Help us select our high school Athletes of the Week
Welcome to the Bay Area News Group (Mercury News & East Bay Times) boys and 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 Feb. 20-25. Polls close at 5p.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 are not counted.
Winners are announced each Friday. Candidates for future Athlete of the Week polls can be nominated at highschools@ bayareanewsgroup.com. We accept nominations until 11a.m. each Monday.
Here are the nominees:
GIRLS
Mecca Alexander, Cornerstone Christian basketball:
Alexander led Cornerstone Christian to the NCS Division VI title in a 75-40victory over Ferndale. Alexander scored 25 points, had three rebounds and dished out three assists. CC will play Foresthil in the NorCal D-VI first round on Wednesday.
Ryka Aprameyan, Evergreen Valley basketball: The prolific scorer averaged over 30 points-per-game in the regular season, and continued to shine in the playoffs for the CCS D-I champions. Aprameyan scored 34in the semifinal against Carlmont, and 31in the final vs. Los Altos.
Ojiugo Egeonu, AIMS College Prep basketball: The sophomore entered the Oakland Section championship averaging 21.8 points per game, and she scored a team-high 16points against defending D-III state champion Oakland Tech. Egeonu is also a standout in volleyball.
Mason Harsch, Monte Vista wrestling: The junior competed at the CIF State wrestling championships and placed sixth in the 123-pound weight class. Harsch won the 121-pound division in the North Coast Section's championships.
Lauren Kenny, Carondelet soccer: The star striker could not be stopped on Carondelet's road to back-to-back NCS titles. She scored twice in the semifinal win over Monte Vista, and then scored two more goals in Carondelet's 4-0 championship victory over San Ramon Valley.
Charlotte Kohler, St. Francis soccer: The West Catholic Athletic League midfielder of the year dominated on the Lancers' run to a CCS Division Open championship. Kohler had two assists in the quarterfinal against Los Altos, and then scored twice and had an assist in the 3-0final win over Menlo-Atherton.
Rochelle Robinson, Deer Valley softball: The leadoff hitter started her senior year in style with a 2-3game at the plate in a 25-0 season-opening win over Miramonte. Robinson hit a home run, drove in three runs, walked twice, and scored four runs.
Kiely Tabaldo, Menlo-Atherton wrestling: The senior beat Paloma Valley's Karissa Turnwall 3-0at 111pounds in the girls state championship. Tabaldo won the CCS championship 9-0in last week's tournament in Watsonville. Michelle Tang, Mills basketball: The junior sharpshooter nailed six three-pointers in Mills' 66-52victory over Santa Cruz in the CCS D-III championship. She scored 28points en-route to helping Mills win its first section title since 1985.
Jordan Taylor, Oakland Tech basketball: Taylor, a junior, made two three-pointers and scored 10points in Oakland Tech's 92-31Oakland Section championship victory over
AIMS College Prep. In the semifinal win over Castlemont, Taylor scored 17points and had two steals.
Karen Xin, Menlo School basketball: The sophomore point guard scored a total of 29 points, grabbed 11 combined boards and had 11assists in a CCS semifinal win over TKA and a championship victory over Half Moon Bay. The 49-34 win over HMB was Menlo's ninth section championship in school history.
BOYS
Abraham Contreras, Overfelt soccer: Scored the decisive goal in overtime as third-seeded Ovefelt edged fourthseeded Westmont 2-1to capture the Central Coast Section Division II championship. The victory capped a playoff in which Overfelt beat No. 6 seed Leigh 3-2 in the quarterfinals and No. 2seed Branham 2-0in the semifinals. Brayden Harris, Bellarmine College Prep basketball:
Scored 24points to lead the Bells to the CCS Division I championship with a 63-55victory over Los Gatos. The sophomore also led the way with 15 points in the semifinals as Bellarmine defeated Palo Alto 56-40.
Jake King, Clayton Valley Charter basketball: Made the go-ahead 3-pointer from the top of the arc in the final minute of overtime and then finished off Moreau Catholic with a breakaway layup as time expired, leading the Ugly Eagles to an 82-79victory in the North Coast Section Division I final. The senior had 21points against Moreau and 30in the semifinals against Pittsburg.
Parker Lunn, Mountain View soccer: Was spectacular in goal for the Spartans, finishing with three clean sheets as the seventh-seeded team captured the CCS Open Division championship. In the quarterfinals against No. 2seed St. Francis, Lunn made three clutch saves in a penalty-kick shootout. In a 2-0semifinal win over Sacred Heart Prep, he made two saves on breakaways. Then, in the final, he shut out top-seeded Alisal 1-0.
Aadi Malali, Dougherty Valley basketball: The junior had the hot hand in the third quarter of an NCS Open Division semifinal against Granada, scoring 11 of his 13 points in the period as the Wildcats prevailed 64-60. He had three corner 3-pointers in the quarter. Two days later, Malali had a dagger 3-pointer and had 10points as Dougherty Valley beat De La Salle 65-51 to win the title.
RL Miller, Sacred Heart Cathedral basketball: The football standout who will play at Fresno State in the fall showed he's not too bad at basketball, either. He scored 24 points on Friday night as seventh-seeded SHC beat fourth-seeded Serra 64-59to win the CCS Open Division championship.
Clarence Moore, Branham wrestling: The senior captured the state championship at 106pounds, upsetting No. 1-ranked Buchanan freshman Rocklin Zinkin by fall at 4:45 in Bakersfield. Moore was ranked sixth in state.
Ahmaree Muhammad, Oakland Tech basketball: Made five 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 24 points as Oakland Tech survived a nailbiter to beat rival Oakland 5350 for the Oakland Section championship at Fremont High. Ryan Schnell, Menlo School baseball: The junior righthander got his season off to a memorable start, pitching a no-hitter in a 2-0win over host Saratoga. Schnell walked none and struck out one.
Daniel Zepeda, Gilroy wrestling: The sophomore toppled Clovis North junior Gavin Bauder by a technical fall to win the state championship at 132pounds. The score was 20-5 at 5:28. Zepeda was among three champions from Gilroy. Sophomore twins Isaiah Cortez (120pounds) and Elijah Cortez (126) also won titles.