As the calendar turns to September, the season is now well underway for high school sports in the area and as a new week begins, it's time to vote on the winners for CSM Fall Athletes of the Week, sponsored by Jake Weston State Farm.
There are polls for Girls Athlete of the Week and Boys Athlete of the Week. The nominees, along with a summary of their recent accomplishments, are listed below.
UPDATE: The winner of the Boys Athlete of the Week was Morton's Seandon Buffington and the winner of the Girls Athlete of the Week was Normal West's Avery Feltes. Polls closed at 2 PM Tuesday.
BOYS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK NOMINEES
Tayshaun Keiser, Princeville football
Keiser is off to a blazing hot start to his senior season, especially after his performance on Friday night against Havana. The Princes running back scampered for 187 yards and two touchdowns on the ground and caught three passes for 165 yards and two more touchdowns. The Princes are 2-0 to start the season.
Connor Heskett, Limestone boys soccer
Heskett, a sophomore midfielder, was one of four Rockets that scored a brace in an 8-0 conference win over East Peoria on Tuesday. What set Heskett apart was his three assists in the game, helping him lead the team with 10 points on the season.
Seandon Buffington, Morton football
Two long touchdown runs helped Buffington reach his second-straight 100-yard game, but more importantly lead the Potters to a 27-26 win over Rochelle. Buffington scored from 80 and 58 yards, finishing with 186 yards on 13 carries.
Joey Yaros, Normal Community boys cross country
Yaros was the fastest runner for the Ironmen at their home meet at Maxwell Park in Normal on Friday and helped Normal Community win the event with a team score of 39 points. The junior finished in 15 minutes and 52 seconds, just two seconds behind race winner Joey McGinn from the Decatur Eisenhower/Macarthur co-op.
Nolan Eccles, Dunlap boys golf
Eccles medaled at Dunlap’s first conference tri-meet of the season against strong conference foes Limestone and East Peoria with a 36 at Mt. Hawley Country Club. Thanks to his score, the Eagles won the event with a 162 team score and Eccles followed it up with a 7th place finish at the difficult, tree-lined Gibson Woods Golf Course at a tournament hosted by Monmouth-Roseville.
GIRLS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK NOMINEES
Sydney Hubner, Pekin girls golf
Hubner has been on a tear for the Dragons on the links this year, either winning or finishing in the top 10 of every tournament she’s played in so far. That continued this week when she shot a 38 to narrowly win a Mid-Illini match over Morton and Washington at Pine Lakes on Tuesday. The Dragons, aided by a 43 from Kami Jarvill and a season-low 46 from Sierra Sitter, won the event by two strokes over the Potters.
Abby Tudeen, Dunlap girls cross country
Tudeen was the top local finisher at Galesburg’s Silver Streak invitational on Saturday and led the Eagles to a team win. The junior ran the three-mile course in 18:44.60 and finished third; her time was 47 seconds faster than her fifth-place finish at the Normal West Invitational on Aug. 26.
Lacee Regehr, East Peoria girls tennis
Regehr helped the Raiders win a tight 5-4 conference match against Limestone and prevailed through tough matches in singles and doubles. At No. 2 singles, she won a grueling 6-2, 0-6, 10-5 three-setter and teamed up with Nyara Steinseifer in No. 2 doubles to win a close 7-6 (6), 6-3 match.
Brianna Brodie, Princeville volleyball
After a slow start to the season, Princeville began to put it together this week with a pair of wins over Roanoke-Benson and Brimfield. Brodie led the team with 12 kills in each match and added a team-high seven kills in a loss against Hartsburg-Emden on Thursday. The middle blocker posted eight blocks combined in Princeville’s two most recent games.
Avery Feltes, Normal West volleyball
Feltes led an impressive week for Normal West, who beat Metamora and Dunlap – two of the best teams in the Mid-Illini Conference. Feltes displayed great chemistry with setter Reanna Cupples in Thursday’s win against the Eagles, slamming home 11 kills to help Normal West run away in two sets.
Good luck Sydney!