athletes of the week

A look at the top athletes in the metro area from recent high school sporting events.

Nurjei Weems of DeLaSalle leads the Star Tribune's Metro Athletes of the Week

Also recognized: Peyton Blandin (Farmingon basketball), Lamar Grayson (Richfield basketball) and Gabe Myren (Spring Lake Park basketball).

Waconia's Audrey Swanson leads Metro Athletes of the Week for March 2-7

Also recognized: Drake Dobbs (Eden Prairie basketball), Remington Keopple (Hill-Murray hockey), Kerwin Walton (Hopkins basketball), Sydney Stensgard (Simley basketball), Colin Hagstrom (Mahtomedi hockey) and Evan Kim (Mounds View basketball).

Wrestler Reid Ballantyne of Stillwater leads Metro Athletes of the Week for Feb. 24-29

Also recognized: Derrick Cardinal (Forest Lake wrestling), Soren Dunn (Eden Prairie swimming), P.J. Hayes (Waconia basketball), Lauren Jensen (Lakeville North basketball), Anna Olson (Monticello basketball), and Annika Stewart (Wayzata basketball)

Guard John Henry of Eden Prairie leads Metro Athletes of the Week for Feb. 17-22

Also recognized: Bella Frattalone (Mahtomedi gymnastics), Gabby Krause (Andover hockey), Hunter Lyden (Stillwater wrestling), James Ohm (Armstrong wrestling), Ryan Wallin (Blaine hockey) and Hayden Zheng (St. Louis Park swimming).

Skier Luke Conway of Minneapolis Washburn leads Metro Athletes of the Week for Feb. 10-15

Also recognized: Dawson Garcia (Prior Lake basketball), Kirby Gilbertson (Maple Grove adapted hockey), Molly Moening (St. Paul Highland Park Nordic skiing), Sophia Palmquist (Eagan Alpine skiing), Luke Pepin (Rockford basketball), and Grace Treanor (Wayzata gymnastics).

Nordic skier Victor Sparks of Minneapolis Southwest leads Metro Athletes of the Week for Feb. 3-8

Also recognized: Maggie Czinano (Watertown-Mayer basketball), Payton Mielke (Elk River basketball), Joe Miller (Blake hockey), Jenna Ruiz (Eagan hockey), Jayden Seifert (Farmington hockey) and Frankie Vascellaro (Holy Angels basketball).

Davon Townley of Minneapolis North leads Metro Athletes of the Week for Jan. 27-Feb. 1

Also recognized: Sedona Blair (Holy Family hockey), Hailey Hohenecker (Providence Academy basketball), Gunnar Paulson (Delano hockey), Joey Thompson (Totino-Grace wrestling), Marco Troje (East Ridge hockey) and Drew White (St. Paul Washington Tech basketball)

Wayzata goaltender Garret Bonello leads Metro Athletes of the Week for Jan. 20-25

Also recognized: Evan Bock (Chaska/Chanhassen swimming), Hailey Hansen (Blaine hockey), Mia Huberty (Big Lake basketball), Cole Johnson (St. Paul Highland Park Nordic skiing), Miah Monahan (Glencoe-Silver Lake basketball) and Annika Lee (Park Center gymnastics).

Coon Rapids heavyweight Gavin Layton leads Metro Athletes of the Week for Jan. 13-18

Also recognized: Lucie Bond (St. Paul United hockey), Will McBee (Watertown-Mayer basketball), Celia Midtbo (Minneapolis hockey), Brieja Parent (Forest Lake hockey), Juel Skrien (St. Croix Lutheran basketball), and Ivane Tensaie (Concordia Academy basketball).

Edina goalie Uma Corniea leads Metro Athletes of the Week for Jan. 6-11

Also recognized: Adam Berghult (Edina Alpine skiing), Adam Flammang (St. Michael-Albertville hockey), Ryan Samuelson (Jordan basketball), Ally Qualley (Breck hockey), Cordelia Sherwood (Orono Alpine skiing), and Matthew Willert (Buffalo basketball).

Shakopee wrestler Ben Lunn leads metro Athletes of the Week for Dec. 30-Jan. 4

Also recognized: Nadia Abid (Maple Grove gymnastics), Mallory Brake (Hastings basketball), Adelaide Burton (Blake hockey), Adrik Kraftson (Stillwater Nordic skiing), Jordan Parent (Forest Lake Nordic skiing) and Simeon Sharp (St. Paul Harding basketball).

Park Center's Adalia McKenzie leads metro Athletes of the Week for Dec. 16-21

Also recognized: Calvin Boone (St. Paul Highland Park Nordic skiing), Eli Miller (Lakeville South hockey), Natalie Mazurek (Eden Prairie basketball), Blake Remme (Spring Lake Park basketball), Abbie Thompson (Mounds View hockey) and Yim-Leej Yang (St. Paul Johnson wrestling).

Becca Green of Annandale leads Athletes of the Week for Dec. 9-14

Also recognized: Henry Abraham (Cambridge-Isanti basketball), Paxton Creese (Shakopee wrestling), Matthew Gleason (Cretin-Derham Hall hockey), Blake Lueck (Spring Lake Park hockey), Adalia McKenzie (Park Center basketball) and Abby Schulte (Maple Grove basketball).

