ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

New Braunfels junior Shannon Best was the lead defender in two shutouts last week — a 1-0 win over Boerne Champion and a 4-0 victory over Pieper.

Those performances earned her the Express-News girls soccer player of the week Monday. The Cougars faithful took it from there, casting almost 150 votes for Best to earn her the Express-News Athlete of the Week award.

Finishing second in the voting with 129 votes was Judson freshman Mia Perez, the girls softball player of the week. Perez went 11 for 15 (.733) with two home runs, two doubles, nine RBIs and nine runs scored in four games at the East

Central/Judson tournament. She also went 3-0-1 in the circle with 15 strikeouts in 17 innings.

Other nominees were East Central senior Michael Pinones, the boys track athlete of the week; Randolph sophomore Taylor Nunez, the girls track athlete of the week; Davenport junior Brayden Mulkey, the boys basketball player of the week, and Southwest senior Edson Gonzalez, the boys soccer player of the week.

The Texas-bound Pinones went 63 feet, 1 inch to win the shot put at the East Central Invitational. He won the event by 16 feet. The mark is the No. 1 distance in the United States this season.

Pinones also won the discus with a mark of 166-8, which is No. 8 in Texas.

Nunez won the long jump at Judson’s Ron Faught Relays with a school-record mark of 20-3, which is No. 2 in the United

States and Texas this season. Last year, Nunez reached 20-0. Nunez also clocked 11.94 seconds to win the 100 dash.

Gonzalez had three goals and three assists in a 10-2 win over McCollum. He had two goals in a 7-0 win over Southside.

Mulkey went 11 for 17 with two home runs, one triple, 11 RBIs and six runs scored at the San Antonio/Comal Classic. Mulkey hit for the cycle and pitched five innings with five strikeouts in a 16-2 victory over Taft.

Best