Editor’s note: We prohibit the use of bots and any other artificial methods of voting. Suspicious activity could lead to the disqualification of candidates and a permanent suspension of the Athlete of the Week poll. No voting by email: Votes by email and after 5 p.m. Wednesday are not counted.
Welcome to the Bay Area News Group (Mercury News & East Bay Times) girls Athlete of the Week poll.
For the entire academic year, we will provide a list of candidates who stood out over the previous week and allow you, the reader, to vote for the winner.
This week, we consider performances from Nov. 17-22.
Polls close at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Vote as many times as you’d like until then without using bots or any other artificial methods of voting.
Votes by email and after 5 p.m. Wednesday are not counted.
Scroll to the bottom for the poll.
Winners are announced each Friday online and in the print edition of the Mercury News and East Bay Times sports sections.
Candidates for future Athlete of the Week polls can be nominated at highschools@bayareanewsgroup.com.
We accept nominations until 11 a.m. each Monday.
We also review stats submitted to MaxPreps by coaches/team statisticians.
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On to the nominees:
Emily Bellinger, California cross country: Bellinger won the Division I race at the North Coast Section cross country championships on Saturday at Hayward High School, finishing with a time of 18:20.9 to just barely edge out Berkeley’s Carina Nottingham by seven-tenths of a second.
Makenna Crosson, Archbishop Mitty volleyball: The senior Minnesota commit had 25 kills on a .320 hitting average, 12 digs and three set assists as Mitty’s season ended with a tight five-set loss to Rocklin in the CIF NorCal Open Division championship match.
Victoria Cui, Crystal Springs golf: Cui won the CIF girls golf individual state championship at Poppy Hills golf club in Pebble Beach with a score of 4-under-par, carding a 67 to beat Palos Verdes’ Rina Kawasaki by one stroke.
Jocelyn Fiel, Sequoia volleyball: The Ravens’ libero had 12 digs and 16 successful serve receives without an error in Sequoia’s CIF Division III state championship match against Our Lady of Peace on Saturday in Orange. She added 22 digs and four aces in Sequoia’s win over Lincoln-San Francisco in the NorCal D-III final on Tuesday.
Erin Lee, Dougherty Valley golf: Lee finished with a 1-under-par 70 at the CIF girls golf state championships at Poppy Hills golf club in Pebble Beach, tying for seventh place and the best individual finish among NCS players.
KayIie O’Connell, Monte Vista cross country: O’Connell won the Division II title at the NCS cross country championships, clocking a time of 17:44.3 to beat Redwood’s Sydney Middleton by 10.9 seconds.
Lily Peng, Carondelet golf: Peng carded a 1-under-par 70 to tie for seventh at the CIF state championship meet, also helping Carondelet finish fifth overall as a team with a collective score of 40-over-par.
Emma Tran, James Logan volleyball: Tran led James Logan with 30 digs as the Colts’ season came to an end with a hard-fought four-set loss to Woodcreek in the CIF Division I championship.
Stevie Umali, St. Ignatius golf: The junior carded a 1-under-par 70 to tie for seventh at the CIF girls golf state championships at Poppy Hills golf club in Pebble Beach.
Gretchen Yakaitis, Carondelet cross country: Yakaitis paced the field at the NCS Division III cross country championships, finishing with a time of 17:45.2 to win the race by 11.1 seconds over Northgate’s Olivia Joseph.
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