2022-23 Female Athlete of the Year: Juliette Laracuente-Huebner
The Mount Vernon News sports department’s MVN ATHLETE of the WEEK is a weekly feature that spotlights local student-athletes and their schools. Based on their performances, we have asked coaches, ADs and community members to nominate worthy student-athletes. We select an ATHLETE of the WEEK and recognize other outstanding athletic accomplishments.
The 2022-23 high school sports seasons showcased some exceptional performances, and as the school year is over, we take this time to honor the top female student-athlete of the year. Over the past two weeks, we have recognized the 30 females and 27 males who were chosen ATHLETE of the WEEK this past school year. This week we, focus on the top female ATHLETE of the YEAR from among three finalists, and next week we will recognize the male ATHLETE of the YEAR from three finalists.
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.
Narrowing down the 30 women who have earned our top weekly honors, along with others who might not have been named No.1 in a given week but who were listed with honorable mention, is not an easy task. So many student-athletes were considered and deserve the top spot, or at least demonstrated the skill sets, dedication and team spirit to be among the finalists.
Our ground rules are these: The athlete must have been nominated for the weekly honor, and we weigh the number of times and number of sports for which the athlete was nominated and the overall impact and influence the student-athlete had on their team. The number of times nominated may come down to timing – did the athlete have five great weeks (not nominated), but each week someone different had a strong enough week to warrant nomination – or did the coach or community prefer to spread around nominations for various team members instead of nominating the same athlete each week.
Did a 300-yard performance outweigh a last-second, game-winning catch or interception? Did 32 points overshadow a buzzer-beating game-winner or a six-goal soccer performance, or 21 kills and 10 blocks? Did an eight-RBI game take precedence over a no-hitter or a three-podium day on the track?
All of these circumstances are arguable and subjective. For next year, if you feel a student-athlete has been overlooked, please nominate him or her yourself (as a member of the community), or encourage your coaches to send us stats, score sheets and nominations. The end line is: we need to hear from you, as the community has a voice in this.
For ATHLETE of the YEAR, does domination in one sport weigh more than solid performances in multiple sports? Let’s find out.
For this year, there were many deserving student-athletes, but we cut down the list to three female finalists, and have selected one overall winner as the Mount Vernon News FEMALE ATHLETE of the YEAR. There is a definite lean toward the track this year.
The finalists are: Juliette Laracuente-Huebner, Madilyn Elson and Elsa Hoam.
And the Mount Vernon News female ATHLETE of the YEAR is Juliette Laracuente-Huebner.
Juliette Laracuente-Huebner started the season with an AotW top spot for winning a national title at the 33rd annual New Balance Nationals Indoor track meet. Laracuente-Huebner won gold in the girls triple jump championship, setting a new state mark of 42’0.5” on her final jump. She won her second AotW honor for winning four gold medals, setting a meet record and tying her own mark in another event at the MOAC track championships. She dominated the 200-meter dash in meet-record time, won the 100 hurdles, set a meet record in a prelim heat, and won the high jump and long jump championships.
She won four golds at the Division II, Region 6 meet at Lexington, gained triple gold at the Westerville Divisional meet and finished the season with a quadruple gold performance at the OHSAA 115th annual boys, and 48th annual girls state track and field tournament at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, winning the 200-meter dash, 100-meter hurdles, long jump and high jump. Laracuente-Huebner accumulated enough points individually to finish second in the competition as a school team. She set meet records in the 100 hurdles, long jump and high jump. Additionally, Laracuente-Huebner was named MOAC’s Girls Track Athlete of the Year.
Finalist Madilyn Elson of Mount Gilead was a two-sport star who won honors here for track and basketball. Elson also became a rare back-to-back AotW winner. Named the KMAC Girls Basketball Player of the Year, Elson was AotW for leading the Indians to a 61-15 blowout victory over Groveport Madison Christian in the second round of the OHSAA Division IV, Region 15 playoffs. She scored 20 points and added seven rebounds, five assists and six steals.
The next week, she repeated her playoff performance in the final-round playoff loss to Lancaster Fisher Catholic, leading the Indians with 20 points. Even in defeat, she played like a champion. In track, at the KMAC track championships, Elson won the 100-meter, 200 and was part of the winning 4x100 relay team.
Finalist Elsa Hoam of Fredericktown earned gold in cross-country and track. Hoam was a two-time AotW winner, taking the crown for winning both the Newark Catholic Invitational and the Highland Invitational. Hoam was selected KMAC girls Cross Country Runner of the Year and earned First Team honors in track. At the KMAC track finals, Hoam collected three gold medals, winning the 1,600-meter, 3,200 and was part of the Freddies’ winning 4x400 relay team.
Honorable mention goes to Shelby Morris of Centerburg, the KMAC Softball Player of the Year; Cally Carpenter (Fredericktown), a two-time AoTW winner for basketball; Cardington-Lincoln’s Audrey Brininger, KMAC’s Volleyball Player of the Year, and Highland’s Larsen Terrill, who earned Central District D-II Co-Player of the Year recognition in volleyball.
We congratulate all of the finalists and all of the student-athletes who gave it their all during the season. We will print the three finalists and male ATHLETE of the YEAR next week.
