The fall sports season is starting to hit its backstretch, which means the athletes are getting into postseason shape and are at the top of their games. Which makes it that much tougher to decide who you think deserves the Rockford Register Star’s high school Athlete of the Week for the week of Oct. 7-12.
Go to rrstar.com or to the poll below to vote. Voting ends at noon on Friday.
Who were the stars in football:Week 7 top performers: Jahmani Muhammad, Grant Gensler, Zy’Air Lee all rush for 250 yards
You can nominate someone for the Athlete of the Week poll by sending an email to jtaft@rrstar.com before 10 a.m. on Mondays.
The nominees for this week are:
Daniel Ballard, Lutheran football
Ballard, the Crusaders’ quarterback, rushed for 112 yards on just six carries with a touchdown on Friday, and he threw for 127 yards and a TD to help spark Lutheran’s 21-0 win over North Boone.
Addison Bausman, Byron swim and dive
Bausman placed seventh in the prestigious Hinsdale Central Dive Invitational on Saturday, posting a score of 397.35. She has already set the school and pool record in diving for Byron and qualified for state the past two seasons.
Madelyn Bennett, Lutheran golf
Bennett shot an 85 to lead the Lutheran girls golf team to a third-place finish at Saturday’s sectionals at Prairie View Golf Course in Byron. Bennett’s performance helped qualify Lutheran for next week’s state tournament.
Lacey Foss and Harper Powell, Hononegah tennis
Foss and Powell won 6-4, 7-5 in the No. 1 doubles final to help Hononegah win four of the five events and capture its second NIC-10 team title in three years.
Jake Guse, Lutheran golf
Guse shot 70 at Mauh-Nah-Tee-See to win the Class 1A sectional title by three strokes. That was his third sectional title in a row.
Cooper Hoffman, Durand/Pecatonica football
Hoffman had another impressive game with both his legs and his arm during Du/Pec’s 60-36 win over Fulton this past weekend. Hoffman had a 90-yard touchdown pass and a 16-yarder, both to Jaxon Diedrich, while throwing for 159 yards on 7 of 10 completions. He also had a 74-yard TD run while rushing for 126 yards on seven carries.
Brayden Lane, Hononegah football
Lane did a little of everything and made two of the biggest plays of the game in Hononegah’s 17-7 win over Boylan. He ran three times for 53 yards, including the clinching touchdown. He also caught three passes for 36 yards and made the biggest tackle of the game, preventing Boylan from returning a kickoff for a touchdown.
Jahmani Muhuammad, Harlem football
Muhammad rushed for 293 yards to lift Harlem to a 33-14 victory over East.
Margaret O’Brien, Guilford volleyball
This 6-foot-1 junior outside hitter had 19 kills out of the team’s 40 during a Guilford victory over Belvidere North last Tuesday. O’Brien, who was honorable-mention All-NIC-10 last year, also had a solid game serving.
Owen Recoy, Harlem cross country
Recoy ran a 16:40.30 on Saturday at the 5,000-meter Sterling Invitational, which was good enough for sixth place. Locals’ Landon Bachta (third) from Guilford and Ryan Pieper (fifth) from Stockton finished ahead of Recoy, but Recoy led a charge of Harlem runners that helped lock down the team title in the 11-team meet.
Avery Trapp, Auburn tennis
Trapp won 6-0, 6-3 in the finals to win her second consecutive NIC-10 title at No. 1 singles, extending Auburn’s string to eighth titles in a row at No. 1 singles.
Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @JayTaft. Sign up for the Rockford High School Sports Newsletterhere at rrstar.com. Jay has covered a variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears and Blackhawks to local youth sports, since the turn of the century at the Register Star.
