Athletes of the Week – April 17, 2018

by | Apr 18, 2018

Anna Horne & Phil Marotta – Cranford: Anna, a junior and starting goalie on the varsity lacrosse team has 408 career saves. She currently has 84 saves this season and helped lead the Cougars to back-to-back wins against Montville & Governor Livingston. Phil, also a junior and starting goalie on the varsity lacrosse team, is off to a strong start this season leading the Cougars defense and posting a 4-2 record in the team’s first six games. He is averaging over 12 saves per game, including a 17 save performance in a victory over Hackettstown.

Holly Wilson – Jonathan Dayton High School: This week Holly went 8 for 16 at the plate scoring seven runs, and driving in seven RBIs, The senior had one double and three home runs for the week.

Adam Wuest – Jonathan Dayton High School: Adam is the baseball team’s second baseman. The senior had four hits, scored six runs and had four RBIs for the week. He also walked six times. He played an error free second base and struck out four batters in two innings of relief on the mound.

Justina Benvenuto – Union Catholic: After bursting on the scene with a fabulous freshman softball season at Union Catholic last year, there was a lot of hype surrounding Justina Benvenuto as she entered her sophomore season. Benvenuto has more than lived up to all the lofty expectations, both on the mound and at the plate as she has sparked the Vikings to a 6-1 record this spring. Benvenuto has been dominate on the mound this season with a 6-1 record, 50 strikeouts in 39 innings, two shutouts, one combined shutout, and one no-hitter. And she has delivered several clutch hits at the plate for Union Catholic.In UC’s season opening 17-1 victory, Benvenuto pitched a no-hitter and slugged a three-run homer in the four-inning game. Benvenuto’s best pitching performance of the season came when she fired a complete-game 4-0 shutout over defending Group 3 state champion South Plainfield, ranked No. 16 in the state at the time, at UC’s Viking Tournament on April 7. The victory over South Plainfield came after UC suffered its only loss of the season to Elizabeth earlier in the day.

Joe Stulec – Union Catholic: A year ago, Joe Stulec didn’t even know how to hold a lacrosse stick. Now, he’s the leading scorer on the Union Catholic/Wardlaw-Hartridge lacrosse team. Stulec’s rapid development and transformation is a big reason for the remarkable turnaround this season by the Union Catholic/Wardlaw-Hartridge team, which is off to a 4-1 after the co-operative program finished 0-12 in its first year ever last year. Stulec, a senior at Union Catholic, has been one of the biggest catalysts for UC/WH as he’s emerged into a prolific scorer this spring. Stulec has already racked up a team-leading 12 goals, and added five assists and 14 ground balls. Stulec has scored in every game this season, and has scored three goals in three different games, including the historic 5-4 victory at Pompton Lakes in the season opener on March 30, the first win in the history of the program. Stulec’s hard work and improvement caught the eye of UC/WC Head Coach Dave LiSooey, who named Stulec one of the team captains for this season and moved him from defense to attackman.