Warrick Elder wins Week 8 Athlete of the Week; Vote for the Week 9 honoree here
HILLSDALE COUNTY — Congratulations to Jonesville senior Warrick Elder for winning the Week 8 Athlete of the Week ballot. Elder is the second Comet athlete in a row to win an Athlete of the Week honor.
Week 7 Winner: Comet junior Natalynn Beach wins Athlete of the Week
Elder was nominated after scoring six goals against Blissfield to help the Jonesville varsity boys soccer defeat Blissfield to win their first playoff game since 2016. Elder led a comeback when the team was down 5-2 in the second half to send the game to overtime. He then scored three overtime goals to seal the win for the Comets.
The runner up honoree was Hillsdale senior Annzley Francis. Francis was nominated after making her return to the Hornet girls golf team in Week 8. Francis missed most of her senior season due to a shoulder injury. The senior finished 11th individually at the regional finals with a final score of 103.
Honorable mentions included Ella Walton of Hillsdale Academy, Thomas Holm of Hillsdale Academy, Brooke Smith of Pittsford, Nolan Grant of Hillsdale, Halle Clark of Pittsford, Alexis Ewing of Jonesville, Ben Kunkel of Hillsdale and Alan Torres of Hillsdale.
Vote for the Week 9 Athlete of the Week
Week 9 Top Performers:Hillsdale and Reading Volleyball athletes lead teams to big wins
Nominations
Chloe Manifold - Hillsdale Volleyball: Hillsdale volleyball has nominated two athletes for their efforts for Week 9. Senior Chloe Manifold had 22 digs against Onsted in Week 9 and had 10 more digs against North Adams-Jerome in a senior night victory.
Kelah Hodge - Hillsdale Volleyball: Hillsdale volleyball has nominated two athletes for their efforts for Week 9. Senior Kelah Hodge had eight total blocks against Onsted on Tuesday during Week 9. Hodge also had a total of four kills.
Grant Walton - Hillsdale Academy Boys Soccer: Hillsdale Academy senior Grant Walton had two goals during his team's district title run in Week 9 of the fall sports season. The senior had one goal against the Comets in their district semifinal game and another against Manchester in their district championship win.
Abby Affholter - Reading Volleyball: The Rangers' thrilling five-set win over Union City was made possible by the efforts of players like junior Abby Affholter, who had 17 kills, three total blocks, nine digs, and three assists.
Gavin VanKampen - Jonesville Boys Cross Country: Jonesville senior Gavin VanKampen led his team with a second-place finish at the Cascades Championships with a final time of 16:51. This helped secure the team's co-share of the league championship. This was his seventh top three finish this season.
Nolan Grant - Hillsdale Boys Cross Country: Hillsdale senior Nolan Grant took third overall at the LCAA championships with a time of 16:50 to earn first team all-league honors.
Chloe Stalhood - Hillsdale Girls Cross Country: Hillsdale junior Chloe Stalhood took fifth overall at the LCAA championships with a time of 20:49. Stalhood also earned first-team all-league honors.
Thomas Holm - Hillsdale Academy Boys Cross Country: Hillsdale Academy senior Thomas Holm won the Class D individual championship on Saturday with a time of 16:12. He helped his team earn the overall Class D state championship.
Ella Walton - Hillsdale Academy Girls Cross Country: Hillsdale Academy junior Ella Walton led the Colts girls cross country team with a seventh overall finish at the Michigan Class D state championships with a time of 20:47. Her efforts helped the team win a Class D state title.
Brooke Smith - Pittsford Girls Cross Country: Pittsford senior Brooke Smith led all county girls cross country runners at the Class D championships with a third overall finish individually and a time of 19:49.
Coaching Staffs can submit Athlete of the Week nominations each Sunday to jflaherty@gannett.com. Coaching staffs can nominate multiple athletes from the same team and athletes can earn more than one Athlete of the Week honor each season. Nominations submitted by coaching staffs will receive an automatic spot in each ballot if there are less than 10 total submissions during the week.