By Stone Freeman, Caleb Bierman and Nicholas Boudreau
Sports Editor and Contributing Sports Reporters
From the editor…
In this week’s edition of the Good Five Cent Cigar we will be naming our most valuable players to each University of Rhode Island fall sports team. The student athletes who were selected were chosen by contributing sports reporters and the sports editor based on their performance on the field, course or pitch this season. After an exciting fall of 2017 the sports section at the Good Five Cent would like to give recognition to those who exemplified sportsmanship, performance and hard work.
Women’s Cross Country MVP: Shelby Aarden
Women’s Cross Country student athlete Shelby Aarden is named the 2017 Cigar’s Most Valuable Player in her sport. Aarden is a junior out of Hopkinton, Massachusetts, and she always led the pack for Rhode Island.
In the first meet at Bryant, Aarden finished ninth which helped the Rams place third overall. The next meet was the Coast-to-Coast Battle Boston, where Aarden was the first to cross the line for Rhode Island, as she finished 61st place.
At the Rothenberg Run at Goddard Park in Warwick, Rhode Island, Aarden finished first for her team as she came in eighth place, which lifted Rhode Island to third overall.
Rhode Island finished 12th out of 14 teams at the Atlantic 10 Women’s Cross Country Championships, but Aarden placed first for the Rams as she finished in 27th overall with a time of 18:46.
Aarden had a successful year competing for Rhode Island Cross Country and she will carry that momentum into her senior year.
Men’s Cross Country MVP: Nick Celico
Nick Celico has been deemed the most valuable runner for the URI men’s cross country team this fall by the Cigar.
Celico, a junior from Westerly, Rhode Island, finished among the top five Rhody runners in five of six races this season, including an impressive fourth overall at the Shawn M. Nassaney Memorial Invitational on Sept. 9. There, the Rams took second place, behind Celico’s 25:28 finish, just thirty-eight seconds short of an outright victory.
The junior also had a similar time at the New England Championship in early October, where he placed 67th, averaging just under five and a half minutes per mile through the eight kilometer race.
Celico continues to be a key piece to the URI cross country and track programs. He will carry his impressive fall season in the winter.
Women’s Volleyball MVP: Marie Gilcrist
After being named to the 2017 Atlantic 10 Volleyball All-Conference Second Team, URI’s Marie Gilcrist is the Good Five Cent Cigar’s 2017 MVP.
Gilcrist finished up her senior season in the top five on the team in almost all offensive categories. She was second in kills and kills per set with 234 total and 2.19 kills per set. Gilcrist also ranked first for Rhody in attack percentage with .298. On top of all that, Gilcrist’s 344.5 total points was the most on the team and was 36.5 points better than the second closer Ram.
There are not many front line players in the Atlantic 10 better than Gilcrist. She blocked a total of 137 shots over the course of the season. Her 1.37 blocks per game was the best on the team.
Not only did Gilcrist provide the Rams with consistent production, she also was one of just three players for the Rams to have completed in all 107 sets on the season.
There is no doubt the URI women’s volleyball team will miss Gilcrist. She came to campus in 2014 and made an immediate impact being named to the All-Rookie team, she departs as one of the best players in the Atlantic 10.