Oct. 12-18 was another exciting week of female high school sports featuring athletes and teams from the Des Moines metro area.
The CIML and Little Hawkeye conference cross country meets took place during the week. It was also a busy week of girls swimming and diving as the regular season winds down with conference meets slated to take place next week, followed by regionals.
The regular season of high school volleyball is also winding down. The top match featuring teams from the metro area during the week saw 5A No. 7 West Des Moines Valley take down No. 5 Waukee and No. 1 Waukee Northwest sweep No. 3 Dowling Catholic in Waukee.
There were several standout performances by female athletes from the metro area during the week.
Here are the Des Moines Register’s female Athlete of the Week candidates from the Des Moines metro area for the week of Oct. 12-18. DesMoinesRegister.com readers vote to determine the winners, who will be announced at the end of the week.
Alyx Woodley, Johnston
Woodley won the girls race at the CIML Conference cross country meet on Oct. 15 at Johnston High School.
Woodley ran a winning 5-kilometer time of 18 minutes, 5.9 seconds. That was just fast enough to edge out the 18:08.5 showing by Waukee Northwest’s Laney Sundet.
Tenley Heidgerken, DCG
Heidgerken placed second to Pella’s Marissa Ferebee, the No. 1 runner in 3A and the record-setting defending state champion, during the girls race at the Little Hawkeye Conference cross country meet on Oct. 14 at Pickard Park in Indianola.
The DCG freshman finished just 13.5 seconds behind Ferebee after breaking 18 minutes with a 5k time of 17:59.2
Haylie Weinheimer, Des Moines North
Weinheimer placed first in both the 100-yard backstroke and the 200 individual medley for the Des Moines North girls swimming and diving team during the Polar Bears’ 126-34 dual meet victory over Ottumwa on Oct. 14 at the Lonny Kerman Natatorium in Des Moines.
Weinheimer swam the 100 backstroke in 1:03.70 to beat out teammate Clara Cunningham by 2.4 seconds for first. Weinheimer finished the 200 medley in 2:21.92 to beat Cunningham by 3.39 seconds for the gold.
Julia Knapp, Des Moines Roosevelt
Knapp had a big day for the Roosevelt volleyball team during a four-set victory over Ottumwa on Oct. 14 in Des Moines.
Knapp finished the match with 17 kills on outstanding 65.4% efficiency. She also tallied 11 digs and five blocks.
Kaelyn Wieland, West Des Moines Valley
Wieland turned in a fantastic all-around match for the 5A No. 7 Valley volleyball team during an upset win over No. 5 Waukee in four sets (25-18, 25-21, 22-25, 25-22) on Oct. 14 in Waukee.
The Tiger setter handed out 22 assists, and she also slammed down 10 kills. Wieland added 11 digs and two blocks on defense, and she was 19 of 20 serving with one ace.
Joe Randleman covers high school sports for the Ames Tribune. Contact him at jrandleman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JoeRandleman
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Vote for Des Moines Register metro-area female Athlete of the Week for Oct. 12-18
Reporting by Joe Randleman, Des Moines Register / Ames Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
