Once again you, the reader and the fan, voted on who you believe deserved the Rockford Register Star high school Athlete of the Week poll for the week of Feb. 23-28.
This week, you chose Harlem wrestler Madison Heneks, who finished up her season with 33 wins after placing sixth at the IHSA girls state wrestling tournament at 130. She then earned over 39 percent of the vote on our AOTW poll.
To nominate an athlete for our AOTW poll, send an email to jtaft@rrstar.com by 10 a.m. Monday mornings, with information and stats on why you think they deserve to be nominated.
Almost every week for the rest of the school year, we will compile a list of athletes from the Rockford area who had standout weeks and let you, the reader, vote on who you think deserves the AOTW award. Every week you will be able to find the nominees as well as the poll at rrstar.com.
The AOW poll will stay open until noon on Friday.
This week’s nominees were:
Zion Braimah, Pecatonica basketball
Braimah scored eight of his 15 points in the pivotal second quarter as Pecatonica took control and eventually knocked off rival Lena-Winslow 62-52 in last week’s Class 1A regional boys basketall action.
Madden Fuehrer, Boylan basketball
The junior guard hit three 3-pointers and scored 24 points in last week’s regional semifinal, but Boylan fell 86-70 to Sycamore to bow out of the postseason.
Macy Groharing, Byron basketball
Groharing scored 27 points to lift Byron to the regional championship last week. Groharing and the Tigers were slated to take on Pontiac in the 2A Wilmington Super-Sectional on Monday.
Saya Hongmoungkhoune, East wrestling
Alhough she didn’t repeat her state-title run from her freshman year, East sophomore Hongmoungkhoune took third at Saturday’s girls state wrestling meet at 105 pounds.
Parker Krogman, Eastland basketball
Krogman scored 18 points in Eastland’s regional opener last week, and then had 20 as the team that took second at state in Class 1A last year squeezed past Orion 46-45 in Friday’s regional championship showdown.
Tristan Peterson, Freeport swim and dive
After taking fifth last year and seventh the year before, the Freeport senior bounded past two divers in the final rounds to finish in third at Saturday’s IHSA boys state swim and dive meet.
Judah Rodriguez, Rockford Christian Life basketball
Rodriguez, a guard for RCL, drained nine 3-pointers and scored 31 points in last week’s regional semifinal, but his team bowed out with a 77-62 loss to Lena-Winslow.
Bo Shields, Harlem swim and dive
Shields was the top Rockford-area swimmer at last weekend’s state swim and dive meet, finishing in 21st in the 100-yard breaststroke to come the closest to qualifying for Saturday’s finals.
Zach VanBlaricom, Lutheran basketball
VanBlaricom, a 6-2 senior for the Crusaders, helped vault his team to the regional championship with 27 points in the win last Friday. VanBlaricom and Lutheran were next scheduled to take on Oregon in Tuesday’s Mendota Sectional semi.
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: Who won Rockford-area athlete of the week for the week of Feb. 23-28
Reporting by Jay Taft, Rockford Register Star / Rockford Register Star
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