Taryn Ryan of Dee-Mack volleyball and Nick Lansford of Dunlap boys soccer won voting for the CSM Fall Athletes of the Week, presented by Jake Weston State Farm, for the week of Sept. 11-17.
Voting was conducted via a poll on our website with Ryan earning 42 percent of the vote in the Girls Athlete of the Week Poll and Lansford earning 67 percent of the vote in the Boys Athlete of the Week Poll.
Full list of nominees: CSM Fall Athletes of the Week, Sept. 11-17, 2023
Nick Lansford won the Boys Athlete of the Week poll in a runaway after scoring five goals last week. Dunlap’s senior forward scored a quartet of goals in a 6-0 win for the Eagles against Springfield Sacred Heart Griffin on Saturday and added another in a 9-0 win over East Peoria on Tuesday. This season, Lansford has scored a team-leading nine goals in 11 matches, along with adding four assists. Always a threat to score, the senior has 22 shots on goal for the 7-2-2 Eagles as well.
Get to know Lansford here:
Q. What’s been your favorite memory of the season so far?
A. My favorite memory of the season so far is scoring four goals in one game against Sacred Heart Griffin.
Q. If you had to be stranded on an island with a teammate, who would it be and why?
A. I would definitely choose Colton Rekus because he’s probably one of the most street smart guys on the team and also one of my best friends. I hope we would be able to devise a plan to get back to the mainland fairly efficiently.
Q. Favorite music artist?
A. Right now it’s Lil Uzi Vert. I listen to many different types of music and artists but Uzi is consistently good.
Q. Favorite food?
A. My favorite food has got to be wings. Bone in or boneless, I will eat anything. My favorite wing place is Wing Stop, their ranch to dip wings into is amazing too
Q. Do you have any pregame routines/rituals?
A. My pregame routine includes a lot of stretching and loosening of my muscles, along with visualization and mentally locking in.
Q. Who’s your favorite college or professional athlete?
A. My favorite college athlete is Kyle Filipowski, a basketball player at Duke. My favorite professional soccer player is Vini Jr. I was able to watch him play in person when I went to Spain earlier this year and he is really fun to watch.
Q. Who’s your role model and why?
A. I don’t have one. I want to be my own person and be unique. Everyone is different in their own ways so I don’t want to force myself to live like someone else.
Q. Do you have any hidden talents?
A. I can do a backflip. Maybe sometime I will be allowed to do one in a celebration. That would be pretty cool.
Q. What’s your dream career?
A. My dream career is doing something hands on rather than a 9-5 sitting in an office. I’m looking at majoring in mechanical engineering in college. I also enjoy working with others in groups so there is some social interaction too.
Ryan stood out in a great week for Dee-Mack last week, with the Chiefs winning matches against Williamsville, Lexington and LeRoy. Against the latter two, the senior middle hitter had a team-high seven kills in each game. Defensively, she led the team with six total blocks combined in those contests. The Chiefs are currently 11-7 overall and 5-1 in Heart of Illinois Conference play, right in the thick of the conference race and have won four straight matches.
As of Friday morning, Ryan had not responded for a Q and A. This story will be updated with Ryan's answers to the questions below.
Q. What’s been your favorite memory of the season so far?
A. Playing a team that was supposed to crush us and actually winning in three with a lot of hustle and teamwork.
Q. If you had to be stranded on an island with a teammate, who would it be and why?
A. Probably Rachel [Paddock]. She’s one of my best friends so I know her pretty well and she could definitely keep a conversation going.
Q. Favorite music artist?
A. Either Hozier or Coldplay
Q. Favorite food?
A. Tortellini
Q. Do you have any pregame routines/rituals?
A. Drinking a Monster Energy Drink or iced coffee (for those early games) and I listen to music while doing my stretches.
Q. Who’s your favorite college or professional athlete?
A. Brionne Butler
Q. Who’s your role model and why?
A. Steve Bishop, my club coach, because he’s such an energetic and encouraging person, always looking on the bright side and finding the good in those around him.
Q. Do you have any hidden talents?
A. It’s kind of weird but I can identify any movie/show that I’ve watched from just a 5 second clip.
Q. What’s your dream career?
A. Archaeologist
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