Each week, publications from the The Southern California News Group’s 11 properties (Orange County Register, L.A. Daily News, Press-Enterprise, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Long Beach Press-Telegram, The Daily Breeze, San Bernardino Sun, Daily Bulletin, Redlands Daily Facts, Whittier Daily News and Pasadena-Star News) nominate Athletes of the Week for their respective region.
Each nominee is entered into the overall Southern California Athlete of the Week county-wide vote.
Click on the newspaper links below the athlete’s name to read about their performance from last week, and then vote for who you think is the best athlete this week.
Readers are allowed to vote multiple times. Voting ends at midnight, but final totals aren’t always immediately reflected due to processing.
BOYS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK VOTING
The overall winner will be announced on Friday, Oct. 25.
Voting poll at bottom of the page.
Alejandra Ayala, Paramount: Ayala out-kicked Warren’s Michelle Huerta over the last 200 yards and sprinted to a neck-and-neck victory in the second San Gabriel Valley League cluster meet at Cerritos Regional Park, giving her a sweep of the cluster runs and the second-best mark by an SGVL runner this season. Ayala was clocked at 18:00.5 on the 3-mile course, seven-tenths of a second ahead of Huerta. Ayala finished nearly 45 seconds ahead of Warren’s Nadine Gomez, the defending league champion, at last month’s Woodbridge Classic.
Takenya Stafford, Bishop Montgomery: Stafford helped the Knights win their last two league matches to go undefeated in league and win the Del Rey League title. She had nine kills and 11 digs in a four-set win over La Salle and 15 kills, 11 digs and three blocks in a four-set win over St. Joseph.
Ellie Garcia, Don Lugo: Garcia, an outside hitter and team captain, helped Don Lugo knock off Chino and Diamond Bar to finish 9-1 in the Mt. Baldy League and win the league title for the first time since 2013. Garcia hit .333 and compiled 14 kills against Diamond Bar and hit .370 with 12 kills vs. Chino. The Conquistadores host Rialto in the first round of the CIF-SS playoffs on Thursday.
Shadyn Skinner, Hemet: Skinner, a libero, had 48 digs over two matches to help the Bulldogs clinch a share of the Mountain Pass League’s championship, the 10th consecutive season the program has won a league title. In a sweep of Tahquitz, Skinner registered 29 digs, two shy of her career-high total. She added 19 more digs when the Bulldogs swept West Valley. Skinner is averaging more than four digs per set this season.
Tiffany Le, Walnut: Le’s two-day total of 143 at the California Country Club and Diamond Bar Golf Course, respectively, earned her the Hacienda League Individual title and led the Mustangs to their ninth straight league championship. She’ll be one of the favorites to win a CIF-Southern Section Individual title next week at the Soule Park Golf Course in Ojai.
Brionna Nguyen, Yorba Linda: Nguyen won two of her three singles matches to help Yorba Linda defeat visiting Troy 11-7 in a nonleague clash of CIF-SS Division 1 teams. Nguyen improved to 25-2. “Brionna has played outstanding all season, especially in our narrow victories over Woodbridge, Beckman, Portola and Troy,” Mustangs coach Rey Lejano said. “Our team’s rise these past two seasons has a lot to do with Brionna playing big against talented opponents.”
Isabella Martinez, Chaminade: Martinez anchored a big week for the Eagles, which included a sweep of Louisville and a thrilling five-set win over Alemany. In those matches, the standout sophomore had a combined 39 kills and 42 digs. “Isabella is one of the most coachable and awesome kids I have ever had the opportunity to coach,” Chaminade coach Cory Chandler said of Martinez, who is also a 4.0 student. “She’s a hard worker, diligent learner, highly motivated and passionate.” The win over Alemany helped the Eagles earn the No. 4 seed in the CIF Southern Section Division 5 playoffs. Chaminade’s first-round game at Bishop Amat is on Thursday at 6 p.m.
