Five Stellar Saxon Student-Athletes Honored with End of Season Awards - Alfred University

All information and photos are courtesy of Alfred University

ALFRED, N.Y. – Several Alfred University student-athletes are recognized for their collegiate achievements, as the Saxons announce their annual ECAC Merit Medal and Morley award winners for the 2019-20 season.

Women's Soccer graduate student Emily Wright, along with track and field senior Megan Alper, are the female co-winners of the ECAC Merit Medal. Men's Swimming and Diving senior Andrew Edmister was the male winner of the ECAC Merit Medal. The award honors a female and male senior who has excelled both academically and athletically throughout their time at AU.

Senior softball player Jessica Wilcox earns the Muriel Strong Morley Award, while junior football player Raeqwon Greer is the recipient of the Franklin Morley Award. Both awards honor athletic excellence for the 2019-20 season, regardless of class year.

All five award winners will be cited during the Alfred University Honors Convocation, and the winners will be officially honored during the Alfred University 2020 Homecoming Weekend festivities on Oct. 17.

"I am extremely proud of all of our award winners and salute them for their academic and athletic excellence," said Paul Vecchio, Director of Athletics. "While we unfortunately cannot honor our winners this spring due to unforeseen events surrounding the world in general, their efforts deserve our recognition and praise. We look forward to honoring these talented and hard-working individuals during our homecoming festivities in the fall."

Here is a bit of information on the award winners:

Andrew Edmister (Belmont, N.Y./Genesee Valley Central), ECAC Merit Medal Winner: Edmister is a four-year member of the swimming and diving teams and a team captain. Outside the pool, the Environmental Studies major is an Empire 8 President's List and Chi Alpha Sigma honoree. In the pool, Edmister is a dominant force, becoming a three-time Empire 8 champion and first-team honoree (200-backstroke), as well as a three-time All-Empire 8 second team winner (100-backstroke). Edmister was also named the conference's Swimming and Diving Athlete of the Week on three occasions in his career.


Emily Wright (Dallas, Texas/Plano West), ECAC Merit Medal Co-Winner: Wright is a five-year member of the women's soccer team and three-year team captain. After missing her sophomore season due to injury, Wright attacked the Alfred University women's soccer record books, setting the season (nine) and career assists (18) record in the fall. Wright sports impressive career marks of 16 goals and the aforementioned 18 assists for 50 points in 76 games played and is a four-time All-Empire 8 selection. Off the field, Wright is a Chi Alpha Sigma, Phi Kappa Phi, and Tau Beta Pi Honor Society member and an attendee of the Women's Leadership Academy. Wright earned a bachelor's degree in Ceramic Engineering in 2019 and is well on her way to wrapping up her master's degree in Business Administration.

Megan Alper (Belmont, Mass./Belmont), ECAC Merit Medal Co-Winner: Alper is a four-year member of the track and field program and a two-year team captain. Like Wright, Alper, a Business Administration major, is a Chi Alpha Sigma and Phi Kappa Phi Honors society member, which honors student-athlete excellence and excellence in all academic fields, respectively. On the track, Alper is a two-time Empire 8 Women's Track Athlete of the Week selection and finished eighth individually at the 2020 Empire 8 Indoor Championships (200-meters). Last season, Alper earned two podium spots at the 2019 Empire 8 Outdoor Championships and is a three-time All-Empire 8 honoree.

Jessica Wilcox (Forestville, N.Y./Pine Valley), Muriel Strong Morley Winner: Wilcox set a number of records despite playing in only eight contests in 2020. The senior pitcher became the program's all-time leader in strikeouts, fanning nearly 400 batters, and threw the program's first perfect game in her final start of the season against Minnesota-Morris on March 14. She finished the shortened season among the nation's best in the circle, finishing with a 0.72 earned run average in 38.2 innings pitched, with 10.1 strikeouts per seven innings. In 2019, Wilcox was an All-Empire 8, All-ECAC, and NFCA All-Region honoree, setting program records in season strikeouts (154), strikeouts in a game (14), and season shutouts (eight).

Raeqwon Greer (Buffalo, N.Y./Canisius), Franklin Morley Winner: To say that Greer is one of the best defensive players in the country isn't conjecture, it's a fact. The junior earned a laundry list of awards in the 2019 season, including AFCA (second team) and D3Football.com (first team) All-America honors. He was the Empire 8 and ECAC Defensive Player of the Year and first team selection, and he was also a finalist for the Cliff Harris Award, which honors the best small college (Division II, III and NAIA) defensive player in the nation. Greer tallied 93 tackles as a safety, leading the team with 60 solo tackles. He brought down eight for loss and forced a fumble.