Walk-off homers and personal bests: Vote for Peoria Journal Star high school athlete of the week
After plenty of solid postseason spring sports performances over the last week, here are the Journal Star high school athlete of the week nominees for April 1-6.
Head to pjstar.com/sports to vote. The poll closes at noon Friday. Information about the nominees is below.
If you have a nominee for the honor, email us at sports@pjstar.com or tag us on Twitter @pjstarsports. Last week, Taylor Ford of the Abingdon-Avon softball team was named JS athlete of the week.
Garrett Cox, Washington baseball
Cox has become Mr. Clutch over the last few weeks. The senior blasted a walk-off home run on Saturday to beat Ottawa, 7-6, in eight innings. His solo shot helped the Panthers go 2-0 on the rain-soaked week. Washington scored one in the bottom of the seventh to put the game into extra innings and set up Cox's heroics. This marked the second walk-off homer of the season for Cox, whose two-run blast beat Illinois Valley Central on March 29.
Walk it off young man! pic.twitter.com/iVwQCb3458
— Jonathan Cox (@Jcox7206) April 6, 2024
Ellie Schaffer, Metamora softball
Schaffer made the most of four games at the annual Margie Wright Showcase on Friday and Saturday. The junior outfielder hit .429 on six hits with six RBIs, a stolen base and posted an .866 OPS. She went 3-for-3 with a double and three RBIs as Metamora lost Class 4A No. 13 Huntley, 10-6, on Saturday. The Redbirds head into the week 9-3 and ranked No. 2 in Class 3A by the Illinois Coaches Association.
Sydney Fitch, Limestone girls soccer
Fitch posted a hat trick in a 9-0 win against Illinois Valley Central on Saturday. The Rockets picked up their sixth victory of the season including their fourth nonconference win via shutout. Limestone outscored those four opponents, 25-0.
Syriah Boyd, Galesburg girls track and field
The senior was a three-event winner in Friday's 34th annual Silver Streak Invite at Galesburg. Boyd swept the sprints, clocking in at a personal-best 12.22 seconds in the 100-meter dash, adding 200-meter dash (25.03 seconds) and 400-meter dash (59.21 seconds) victories. She also teamed with Ella Herchenroder, Khloe May and Kalia Cunningham to take second in the 4x100-meter relay (51.14 seconds). Galesburg won the 12-team meet, edging out Dunlap, 98-85.
Brayden Morse, Farmington boys track and field
Morse posted an outdoor meet personal best in the pole vault Friday night at the Lee Calhoun Invitational hosted by Western Illinois. His vault of 12 feet, 5.5 inches was nearly 4 inches higher than runner-up finisher Riley Foglesong of South Fulton (12 feet, 1.75 inches). Morse cleared 13 feet at an indoor meet on March 13.
Daniel Lin, Dunlap boys tennis
Lin swept through his singles matches at Saturday's Troy Triad Invitational, posting a 3-0 record. The Eagles finished 3-2 on the day, beating the hosts, Quincy Notre Dame and Belleville West.
V1 & V2 go a combined 3-3 at the Triad Invite. Split squads & next man up all day. Can’t get better without setbacks!
V1 2nd with 2-3 loss to Lindbergh, MO@DunlapAthletics@hoijim@KurtPegler@ClutchSportsIL@icetimeclevepic.twitter.com/GIl7tGrAYR— Dunlap Tennis (@Dunlaptennis) April 6, 2024
Adam Duvall is a Journal Star sports reporter. Email him at aduvall@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @AdamDuvall.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Journal Star athlete of the week: Vote in poll for Peoria high schools
