Vote: CSM Winter Athletes of the Week: Feb. 9-15, 2026

Central Illinois athletes that starred on the basketball court and wrestling mat earned Clutch Sports Media Winter Athletes of the Week nominations. 

Among this week’s nominees are a 2,000-point scorer plus two players who lifted their teams to regional quarterfinal wins in girls basketball, three boys basketball standouts who delivered when it mattered most in key wins and four sectional champions in boys and girls wrestling.

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Check out all of our nominees with information on their standout performances below, vote for who you think should win and spread the word to vote before polls close on Friday at 11:59 PM!

CSM Boys Athlete of the Week nominees 

Quinton Kitt, East Peoria basketball

Kitt put on an otherworldly performance to lead the Raiders to a stunning 77-75 comeback win over Metamora on Feb. 13. With East Peoria trailing 65-44 in the fourth quarter, Kitt scored 23 of his career-high 39 points in the frame to spark the Raiders and give them the win after converting a go-ahead three-point play in the final seconds. He added 12 points in a 58-31 win over Lincoln on Feb. 10 and 22 more in an 84-52 victory over Peoria Notre Dame on Feb. 14. 

Barret Speck, Illini Bluffs boys wrestling

Speck won a Class 1A Olympia Sectional title at 132 pounds on Feb. 14, making him a frontrunner at the IHSA State Finals. Speck won his first two matches by 3-0 and 11-5 decisions before pinning Riverton’s Harrison Lott in 1:20 in the championship match. 

Keshaun Manney, Bloomington Central Catholic boys basketball

Manney has played at a high level down the stretch for the Saints, helping them win their last seven games before the playoffs. He poured in 20 points in a 61-57 win over Rantoul on Feb. 10 and helped BCC to a key Illini Prairie win over St. Joseph-Ogden on Feb. 13. The next day, he put up a team-high 23 points to help the Saints beat state-ranked Warsaw West Hancock 65-59 in overtime at the Riverton Shootout.

Sean Thornton, Washington boys wrestling

Thornton took home a Class 2A sectional title at 285 pounds at the Geneseo Sectional and was one of several Panthers to qualify for the IHSA State Finals. He beat two opponents from Geneseo via a pin and a 9-0 major decision before earning an 8-1 major decision over Peoria Notre Dame’s Brady Mullens in the championship match.

Dylan Nowaskie, Olympia boys basketball

Nowaskie impressed with two big showings to give the Spartans a bit of late-season momentum. He scored 25 in a 71-59 win over Illini Central on Feb. 10 and upped the ante with 28 points, including the game-winning free throws with five seconds left, in another Sangamo Conference victory over Pleasant Plains on Feb. 13.

Vote here!

CSM Boys Athlete of the Week poll

• Quinton Kitt, East Peoria boys basketball
• Barret Speck, Illini Bluffs boys wrestling
• Keshaun Manney, Bloomington Central Catholic boys basketball
• Sean Thornton, Washington boys wrestling

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CSM Girls Athlete of the Week nominees

Avery Tibbs, Washington girls basketball

Tibbs earned another nomination after surpassing a major career milestone and helping the Panthers win two key games to end the regular season. She scored 15 points to help Washington earn an outright Mid-Illini title with a 57-37 win over Morton on Feb. 10 and followed it up with 34 points in a 71-58 victory over Class 4A No. 3 Waubonsie Valley on Feb. 12. In that game, she scored her 2,000th career point while hitting eight threes and scoring 16 of her points in the first quarter. 

Chloe Hedges, Canton girls wrestling

Hedges battled her way through the 115-pound bracket to win the DeKalb Sectional and punch her ticket to state. She moved into the title match via a pin and an 18-2 tech fall and beat Streator’s Laila Vaughn in an 18-13 decision in the championship match.

Andrea Glenn, Elmwood girls basketball

Glenn led the Trojans with three double-digit scoring outings with her biggest being 20 points in a 50-14 Class 1A regional quarterfinal win over Peoria Heights. She scored a team-high 14 points in a hard-fought 41-34 loss to IVC on Feb. 11 and was responsible for 11 in a 56-28 win over Midwest Central on Feb. 9.

Arian Sabu, Normal West girls wrestling

Sabu joined Hedges as the only girls wrestlers in the area to win sectional titles and won all four of her matches at the DeKalb Sectional. All four of those were pins as she took down opponents from Stillman Valley, Pekin and Yorkville before defeating Freeport’s NaJeyah Wallace in the 155-pound championship match.

TeriLynn Timmerman, Fieldcrest girls basketball

Timmerman has taken on additional responsibilities for Fieldcrest as of late and it showed in a trio of performances last week. She began that stretch by racking up 25 points, eight rebounds and six steals in a 62-37 loss to Normal U-High on Feb. 9. Later in the week, she scored 19 in a loss to Tremont but helped the Knights right the ship in the Class 1A regional quarterfinals with 22 points and seven steals in a 65-12 win over Donovan/St. Anne.

Vote here!

CSM Girls Athlete of the Week poll

• Avery Tibbs, Washington girls basketball
• Chloe Hedges, Canton girls wrestling
• Andrea Glenn, Elmwood girls basketball
• Arian Sabu, Normal West girls wrestling

See All Options