AUSTINTOWN, OH – The Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) announced its weekly honors today (October 8) for the period ending October 7.
Men's soccer player Drew Fields (Terrace Park, OH/Mariemont) and women's cross country runner Jenna Parlette (Miamisburg, OH/Miamisburg) earned Player of the Week laurels in their respective sports.
Fields single-handedly helped the Fightin' Quakers to it 3-2 overtime victory over Mount Union Saturday. The sophomore midfielder scored Wilmington's first two goals, including the equalizer with a minute left in the game. He assisted on the game-winner in the second overtime to lift Wilmington to 2-0-1 in the OAC.
"Drew had a breakout game against MUC, scoring a couple of very important goals," said WC head coach Bud Lewis. "To be honest, he hadn't been playing well. That is why it's a breakout game because he hasn't been that sharp. It gave him a lot of confidence and it was a big boost for the team."
Parlette has been the Quakers' top runner all season long. The sophomore was the top OAC runner at the Rose-Hulman Pre-National Meet, finishing 22nd in a time of 22:58.
"Jenna has had a very consistent year," said cross country coach Ron Combs. "She is one of the hardest workers I have ever coached. She seems very focused this year on taking her performances to a higher level, especially in the meets that mean the most (OAC's and Regionals). Her performance at the Pre-National meet was great because it gave her experience running against some of the best D3 runners in the country on the course that will host the National Meet."
Fields and Parlette are the first two Wilmington athletes in their respective sports to earn Player of the Week honors this season. Junior Erik Hammar was the last WC men's soccer player to pick up the OAC weekly honor (10/3/11), while Parlette was the last women's cross country runner to earn the honor (10/17/11).