The Mount Vernon News sports department’s ATHLETE OF THE WEEK departs from the established procedure of spotlighting student-athletes’ skills and performances on the fields and courts of action. This week, we recap the 40 female ATHLETES of the WEEK honored in 2021-2022. Next week, the male ATHLETES of the WEEK will be reviewed, and the following week, this feature will showcase the ATHLETES of the YEAR.
Based on performances, we asked ADs, coaches and the community to nominate one boy and one girl from their athletic programs to compete against other schools’ nominations. These athletes made our lists and if you feel that an athlete has not been duly honored, please be proactive next school year and either nominate the athlete yourself (as a community member) or encourage your coaches to nominate a team member. Please send us your nominations, why they are deserving, and a picture of them. Let’s give these student-athletes the recognition they deserve.
Here are the 40 girls who earned ATHLETE of the WEEK nominations.
Volleyball
We started the school year with Bella Ellis, senior captain of the Utica volleyball team. In two games, she was a court leader with 16 kills, 13 digs and 15 assists.
Lindsey Boeshart, senior Fredericktown volleyball player, surpassed 1,000 kills for her career. In the Sept. 14 Fredericktown win over Centerburg, she had 19 kills, three aces, two blocks and 16 digs.
Mount Vernon senior volleyball player Maddi Sinsel led the way in the Yellow Jackets’ 3-0 sweep over Ashland with seven kills, three aces, six digs and 11 assists.
Mount Vernon sophomore Jurnie Gleason finished with five kills on 10 attempts and six blocks in the Yellow Jackets’ 3-0 sweep over West Homes.
Fredericktown senior Audrey Bouton led the Freddies’ 3-0 sweep over Mount Vernon with 10 kills in 13 tries, seven serve points and four aces.
Centerburg Junior Gwyn Sands played in 15 sets in one week and totaled 41 kills, 20 blocks and six aces.
Also for Centerburg, sophomore Stella Weisbrod played in 15 sets, had 52 kills and came up with 48 digs.
The Highland Fighting Scots advanced to the second round of the playoffs behind senior Kendall Stover’s total of 32 kills, six aces and 18 digs.
Audrey Brininger led Cardington-Lincoln to a sweep over Fairbanks and Johnstown Northridge with a total of 37 kills, 25 digs, four blocks and two aces.
Soccer
Mount Vernon senior soccer player McKenna Brokaw led the Yellow Jackets to a 6-3 victory over West Holmes with four goals and an assist.
Cross country
The Fredericktown girls’ cross country team junior Elsa Hoam was fourth of 193 runners at the Seneca East Stars, Stripes and Lights meet, in 19:11. Hoam also finished 10th of 102 runners in a tightly bunched finish at the Galion Cross Country Festival.
Mount Vernon junior cross country runner Sophie Zoldak won the Ohio Cardinal Conference Cross Country Championships race by 8.44 seconds with a time of 18:25.56. The OCC awards panel named Zoldak Girl Runner of the Year.
Golf
Centerburg senior golfer Amaiah Gammell tied for second with a 91 at the KMAC tournament and shot 76 to tie for fourth at the Lady Colt Classic.
Centerburg freshman Avery Glenn was a co-medalist by shooting 85 at the North Union Invitational, medaled at the KMAC with an 83 and was fifth at the Colt Lady Classic with a 78.
Our first female two-time nominee was Avery Glenn. She scored an 88 at the Sectionals at Mill Creek to advance as the third-lowest individual score for Districts as a freshman, and was co-medalist at Centerburg’s match with Northmor, shooting a 46.
Basketball
In the season opener for the Cardington-Lincoln girls basketball team against the Ridgedale Rockets, senior Beth Hardwick drilled three 3-point shots in the second quarter and finished with 19 points, seven rebounds, five steals and an assist.
In Mount Vernon’s 52-39 victory over Centerburg, senior McKenna Brokaw scored 21 points to lead the Jackets. She hit five deuces in the third quarter.
Fredericktown senior power forward Gabby Daniels put together three double-doubles in a row. In the Freddies’ 53-34 victory at Utica, Daniels scored 13 points with 14 rebounds. Two days later, Fredericktown beat Danville 52-42. Daniels scored 19 points with 10 boards.
Danville junior power forward Jaylyn Workman scored 21 points (11 in the first), had five steals and handed off three assists in a 67-52 victory over Northmor.
Fredericktown’s Gabby Daniels was our first back-to-back nominee, with three big games: 21 points, five rebounds and five steals vs. Northmor; 20 points, eight rebounds and six steals vs. Elgin; and 19 points vs. Northmor.
Danville trailed by five points entering the fourth quarter of a game against Mount Gilead. Then Ella Proper went to work and hit for 11 points in the fourth to finish with 22 points, three steals, seven rebounds and two assists.
Nevaeh Williams put up a double-double to help fuel Mount Vernon’s 50-38 OCC win. Williams’ stat line for the game included 11 points, 14 rebounds, three blocks and four steals.
Danville senior shooting guard Brooklynn Hess led Danville’s 68-54 victory over the Bulldogs. Hess scored a game-high 22 points with four fourth-quarter blocks, eight assists, seven rebounds and zero turnovers.
