As the spring sports teams from the Rockford area really started to get outside and come to life, you came out and voted on the Rockford Register Star High School Athlete of the Week poll for the week of March 30-April 4.
And the winner was: Harlem track and field athlete Taelar Washington. Washington soared 35-feet-8 1/2 inches to win the triple jump in last Friday’s 2026 Gene Shipley Invitational, and that was the fourth best triple jump of the outdoor season for a girl in Class 3A.
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 rest of this week’s nominees were:
Liam Allen, Winnebago baseball
Allen cracked a home run last week to lead Winnebago’s baseball team to a 5-1 win over Galena, and to a 3-2 record to start the season.
Isabelle Berg, Oregon softball
Berg, a sophomore pitcher and first baseman for the Hawks, gave up one hit and struck out 10 while walking just three during Oregon’s 15-5 win over Deer Creek-Mackinaw on Saturday afternoon. Berg was also 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored.
Alec Schlichting, Lena-Winslow track and field
Schlichting clocked the third fastest time in the Class 1A 200-meter dash last Tuesday, clocking a 22.58 in the Lena-Winslow co-ed outdoor opener.
Berkeley Stenstrom, Guilford soccer
Stenstrom had eight goals in just two games last week, scoring four goals in each of Guilford’s victories.
Collins Stenstrom, Guilford soccer
Berkeley’s younger sister Collins helped out after she was moved up from center-backer to midfield in the second half of Wednesday’s 7-0 win over Winnebago, adding two assists to her sister while scoring her first varsity goal.
Finn Stovall, Harlem baseball
Stovall, last year’s NIC-10 MVP, earned a complete-game victory over Stillman Valley last Friday with six strikeouts in five innings, and he also belted a bases-loaded, bases-clearing double to push Harlem over the top in the 16-3 win.
Brody Stewart, Freeport baseball
Stewart has been on fire early on this season, and after a big week last week, he currently leads Freeport in all the major offensive categories, including batting average (.471); on-base percentage (.625); OPS 1.743; slugging 1.118; three doubles; two home runs; nine RBIs and 10 runs scored.
Sage Sweet, Stillman Valley softball
Sophomore Sage Sweet went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and a run scored and had the walk-off double with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning for a 10-9 victory over North Boone on Saturday. For the week, she hit .529 with a slugging percentage of .765 with six RBIs and three runs scored.
Draven Zier, Milledgeville co-op track and field
Zier, one of the Missiles top sprinters, notched the third fastest time in 1A track this season in the 400 run (51.57) in an outdoor meet last Tuesday, and he also clocked the 10th fastest time in the 200 dash (23.25).
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: Find out who won Rockford-area Athlete of the Week for March 30-April 4
Reporting by Jay Taft, Rockford Register Star / Rockford Register Star
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