NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Kate Lynch (Rumford, R.I.) of the women’s basketball team and Dan Vitagliano (New Haven, Conn.) of the men’s swimming and diving team have been named as Southern Connecticut State University Athletes of the Month for December.
Lynch helped the Owls maintain a top-10 national ranking during the month by averaging 23.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per contest. As a team, SCSU posted a 6-1 mark in December, including a non-conference win over No. 11 nationally ranked Clayton State on Dec. 16.
She was named Northeast-10 Player of the Week once during the month, and was also tabbed for the league’s weekly honor roll on two other occasions.
For the season, Lynch leads the Northeast-10 and is third in the NCAA in scoring (23.1 points/game). She also ranks among the top 13 in the Northeast-10 in six other major categories – three-point field goal percentage (second), blocks (fourth), free throw percentage (sixth), steals (seventh), rebounds/game and field goal percentage (13th).
The Owls are currently 10-4 and ranked No. 17 in the nation. They host two games this week – against LeMoyne on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and American International on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
Vitagliano enjoyed a stellar month of December in the pool. He started the month by taking home Northeast-10 Most Outstanding Swimmer honors at the conference championships.
Vitagliano set a Northeast-10 record in the 100-yard butterfly and also captured an individual championship in the 200-yard freestyle. In addition, he was a part of SCSU’s NE-10 record setting 800-yard freestyle relay team.
For his efforts at the Northeast-10 Championships, Vitagliano was named Northeast-10 and ECAC Swimmer of the Week.
The following weekend, he won three events against Yale and Fairfield and was named to the Northeast-10 weekly honor roll.
The men’s swimming and diving team is back in action on Jan. 15 for a road meet at Connecticut College.
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