ALFRED, NY – Alfred University's William LaMastus (Maumee, OH/Anthony Wayne) earned the first winter season accolade of 2023-24 for the Saxons as he was named the Men's Swimming & Diving Athlete of the Week on Monday afternoon, in an announcement by Associate Commissioner, Joe Venniro.
 
Against national powerhouse, Rochester Institute of Technology, LaMastus recorded one gold and three silver in the Saxons' season-opener from home. He was one of two Saxons to win an event against the Tigers, taking the first place finish in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 53.29, winning by just over two seconds. He had one individual second place finish as he swam a 2:02.69 in the 200-yard backstroke, less than a second from the first place time of 2:01.83. In relays, LaMastus joined his brother, Wade LaMastus (Maumee, OH/Anthony Wayne), Fernando Lagos (Tegucigalpa, Honduras/Escuela e Instituo Lincoln) and Emmanuel Drappatz (Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel Area) for a second place finish in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:37.52. He had the fastest backstroke leg of the meet in the relay, swimming a 24.67. He ended the meet, teaming up with Drappatz again, along with Paul Tuttle (Irondequoit, NY/Irondequoit) and Alessandro Lagos Canales (Tegucigalpa, Honduras/Escuela e Instituo Lincoln)  in the 200-yard freestyle relay, taking second with a time of 1:29.57. LaMastus was named a Saxon of the Week.
 
LaMastus was joined in the Empire 8 listings by Matthew Osmundson (Draper, UT/Juan Diego Catholic) and Chase Freeland (Hornell, NY/Hornell) as the Men's Soccer Defensive Player of the Week and Co-Offensive Player of the Week and Kiani Barnard-Pratt (Westford, MA/Westford Academy) as the Women's Soccer Defensive Player of the Week. LaMastus and Barnard-Pratt were the Saxons of the Week.