Observer-Dispatch and Times Telegram readers have spoken, and they have selected hockey player Mark Varano, a Rome Free Academy junior, as their Athlete of the Week for January 19-25 in online polling.
Varano scored 11 goals in five games with nine coming in four during the week that included his first varsity hat trick got the Black Knights in a win over Section II Glens Falls. Varano and his teammates won three games and tied once during the week, and the junior had at least two goals in each of the games while adding six assists.
Varano received 11,733 of the 26,792 votes cast – 43.8% – and won the voting with fellow hockey player Marco Benedetto of Whitesboro taking second with 25.7% of the vote. Owen D. Young/Richfield Springs volleyball player Sophia Spencer, and basketball players Kayden Davidson of Dolgeville and Giovanni Lang of Whitesboro filled out the top five spots in the results.
The poll produced its first hockey player as a winner in the eighth week of winter voting. Varano follows basketball players Kiley Beam of Central Valley Academy, Haylee Bostwick of Rome Free Academy and Lejla Kendic of Sauquoit Valley, wrestlers John DiBrango of Whitesboro, Vinny Henrickson of Central Valley Academy and Victor Petronella of New Hartford, and Rome Free Academy bowler Mylie Weyant
A new poll for the week of January 26-February 1 will be posted soon. The full results appear below.
The Observer-Dispatch and Times Telegram have a fresh slate of nominees for online readers to consider for Mohawk Valley Athlete of the Week voting for the week of January 19-25, the eighth week of winter competition.
Whitesboro wrestler John DiBrango is the most recent winner of the weekly poll. DiBrango follows three basketball players – seniors Lejla Kendic of Sauquoit Valley and Haylee Bostwick of Rome Free Academy, and Central Valley Academy freshman Kiley Beam – and wrestlers Victor Petronella of New Hartford and Vinny Henrickson of Central Valley Academy during the winter athletic season. The new ballot includes athletes from area basketball, hockey, volleyball, wrestling and bowling teams, and the polls will be open until Monday, February 2, at noon.
Fifteen scholastic athletes from across the Mohawk Valley are nominated on a ballot for the seventh week of winter scholastic athletic competition.
A weekly list of nominees is compiled by the sports department with information provided to the Times Telegram and the Observer-Dispatch by coaches and athletic directors through emails and other contacts.
If a top performer’s name doesn’t appear on the list, encourage their coach or athletic director to email submissions to sports@timestelegram.com or sports@uticaod.com.
Voting closes Monday and a winner is scheduled to be announced later that day on the TimesTelegram.com and UticaOD.com websites.
The nominees for the week ending January 25 are:
MARCO BENEDETTO, Whitesboro hockey: Junior scored all three Whitesboro goals in a 3-2 win over Cortland/Homer. The hat trick is his second of the season.
ETHAN BRIGGS, Holland Patent basketball: Junior scored 50 combined points in back-to-back road wins that pushed the Golden Knights’ record back to .500, and matched his career high with six 3-pointers against Oneida.
KAYDEN DAVIDSON, Dolgeville basketball: Junior hit seven three-point shots and set a career high with 32 points while also grabbing 11 rebounds for a double-double against Cooperstown.
ASHLEE FISHER, New Hartford volleyball: Senior had a career-high 23 kills against Vernon-Verona-Sherrill, topping 20 in her previous match against Rome Free Academy, and finished the week with 39 kills, 39 digs and six aces in two wins for the undefeated Spartans.
OWEN JONES, Mt. Markham basketball: Senior scored 27 points and a career-high 32 in road wins over Herkimer and Faith heritage as the Mustangs extended their win streak to eight games.
TALON KIMBALL, Camden wrestling: Sophomore earned his 100th varsity victory with his first-period pin in a dual meet against Canastota.
JAXON KOENIG, Holland Patent wrestling: Senior earned his 100th and 101st varsity victories at Mt. Markham’s Mustang Duals where he went 8-1 for the Golden Knights.
GIOVANNI LANG, Whitesboro wrestling: Junior earned his 100th varsity victory with a pin against Rome Free Academy and added 10 more to his total, one in a dual against Central Valley Academy and nine at Mt. Markham’s Mustang Duals.
BRAYSEN RICHARD, Herkimer wrestling: Junior earned his 100th varsity victory with a forfeit in a dual against Dolgeville, and added six more wins at Mt. Markham’s Mustang Duals.
AVA RUGGERIO, Little Falls volleyball: Junior led the Mounties with 11 kills and three aces against Canastota and 12 and four against Oneida as they extended their win streak to a season-high five matches.
RYLAN SMITH, Brookfield basketball: Junior recorded a quadruple-double ― 21 points, 13 assists, 10 steals and 10 rebounds with eight blocked shots ― as the Beavers leveled their record by beating Cincinnatus for their second consecutive victory. Smith had 21 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots in a game earlier in the week.
SOPHIA SPENCER, Owen D. Young/Richfield Springs: Senior setter contributed 110 assists, 17 aces, 10 kills and 39 digs as her team extended its win streak to 11 matches by beating Town of Webb, Morrisville-Eaton, New York Mills and Proctor.
ELLA TRINKAUS, Notre Dame basketball: Senior matched her season high with 34 points, grabbed 17 rebounds, and contributed seven assists, six steals and three blocked shots as the unbeaten Class A Jugglers defeated Class AAA Bishop Ludden-Grimes.
MARK VARANO, Rome Free Academy hockey: Junior has at least two goals in five consecutive games and scored nine with six assists in three wins and a tie for the Black Knights last week, finishing the week with his first varsity hat trick against Glens Falls.
EDDIE WRIGHT, Oriskany basketball: Senior scored 86 points and contributed 21 assists, nine steals and 13 rebounds to the fourth, fifth and sixth consecutive victories for the Skyhawks, starting the week with 36 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and four steals against Dolgeville which had been unbeaten in league play.
This article originally appeared on Times Telegram: RFA hockey player recognized for scoring nine goals in unbeaten week
Reporting by Jon Rathbun, Herkimer Times Telegram / Times Telegram
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