, which is helping us in the long run.
Q. How do you guys maintain the momentum that you gained over the weekend?
A. We had a very successful weekend, but it is over now and we have two tournaments for the next two weekends, so we are working hard and keeping focused in order to maintain that momentum for the remainder of our season.