Once the 2024-2025 school year came to a close, we gave you a chance to decide on who you thought deserved the ultimate Athlete of the Week title.
You voted (a lot!) in our poll to determine who had the best individual week out of our all of our top Athlete of the Week winners from the 2024-25 school year. We nominated the top 20 vote-getters of the school year, and all of the nominees are listed below.
The poll stayed open for two weeks, and it’s now time to announce the winner.
The winner, with over 100,000 votes, is Guilford girls flag football and basketball player Aishah Smith. Smith, who will play flag football for Illinois Wesleyan University starting next season, won the AOW for the week of Sept. 16-21 with 32,241 votes after throwing three touchdown passes to lead Guilford past Hononegah 34-0 during the fall flag football season.
Smith also won when she earned 10,596 votes to win the AOW for Oct. 14-19, and that came after she led the Guilford girls to a second-place finish at the first IHSA girls flag football state tournament. Smith and the Vikings lost 24-12 to Palatine Fremd, after winning 21 straight to open the season.
She then won the award for the top AOW winner for the whole year this past two weeks, by hauling in over 48 percent of the 209,896 total votes.
Here are the rest of the nominees, in order by total votes they received during their individual AOTW wins.
Brody Schwartz, Forreston track and field (39,618 votes)
Schwartz won with the most votes for a single athlete all year at 39,618 for the week of April 21-26 after he won the 200-meter dash and he broke the Forreston school record, and that was after he had helped the Cardinals’ 4X100 relay squad set a school record earlier in the week. He also won the 100 dash and took third in the high jump during meets that week.
Courtney Troutt, North Boone softball (32,220)
Troutt won the AOW poll for the week of June 2-7 with 32,220 votes after she led North Boone to a third-place finish at state softball earlier this month, finished with a 3-hit shutout in last Saturday’s 1-0 third-place-game victory. She walked two and faced only five more batters than the minimum.
Jada Veer, Freeport swimming(31,318)
Veer won with a whopping 31,318 votes back on Nov. 1, 2024, after winning three events in the NIC-10 girls swim and dive meet, and helped lead Freeport to second in the team standings.
Bryson Beck, Hononegah swim and dive (30,936)
Beck pulled out the win with 30,936 votes on Feb. 14 after he was the only swimmer to win four titles at the NIC-10 meet. The sophomore won both of his individual events in the 100-yard backstroke and 200 freestyle. He also swam on Hononegah’s winning 200 medley and 200 free relay teams.
Margaret O’Brien, Guilford volleyball (29,838)
O’Brien earned 29,838 votes in the AOW poll that ended on Oct. 18, 2024, after she had 19 kills out of the team’s 40 during a Guilford victory over Belvidere North.
Leilani Mora, Belvidere North tennis (29,570)
Mora earned 29,570 votes in the AOW poll that closed on Sept. 13, 2024. The poll had 76,500 votes total. Mora had a big week, beating a player she failed to win a game against last year.
Brianna Young, Belvidere North soccer (23,352)
Young won with 23,352 votes for the AOW honor for the week of April 7-12 after scoring four goals during North’s 9-0 win over East. Those were Young’s first four goals of the season.
Gavin Sanders, Lutheran football (22,187)
Sanders earned 22,187 votes to win the AOW for Aug. 26-31, 2024, after rushing for 160 yards and three touchdowns in Lutheran’s 49-6 win over Winnebago in Week 1.
Cam Verner, Freeport football (18,562)
The Freeport football standout hauled in 18,562 votes to win the AOW for the week of Sept. 9-14 after rushing for 194 yards and a pair of touchdowns during Freeport’s 38-14 win over Belvidere.
Caitlind Maines, Durand softball (18,180)
Maines won the award for the week of April 14-19 with 18,180 after she went 3-for-4 at the plate with a 3-run homer to kickstart a game against East Dubuque. She later had a 3-run double and an RBI single, finishing with seven RBIs.
Andrew Talbert, Byron baseball (18,051)
Talbert won his AOW with 18,051 votes on May 23 after he threw his second consecutive no-hitter and also hit two home runs as Byron clinched the Big Northern Conference title with a 10-0 win over North Boone.
Madie Mammoser, Stockton volleyball(15,751)
Mammoser earned 15,751 votes to claim the AOW win for the week of Nov. 4-9 after leading Stockton with 12 kills and seven digs as it won its first sectional volleyball title in school history knocking off the defending Class 1A state champs.
Brayden Larson, Dakota baseball (15,303)
Larson won this one with 15,303 votes on March 28 after going 5-for-6 with four runs scored, three stolen bases and three RBIs during Dakota’s 22-21 win over Marian Central Catholic as Dakota rallied for seven runs in the seventh inning.
Payton Thomas, Pecatonica basketball (14,618)
Thomas won the Rockford Register Star’s high school Athlete of the Week for March 3-8 with 14,618 votes after more than doubling her season average by scoring 13 points and grabbing seven rebounds while helping lead Pecatonica to a 63-45 win over Carrollton for the Class 1A state girls basketball title.
Brayden Olson, Hononegah basketball (13,325)
Olson won this AOW honor with 13,325 votes on Dec. 27, 2024, after scoring 16 against Boylan, 19 against Grayslake and 23 versus East. He even drained the game-winning shot with 36 seconds left in one of the games.
Alec Schlichting, Lena-Winslow football (12,523)
Schlichting won the honor with 12,523 votes on Oct. 11, 2024, after rushing for 160 yards and two touchdowns as Le-Win beat undefeated Du/Pec 46-22.
Greyson Weber, Guilford football (10,249)
Weber earned 10,249 votes to win the AOW honor back on Oct. 4, 2024, after he had gone out and completed 13-for-33 for 193 yards in a loss to Harlem, completing three passes of more than 30 yards on Guilford’s two touchdown drives.
Xavier Villalobos, Rochelle wrestling (9,727)
Villalobos won the AOW for the week of Feb. 10-15 with 9,727 votes after powering past his opponents at the Washington Sectional at 126 and heading to state for the fourth year in a row.
Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and sign up for the Rockford High School Sports Newsletter here 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.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: After over 200,000 votes, find out who is our top Athlete of the Week winner of the year
Reporting by Jay Taft, Rockford Register Star / Rockford Register Star
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