Vote for the Argus Leader Athletes of the Week for April 22-28

Jonathan Fernandez, Sioux Falls Argus Leader

Last week brought plenty of impressive performances.

Throughout the season, the Argus Leader will be picking finalists for its Athlete of the week. The winner will be chosen by you. Vote now in the poll below:

Female Athlete of the Week:

Peyton Bennett, Harrisburg

Bennett played a significant role in the Tigers’ 10-run win over Jefferson last week. The senior outfielder went perfect from the batter’s box, going four for four, scoring two runs, and hitting four RBI.

Taylor Duncan, Jefferson

Duncan had herself a strong week, starting with her performance in the Cavaliers’ 15-5 loss against Harrisburg. The senior had three hits, scored one run and hit two RBIs. On Thursday Duncan led Jefferson to a 17-10 win over Brandon Valley. She had a team-high three RBI on two hits and scored two runs.

Madison Evans, Lincoln

Lincoln junior pitcher Madison Evans throws a pitch in her semifinals game against Jefferson in the SDHSAA softball championships.
Lincoln junior pitcher Madison Evans throws a pitch in her semifinals game against Jefferson in the SDHSAA softball championships.

Evans is having a tremendous season and just had a week for the ages. She helped the Patriots beat two previously undefeated teams – Brandon Valley and Harrisburg – pitching a complete game for her seventh win of the season against the Lynx. Evans threw 18 strikeouts and went 4-for-4 from the plate with three doubles, three runs scored and an RBI. She held both teams to only two runs as Lincoln outscored their opposition 19-2.

Madelyn Mescher, Washington

Mescher had a fantastic performance on the mound as her Warriors defeated Yankton 8-1. The freshman pitcher went seven innings, allowed only four hits and struck out 15.

Maddie Pederson, Brandon Valley

Pederson made Brandon Valley High School history at the Pierre Legion Relays. She set a personal record in the 100m with a 12.34 time and also broke the school record, becoming the first girl in school history to ever long jump over 18 feet.

Ava Tobin, O’Gorman

Tobin has been on fire in the batter’s box. She was perfect from the batter’s box across the whole week, going 4-for-4 in the Knights’ 19-4 win over Aberdeen Central, and 4-for-4 again later in the week in O’Gorman’s 14-10 win against Watertown.

Male Athlete of the Week:

Griffin Fischer, Lincoln

Fischer climbed the school and state leaderboard in the 100m last week. His time of 10.57 was a personal record and ranks second in school history and 10th all-time in state history. That time also set a meet record.

Eli Kokenge, Harrisburg

Harrisburg junior pitcher Eli Kokenge threw a no-hitter against Jefferson this week.
Harrisburg junior pitcher Eli Kokenge threw a no-hitter against Jefferson this week.

Kokenge was nearly perfect this week, and that’s not an exaggeration. He threw a no-hitter in the Tigers’ 1-0 win over Jefferson, walking only one batter while striking out 12 on only 80 pitches.

Paul Hoekman, Sioux Falls Christian

The Sioux Falls Christian junior continues to make history on a weekly basis. This week Hoekman broke his own school record in shot put again. His throw of 61-01 ranks first across all classes and 24th in the nation.

Jonathan Fernandez covers high school and college sports for the Argus Leader. Contact him at jfernandez1@argusleader.com. Follow him on Twitter at@JFERN31

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Vote for the Argus Leader Athletes of the Week

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