The Mount Vernon News sports department’s 13th ATHLETE OF THE WEEK nominations continue the established procedure of spotlighting student-athletes’ skills and performances on the fields and courts of action.
Based on performances, we ask ADs, coaches and the community to nominate one boy and one girl from their athletic programs to compete against other schools’ nominations. We ask for a recap of their worthy performances and a picture. Please send your nominations to me, Mike Blake, MVN Sports Editor, at mike.blake@mountvernonnews.com. Make sure YOUR school is represented.
This week, the sports calendar picked up, and for local girls we have two heroic basketball performers and a swimmer. For the boys, we have a basketball buzzer-beater, a wrestler who came from behind to win three matches and a swimmer.
FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Gabby Daniels
Fredericktown senior power forward Gabby Daniels put together three double-doubles in a row, including two last week. In the Freddies’ 53-34 victory at Utica, Daniels scored 13 points and had 14 rebounds. She took control in the second half and came out firing in the third with six points, and she added two more in the fourth,
Two days later, Fredericktown hosted Danville and won, 52-42. Daniels scored 19 points and pulled down 10 boards. Then, in the third quarter, it was the Gabby Daniels show as she hit five deuces to put Fredericktown on top for good.
Freddies head coach Tim Maceyko said, “She is a great student, team captain, will be a four-year letter winner and was first team All-District last season.”
Jaylyn Workman
In a game in which she stole the headlines and the game from an opponent who was reaching a milestone, Danville junior power forward Jaylyn Workman stepped up against Northmor. On a night in which Northmor senior shooting guard Lexi Wenger surpassed the 1000-point mark in her high school career and scored 20 points in the game, Workman worked magic and finished with 21 points in a 67-52 victory. Workman controlled the first quarter, which got her team the lead for good, with an 11-point display. And she hit six in the fourth quarter to keep the game on ice.
For the game, Workman put up 21 points on 10-for-15 from the field, pulled down six rebounds, had five steals and handed off three assists. Danville head coach Matt Proper said, “Jaylyn had a great game on both ends of the floor. She put a lot of effort into her game during this past offseason, and it has definitely shown. She is a great teammate and leader in the classroom and is off to a great start for her junior season.”
Hiba Ezzarovali
Turning to the pool, second-year swimmer Hiba Ezzarovali is a student-athlete from East Knox practicing with the MVHS swim team. Sophomore Ezzarovali represented East Knox at the recent Selinde Roosenberg Invitational swim meet. Ezzarovali swam in the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 33.66, dropping 5 seconds from her seed time, and swam the 100-meter freestyle with a time of 1:14.14, dropping 4 seconds from her seed time. Jackets assistant swim coach Staci Brenneman said, “Ezzarovali is a delight to have on the swim team and brings a positive attitude to weightlifting and swim practice."
MALE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Grant Bentley
On a night in which an opponent had a lights-out game, Northmor's Grant Bentley outshined him, and in the next game, he hit a game-winner at the buzzer to boot. On Dec. 3, Danville and Northmor played a 58-57 thriller, won by Northmor. Bentley’s counterpart for Danville was Walker Weckesser, who scored 26 points, but Bentley went three further with a 29-point game. Northmor battled all game and came from behind to win the game. It was Bentley who kept his team in it in the first half with 15 points. The third quarter was a Bentley-Weckesser shootout, with Bentley getting eight to Weckesser’s seven, and Bentley hit for six more in the decisive fourth.
In his next game, an overtime win over Fredericktown, 56-54, it was Bentley who delivered in the clutch with a game-winning buzzer-beater in overtime from three-point territory.
Landon Rush
In the pool for Mount Vernon, sophomore Landon Rush took 12 seconds off his best previous time in the 200-meter freestyle at the Roosenberg Invitational. He also anchored the boys 200 medley relay team to a ninth-place finish among 18 teams.
“I had fun,” he said after his event. His assistant coach, Staci Brennemen, complimented Rush on his hard work in and out of the pool and his infectious enthusiasm.
Jake Taylor
Down to the mats, there was a sterling performance by a wrestler in his first major tournament. Mount Vernon freshman Jake Taylor trailed in his first three bouts in Saturday’s John Brown Memorial Tournament but managed to win all three. He then won a tight battle in the final to claim first place in his weight class. “It’s such an honor to win this,” Taylor said after his bout. “Wrestling for Mount Vernon is an honor. I’m so proud to be wrestling for this team.”
Taylor (150 pounds), who is unbeaten so far this season, was one of two Mount Vernon Yellow Jacket wrestlers to claim first place at the Energy Fieldhouse event. Taylor trailed in his first bout, 8-1, to Pickerington’s Lee Anderson but managed to score a pinfall in the third round. He trailed again, 7-3, to Pleasant’s Sam Mentzer but again won via pinfall. Against Elgin’s Kaiden Luikart, Taylor rallied from a 6-2 deficit to pull off a 10-8 victory.
In the final, Taylor and Jonathan Alder’s Owen Crabtree – a district placer last season – wrestled scorelessly for two periods. He scored a point when Crabtree allowed him up at the start of the third period, figuring a takedown would win it. The strategy backfired, however, when Taylor scored a takedown of his own with 1:10 remaining. “I was trying to stay centered, because he was going to have to shoot (attack) to win,” Taylor said. “My leg defense has been pretty good, so I was able to hold him off and get my two points and get the win.”
Congratulations to Jaylyn Workman and Grant Bentley for shining brighter than bright-shining opponents to earn honors as this week’s MOUNT VERNON NEWS ATHLETE of the WEEK. And congratulations to all of the nominees … you all deserve top honors and recognition for your leadership, skills and student-athlete performance