Cardington-Lincoln senior Dana Bertke inspired the Lady Pirates to a 73-48 win over East Knox. Bertke scored in every quarter and finished with 10 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists, one steal, one block and one deflection.
Fredericktown’s Gabby Daniels became the first female athlete to gain three nominations with a career-high 29-point performance in a 53-27 win over Ontario.
COVID-19 and flu hit the Cardington-Lincoln girls basketball team, and senior Mikayla Linkous rallied her short-handed team with 11 points in the third quarter, finishing with 19 points, four rebounds, four steals and an assist.
Fredericktown freshman shooting guard-point guard Cally Carpenter sank nine of 10 free throw attempts in overtime to secure a 60-46 OT win over Centerburg. Carpenter scored a team-high 23 points.
Audrey Bouton scored six of the Freddies’ first eight points vs. Tree of Life and registered her fourth double-double of the season.
Danville’s Ella Proper hit for 11 in the fourth to assure the victory over Mt. Gilead. In the next game, Proper helped end KMAC-champion Cardington-Lincoln’s 68-game conference winning streak with 17 fourth-quarter points for a five-point win.
Danville’s Brooklynn Hess pumped in 10 points in the first quarter and 20 points in the first half before Danville coach Matt Proper emptied his bench.
Camie Newbold helped the Danville Blue Devils advance to the regional semifinals with a 41-39 win over Fisher Catholic. Newbold had 10 rebounds and two steals and helped hold FC’s two post players (including their leading scorer) to 12 total points.
Swimming
Sophomore Hiba Ezzarovali represented East Knox at the Selinde Roosenberg Invitational swim meet and swam in the 50-meter freestyle in 33.66, dropping 5 seconds from her seed time. She dropped 4 seconds off her seed time in the 100-meter freestyle.
Wrestling
Emma Rinehart picked up two nominations. She was a ground-breaker as the first Mount Vernon wrestler to advance to the girls wrestling state tournament. This year, she won a 115-lb. championship. Down 4-0 late, Emma scored seven points unanswered to defeat Gwen Matt from Greenview (ranked No. 8 in the state) 7-4 in double overtime to be crowned the 115-lb champion.
Softball
Danville’s Keaura Shilling started the 2022 season hot, going 5-for-5 in the season opener for the Blue Devils in their 17-1 win against Delaware Christian. She followed up going 2-for-3 while stealing two bases.
Northmor junior Taylor Cantrell was perfect, going 4-for-4 with four RBIs to lead Northmor to a 14-4 victory vs. Bucyrus.
Mount Vernon High School’s softball team went to Florida, going 5-0 during spring break. Emma Calkins was an offensive machine, bashing out 10 hits, scoring eight runs and belting two homers with six RBIs.
In the Danville Lady Bulldogs' 12-3 victory over Lucas, Grace Gronberg pitched 7 innings, allowed two earned runs. She didn’t walk a batter and tied a school record with 16 strikeouts. She also went 2-for-3 with a double, a sacrifice fly and two RBIs at the plate.
Highland’s Stevie Asher set a school record in a stellar pitching performance and followed it up with another gem. Highland’s softball team crushed Mount Pleasant 13-0, and Asher threw a no-hitter, striking out a school-record 17 batters. She followed it up going 2-for-2 in a 12-2 win vs. Pleasant, striking out eight in 4 innings for the win.
Ari Simpson led Cardington-Lincoln’s 23-2 of Northmor with eight RBIs on three hits, including a grand slam. Simpson also pitched 5 innings and struck out 11.
Centerburg senior center fielder Chloe Goulter bombed two home runs, went 3-for-3, drove in five runs, scored four and stole two bases in the Lady Trojans’ 12-2 slamming of East Knox.
Mount Vernon junior outfielder Kiannah Harris led the Lady Jackets’ 17-5 assault over the Lady Rams with two home runs (blasting four-baggers in back-to-back innings), going 3-for-4 at the plate with four RBIs and three runs scored.
In East Knox’s 17-1 win over Northmor, Natalie Smith belted two home runs, including a grand slam, drove in seven runs and finished up with two shutout innings in the circle.
Highland’s Stevie Asher returns, this time with a no-hitter against Big Walnut. She got two hits and drove in the game’s first run. In addition, against Galion, she blasted three home runs and drove in six runs.
Lady Jacket Emilee Burke pitched a perfect game, retiring all 15 Mansfield batters she faced, striking out eight of them.
In the OHSAA Division 3 regional final vs. Van Buren, Cardington-Lincoln’s Ari Simpson hit a game-changing grand slam in the third on the way to a 14-4 final. She finished with five RBIs on the night and pitched 5 innings in relief, striking out four with no walks.
Track
Juliette Laracuente led a Highland track team in the OHSAA Track And Field Championships, reaching the podium in three events. Laracuente won the long jump, finished second in the 100-meter hurdles and took third in the high jump.
Congratulations on great performances by our ATHLETES of the WEEK and congratulations to all local athletes for solid efforts all year long.
Next week … the Male Athletes of the Week.
