Feature: Top 5 Athletes of the Fall

Alex Banfich, Women’s Cross Country

Junior captain Alex Banfich led the women’s cross country team to a first-place finish at the Heptagonal Championships. Banfich won the 5-kilometer race with a time of 16 minutes, 58.9 seconds, only three seconds off the all-time record set by Liz Costello ’10. At the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional meet, she led Princeton to a fourth-place finish, coming in fourth individually in the 6-kilometer race with a time of 20:04. At the national championship, she lifted the team to a 15th-place finish and placed 20th individually in the 6-kilometer race with a time of 20:36, beating her time from last year by 21 seconds. This finish gave Banfich her first All-America honors for cross country.

Antoine Hoppenot, Men’s Soccer

Junior forward Antoine Hoppenot was at the forefront of a very impressive season for the men’s soccer team. Before losing to University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 2-1 in the opening round of the NCAA tournament, the Hoppenot-led Tigers won a program-high 12 straight games, including the program’s first undefeated Ivy League season. He finished the season as the team’s leading scorer with nine goals, five assists and 23 points.

Hoppenot was named Ivy League Player of the Year and was a unanimous selection for first-team All-Ivy League. Hoppenot was also named second-team All-America by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. Perhaps Hoppenot’s most notable accomplishment was his being a semifinalist for the Hermann Trophy, awarded annually to the nation’s top male or female soccer player.

Mike Merlone, Men’s Water Polo

Senior goalie and captain Mike Merlone made his final year as a collegiate athlete his most successful statiscally, posting career highs in games played (26), wins (18), save percentage (.594), assists (24) and steals (40). He backstopped the men’s water polo team to the Ivy League championship, recording 15 saves in a pivotal 7-6 double-overtime victory over Brown.

Merlone shattered the program’s record for most saves in a career with 732, besting the record previously held by Peter Sabbatini ’05 by 182 saves. He ultimately took home the Most Valuable Player award for the CWPA Southern Division.

Lydia Rudnick, Women’s Volleyball

Sophomore outside hitter Lydia Rudnick was one of two unanimous first-team All-Ivy League selections. She led the Tigers to a third-place finish in the league with 4.3 kills and 4.77 points per set, both easily tops in the conference.

The Tigers won their first five league games, largely thanks to Rudnick’s powerful arm. She notched 26 kills in the season opener against Penn, the eventual league champion, and recorded 32 kills two weeks later in a thrilling 3-2 comeback victory over Harvard.

Kathleen Sharkey, Field Hockey

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Junior striker Kathleen Sharkey was named Ivy League Player of the Year after leading the field hockey team to a perfect conference season and a third consecutive NCAA quarterfinal. Sharkey, who led the Tigers in goals in each of her first two seasons, took her scoring prowess to new heights in 2010. She netted 33 goals, enough to lead the nation and break a nine-year-old Princeton record. Sharkey is only two goals shy of the program’s career record with a full season of eligibility remaining — she currently has 69 and could break the century mark with a strong senior year.

Sharkey scored six goals at Richmond in early September, the best single game in the nation this year and two more than the previous program record. She recorded four other hat tricks, scored the eventual game-winning goal in the first round of the NCAA tournament against Wake Forest, and had a goal and two assists in Princeton’s victory over No. 1 Maryland.