After you spent the week choosing from another big lineup of stars, you picked Harlem bowler Allison Roberts as your Rockford Register Star high school Athlete of the Week for the week of Feb. 9-14.
Roberts earned over 54 percent of the vote to win the AOTW honor, and that was after she won the individual championship at last Saturday’s girls bowling sectional, and helped Harlem vault to state with a team sectional title. Roberts shot a 1,339 series and won by six pins, while Harlem won with an overall score of 6,199, winning by 316 pins.
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 AOTW poll will stay open until noon on Friday.
This week’s nominees are:
Nelson Benesh, Oregon wrestling
Benesh was one of 29 boys from the Rockford area to qualify for state, but he won his 138-pound sectional championship match in dramatic fashion, scoring a 3-point takedown with 2 seconds left to lock down a 7-5 win.
Rocco Cassioppi, Hononegah wrestling
Cassioppi absolutely dominated his way to state, winning the Class 3A Barrington Sectional title at 150 pounds with a first-period fall, a second-period fall and then a second-period tech-fall. He climbed to 42-2 as he heads to state on a roll.
Amir Danforth, Auburn basketball
While it wasn’t his best shooting performance of the season, Danforth did drain an almost-half-court shot at the halftime buzzer of Friday’s home game against Hononegah which broke a tie and lit a fire for Auburn. The Knights went on to a 61-51 win, which eventually earned them a share of the NIC-10 boys basketball title.
Saya Hongmoungkhoune, East wrestling
Hongmoungkhoune soared to the girls state wrestling tourney with a sectional title at 105 pounds as her record flew to 24-1. She’s the lone defending state champ from the Rockford area for the girls.
Connor Knop, West Carroll wrestling
Knop climbed to 29-0 at 157 pounds after he took first place in the Class 1A Byron Sectional to advance to this week’s state tourney. He’s the only Rockford-area wrestler with a perfect record.
Sarah Legoo, Guilford bowling
Legoo came in a close second at Saturday’s Harlem Sectional, rolling a 1,333, to fall in just behind Harlem’s Allison Roberts.
Miles Mahon, Lena-Winslow basketball
While three players for Lena-Winslow had 12 points, Mahon went off for 22 points during Le-Win’s late-season 66-49 win over Warren last Tuesday.
Bailey Westlund, Boylan basketball
Westlund put up 27 points with three 3-pointers and a 4-for-5 effort at the free-throw line as she sparked the Titans to a big 67-29 win over Wheaton Academy last week. She also had 29 points with six assists and three steals as the Lady Titans knocked off Harlem 64-55 on Thursday night. Boylan (24-7, 14-4 NIC-10) finished second behind Hononegah (24-7, 17-1) in the final NIC-10 girls basketball standings this year.
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: Meet our winner of the Rockford-area athlete of the week poll for Feb. 9-14
Reporting by Jay Taft, Rockford Register Star / Rockford Register Star
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