High school basketball season has officially come and gone in Marion County as the area’s surviving basketball teams were eliminated from the FHSAA playoffs over the weekend.
This leaves wrestling as the final sport from the winter season, while the spring sports season has officially commenced with local baseball, lacrosse and softball teams all logging games last week.
As such, this week’s Marion County Athlete of the Week poll has plenty of variety.
Trinity Catholic girls basketball’s Alessa Washington won last week’s vote with a convincing 7,410 votes — good for more than 70% of the vote.
Who will follow in her footsteps? It’s time to find out.
Below you’ll find 18 Ocala-area athletes who notched standout performances during the week of Feb. 16-21. Readers will have an opportunity to vote for who they believe is deserving of this week’s Athlete of the Week honor until Friday at noon. Voters are encouraged to vote early and often as there is no limit to the number of times you can vote.
Athlete of the Week nominees are compiled by what’s available on MaxPreps and by submission, so coaches, athletic directors and statisticians are encouraged to send nominees and their stats to ocalasports@usatodayco.com for consideration.
Ocala-area Athlete of the Week nominees for Feb. 16-21
Larry Quartararo, junior, Belleview baseball – 6.1 IP, 13 Ks in win over St. John Lutheran
Gilbehert Mendoza, senior, Belleview baseball – 3-for-4, 2 doubles, 4 RBI in loss to Gainesville
Randi O’Cull, senior, Belleview softball – 4-for-4, 5 RBI in win over Umatilla
Ya’Mari Reynolds, senior, Belleview softball – 3 IP, 7 Ks in win over Umatilla; 7 IP, 11K s in win over Mount Dora
Callie Pfriender, sophomore, Belleview softball – 5 IP, 8 Ks in win over Citrus
Ariel Walker, senior, Belleview wrestling – Placed third in regionals to become program’s first girl to qualify for states, Belleview’s first state qualifier since 2022
Ryan Cushenberry, junior, Forest baseball – 2-for-3, triple, RBI in loss to Vanguard
Carson Perrin, junior, Forest boys lacrosse – 3 goals, 1 assist, 6 ground balls in win over Cypress Creek
Sutton Crysler, junior, Forest boys lacrosse – 3 goals in win over Cypress Creek
Cullen Briggs, senior, Forest boys lacrosse – 4 ground balls, 4 caused turnovers in win over Cypress Creek
Phillip Brown, senior, Forest boys lacrosse – 18 saves, 1 ground ball in win over Cypress Creek
Tucker Jones, senior, North Marion baseball – 1-for-3, home run in win over Buchholz
Brandon Keen, sophomore, North Marion baseball – 1-for-1, 2 RBI, 3 IP, 0 ER, 2Ks in win over Buchholz
Noah Laconte, sophomore, St. John Lutheran baseball – 2-for-3, 3 RBI in win over Bronson
Caylee Barbe, junior, Trinity Catholic softball – 3-for-3, 4 RBI, 2 home runs, 7 IP, 0 ER, 15 Ks in win over Baldwin; 7 IP, 0 ER, 14 Ks in win over Creekside
Jordan Koehn, junior, Trinity Catholic softball – 3-for-4, 3 RBI, triple in win over Creekside
Hailey Wilson, junior, Trinity Catholic softball – 3 IP, 0 ER, 8 Ks in win over Eastside
Spencer Payner, junior, Vanguard baseball – 3-for-5, triple, home run, RBI in win over Gainesville; 5 IP, 1 ER, 14 Ks in win over Forest
This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Marion County Athlete of the Week nominees, voting for Feb. 16-21
Reporting by Ainslie Lee, Gainesville Sun / Ocala Star-Banner
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