Eastview's Steve Crowl leads Athletes of the Week for Dec. 2-7

Also recognized: Ben Carlson (East Ridge basketball), Noah Griswold (Holy Angels hockey), Mackenzie Kramer (St. Michael-Albertville basketball), Jamie Nelson (Andover hockey), Jimmy Snuggerud (Chaska hockey) and Libby Tuttle (Stillwater Nordic skiing).

Chaska's Stevo Klotz leads Athletes of the Week for Nov. 25-30

Also recognized: Dain Dainja (Park Center basketball), Ali Granovsky (Roseville hockey), Jade Hill (Minneapolis South basketball), Jenna Johnson (Wayzata basketball), Charlie Strobel (Hill-Murray hockey), and Christian Vasser (Wayzata football).

Dakota United soccer ace Samuel Gerten leads prep athletes of the week

All it took was a few words from Hawks coach Lorrie Buecksler to set Gerten, a sophomore forward, on a path to dominance.

Missouri-bound Sierra Smith of Armstrong leads Athletes of the Week for Nov. 11-16

Also recognized: Obi Evuleocha (Champlin Park football), Grace Hanson (Hutchinson swimming), Lacey Martin (Minnetonka hockey), Olivia Mobley (Breck hockey), Nic Snuggerud (Chaska football), and Christian Vasser (Wayzata football).

Carter Otto's memorable performance for Elk River leads Athletes of the Week for Nov. 4-9

Also recognized: Jojo Jorgenson (Minnetonka), Paige Loidholt (Armstrong/Cooper), Kate Long (Wayzata), Jaice Miller (Champlin Park), Tyler Schiller (Hutchinson), and Johnny Shabaz (Lakeville South).

Holy Angels' Noah Hermanson leads Metro Athletes of the Week for Oct. 28-Nov. 2

Also recognized: Kaleb Blaha (Fridley), Emma Fournier (Maple Grove), Kirby Gilbertson (Park Center), Oscar Smythe (Edina), Analee Weaver (Stillwater) and Brooke Weichbrodt (Concordia Academy).

Minneapolis Southwest running back TK Marshall leads Athletes of the Week for Oct. 7-12

Also recognized: Meriel Orham (St. Michael-Albertville), Cassie Sieling (Bloomington Jefferson), Nick Snauffer (Red Wing), Megan Reilly (Northfield), Kali Wolf (Waconia) and Melinda Zhang (Wayzata).

Eastview tennis champ Karin Young leads Metro Athletes of the Week for Oct. 21-26

Also recognized: Aidan Bouman (Buffalo), Anthony Gipson (Maple Grove), Khyah Harper (Centennial), Riaz Kelly (St. Paul Central), Arlina Shen (Blake) and Analee Weaver (Stillwater).

Nick Hand's three interceptions for Totino-Grace leads metro Athletes of the Week for Oct. 14-19

Also recognized: Zoe Adkins (Maple Grove), Ali Hinze (Osseo), Abby Kapeller (Minnetonka), Terrance Kamara (Minneapolis North), Bilal Kone (Apple Valley), and Delaney Schurhamer (Woodbury).

Eden Prairie runner Liesl Paulsen's steely resolve leads Athletes of the Week for Sept. 30-Oct. 5

Also recognized: David Bigaouette (Shakopee), Emma Heimerl (Simley), Sarah Luong (Benilde-St. Margaret's, T.K. Marshall (St. Paul Highland Park), Jimmy McGuire (Minneapolis Southwest) and Joey Moberg (St. Paul Johnson)

Four-TD game helps Champlin Park's Shawn Shipman lead Athletes of the Week for Sept. 23-28

Also recognized: Sophia Andersen (New Prague), Ben Dahl (Rogers), Deandre Hill (Big Lake), Sadie Sroga (Woodbury), Paige Thibault (Watertown-Mayer) and Megan Wetter (Monticello).

Cretin-Derham Hall's Paige Peltier tops Athletes of the Week for Sept. 16-21

Also recognized: Claudia Chang (Edina), Andy Christopherson (St. Francis), Josh Fobbe (Becker), Mickies Kiros (St. Paul Central), Anna Koepke (Coon Rapids) and Steevenson Lamarre (Totino-Grace).

Eagan volleyball's Christine Jurgens leads Athletes of the Week for Sept. 9-14

Also recognized: Porter Ball (Holy Angels), Laura Bredensteiner (Maple Grove), Russell Corrigan (Hutchinson), Jordan Doe (Coon Rapids), Max Otto (Delano) and Oliver Paleen (St. Paul Highland Park).

Elk River's Joe Nordstrom tops Athletes of the Week for Sept. 2-7

Also recognized: Nicole Copeland (Edina), Kira Falkert (Concordia Academy), Sami Hilley (Champlin Park), Jacob Keller (Monticello), Jonathan Kieren (St. Anthony) and Boston Merila (St. Michael-Albertville).

Farmington football's Alex Berreth leads off Athletes of the Week for Aug. 26-31

Also recognized: Abdulaziz Ahmed (St. Paul Como Park), Halle Bemmels (Le Sueur-Henderson), Sophia Boman (Edina), Miguel Ibarra Bucio (Rockford), Simeon Dossen (Brooklyn Center) and Maddy Hornyak (Lakeville North)

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