Vote now: Bay Area News Group girls athlete of the week
Editor’s note: We prohibit the use of bots and any other artificial methods of voting. Suspicious activity could lead to the disqualification of candidates and a permanent suspension of the Athlete of the Week poll. No voting by email: Votes by email and after 5 p.m. Wednesday are not counted.
Welcome to the Bay Area News Group (Mercury News & East Bay Times) girls Athlete of the Week poll.
For the entire academic year, we will provide a list of candidates who stood out over the previous week and allow you, the reader, to vote for the winner.
This week, we consider performances from March 10-15.
Polls close at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Vote as many times as you’d like until then without using bots or any other artificial methods of voting.
Votes by email and after 5 p.m. Wednesday are not counted.
Scroll to the bottom for the poll.
Winners are announced each Friday online and in the print edition of the Mercury News and East Bay Times sports sections.
Candidates for future Athlete of the Week polls can be nominated at highschools@bayareanewsgroup.com.
We accept nominations until 11 a.m. each Monday.
We also review stats submitted to MaxPreps by coaches/team statisticians.
On to the nominees:
Jazzy Alcantar, Encinal basketball: Alcantar scored a team-high 23 points to help make Encinal competitive late in a 54-45 loss to Woodland Christian in the NorCal Division V final.
Celeste Alvarez, Carondelet basketball: Alvarez scored 11 points and added 14 rebounds and five blocks in a well-rounded effort to lead Carondelet to a 51-48 win over Sage Hill-Newport Beach in the CIF Division I state championship game.
Kennena Amajioyi, Cornerstone Christian basketball: Amajioyi scored 17 points and added seven rebounds as Cornerstone came up just a bit short in a 58-53 loss to Faith Christian of Yuba City in the NorCal Division VI title game.
Ella Geernaert, Monte Vista lacrosse: Geernaert, a senior, made a crucial save in overtime against San Marin that set the stage for Monte Vista to go down the field and score to win the game. Geeneart’s save percentage for the contest was 58%.
Zoey Lemoge, Half Moon Bay basketball: Lemoge scored a game-high 18 points as Half Moon Bay battled Whitney-Cerritos to a 48-40 defeat in the CIF Division IV championship game.
Ellie McCuskey-Hay, St. Ignatius track and field: McCuskey-Hay won three events for SI in a dual meet against Presentation on Tuesday. She topped the long jump (18 feet, 1 inch), the 100 meters (11.79 seconds) and the 200 (24.45). She also won the 100 at the St. Francis Invitational on Saturday, running an 11.54, which is the No. 1 wind-legal time in California this season. She anchored the Lancers’ 4×400-meter relay to a second-place finish, running a 56.9 split time.
McKenzie Ortega, Pinole Valley softball: Ortega pitched a no-hitter against St. Patrick-St. Vincent, striking out 13, tossing an immaculate inning in the second and going 2 for 4 at the plate with two singles and two walks.
Ze’Ni Patterson, Archbishop Mitty basketball: Patterson was an individual standout for the Monarchs in the CIF Open title game, scoring a team-high 17 points as Mitty fell 75-59 to Etiwanda.
Janiya Sawyer, Salesian basketball: Sawyer scored 19 points and added six rebounds, three assists and three deflections to lead Salesian in a 77-63 loss to Caruthers in the NorCal Division II championship game.
Julia Simón, Presentation softball: Simón drove in four runs on two hits, including a home run to center field, as Presentation beat Half Moon Bay 12-9 at its first home game of the year.