General 9/24/2024 10:00:00 AM United East Athletes of the Week - September 24, 2024 LATHAM, N.Y. - The United East conference has announced its Athletes of the Week for September 24, 2024. Today will include Athletes of the Week for Men’s and Women’s Cross Country, Men's and Women's Tennis, and Men's Golf. This week’s selections included contests from Monday, September 16 through Sunday, September 22. A total of 5 student-athletes were recognized for their performances. Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Week Clarisse Hayden / So / Cairn University / Bangkok, Thailand / International Community School Sophomore Clarisse Hayden led the way once again for the Highlanders at the Abington Invitational on Saturday, finishing with a time of 25:44.7 and a fifth place finish out of 90 runners. Hayden has now finished in the top 25 in her last ten races, this weekend helping lead her team to a 2nd Place finish as a group as all seven runners finished in the top 50. This is the fourth Runner of the Week award for Hayden, who won for the weeks of September 17, 2024, September 10, 2024, and September 3, 2024, after a First-Team All-Conference nod in 2023 and a runner-up finish at the Championship meet. Men’s Cross Country Runner of the Week Rafe Williams / Sr / Bryn Athyn College / Bryn Athyn, Pa. / Academy of the New Church Senior Rafe Williams led the way for Bryn Athyn on Saturday afternoon at the Penn State Abington Invitational, finishing with a time of 28:12.8 on the 8k course. Williams finished third overall out of the 119 student-athletes who competed in the men’s race. This is the third straight Top 5 finish for Williams, who came in 4th last week at the United East Preview Meet / Seahawk Classic and 2nd place finish at the Aggie Open on September 7th. This is the fifth Athlete of the Week award for Williams who previously was honored for the weeks of October 10, 2023, October 3, 2022, October 18, 2021, and October 4, 2021. Williams was a Second Team All-United East honoree in 2023 in addition to the CSAC Runner of the Year in 2021 and 2022 after winning the individual title each of those years. Men’s Tennis Player of the Week Peng (Mark) Hou / So / Penn State Harrisburg / DaTong, China / DaTong Sports School In his first collegiate competition for Penn State Harrisburg on Saturday, Sept. 14, Peng (Mark) Hou won a pair of singles contests and split his doubles matchups, all from the No. 1 spot. In the team's season opener, he earned a 6-1, 6-2 solo victory against Stevenson's top player before securing a 6-3, 6-2 singles win against Catholic later that evening. He also teamed up with Kevin Liang to defeat Catholic's No. 1 doubles duo 6-4 earlier in the match. Women’s Tennis Player of the Week Samma Zahran / So / Penn State Brandywine / Brookhaven, Pa. / Cardinal O’Hara Samma Zahran won two-of-three singles and doubles matches last week for Brandywine. As Brandywine's No. 1 singles player, she claimed straight set victories at Rutgers-Camden (6-3, 6-4) and Penn State Berks (6-0, 6-0). She also was a winner at No. 1 doubles along with teammate Emma Kaplan against Berks and Saint Vincent by identical 6-1 scores. This is the first Player of the Week award for Zahran and Penn State Brandywine Women’s Tennis as the Nittany Lions joined the NCAA and United East in the 2024-25 academic year. Men’s Golf Player of the Week Tristan Worlock / So / Wilson College / DeRuyter, N.Y. / DeRuyter Catholic Worlock opened up the Cardinal Fall Invitational hosted by Catholic University with a round of 77 to set a new program record for a single round. He followed up with an 83 to also set the Wilson record for a two-round total with a 160. This is the first Player of the Week award for Worlock and first for Wilson College men’s golf since Kojie Santos on October 5, 2021. FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA Instagram - gounitedeast | Twitter - @GoUnitedEast * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The United East boasts 17 NCAA Division III full member institutions which include: Bryn Athyn College, Cairn University, Cedar Crest College, Gallaudet University, Keystone College, Lancaster Bible College, Notre Dame of Maryland University, Penn College, Penn State Abington, Penn State Berks, Penn State Brandywine, Penn State Harrisburg, Rosemont College, Saint Elizabeth University, St. Mary's College of Maryland, University of Valley Forge, and Wilson College. For more information, please visit gounitedeast.com.