Vote: Who should be SBLive's Illinois High School Athlete of the Week (11/13/2023)?
Here are the candidates for SBLive's Illinois High School Athlete of the Week as nominated by fans, readers and SBLive’s staff.
Read through the nominees and cast your vote at the bottom of the page. Voting will conclude on Sunday at 11:59 p.m. and the winner will be announced the following week. If you would like to nominate an athlete in the future, please email athleteoftheweek@scorebooklive.com.
THIS WEEK’S SBLIVE ILLINOIS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK NOMINEES:
Editor’s Note: Our Athlete of the Week feature and corresponding poll is intended to be fun, and we do not set limits on how many times a fan can vote during the competition. However, we do not allow votes that are generated by script, macro or other automated means. Athletes that receive votes generated by script, macro or other automated means will be disqualified.
Nicholas Arogundade, Loyola Academy football
The senior had an 80-yard TD catch on the first play from scrimmage and added a 54-yard scoring reception later in the game. He finished with four catches for 145 yards in a 41-7 Class 8A quarterfinal win over St. Ignatius.
Aaron Ball, St. Laurence football
The senior scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 2-yard run with 21 seconds remaining in a 24-20 Class 4A quarterfinal win over IC Catholic. He finished with 90 rushing yards and two TDs.
Robert Battle, East St. Louis football
In a 39-13 Class 6A quarterfinal victory over Kankakee, the senior threw for 196 yards and two scores along with 103 yards and another touchdown on the ground.
Isabelle Beu, St. Charles North girls swimming
The junior took first in the 200-yard individual medley at state with a time of 1:58.37.
Ryan Boe, Batavia football
The North Dakota State recruit completed 15 of his 24 passes for 303 yards and five touchdowns in a 55-14 Class 7A quarterfinal win against Hononegah.
Isaiah Brown, Batavia football
The junior caught five passes for 157 yards and two touchdowns in a 55-14 Class 7A quarterfinal victory over Hononegah.
Tommy Davis, Normal football
The senior ran for 164 yards and three touchdowns in a 45-28 Class 7A quarterfinal win against Glenbard East.
Elijah Genenbacher, Camp Point Central football
The junior rushed for a game-high 96 yards and three touchdowns and also had eight tackles on defense in a 42-22 Class 1A quarterfinal win over Althoff.
Robert Grant, Wheaton Academy football
In a 42-7 Class 4A quarterfinal victory over Sandwich, the junior finished with 13 tackles – including three tackles for loss.
Katie Gresik, Oswego East co-op girls swimming
The senior won the 500-yard freestyle at state with a time of 4:52.19.
Addie Hefel, Galena girls volleyball
The senior had 14 kills and eight digs in a 25-23, 25-16 win over Harrsburg-Emden for the Class 1A state title. She also had nine kills and six digs in a semifinal victory against Effingham St. Anthony.
Addy Horner, St. Francis girls volleyball
The junior had 13 kills, 23 assists and 17 digs in a 23-25, 25-23, 26-24 victory over Lincoln in the Class 3A state final. She also had 12 kills, 13 assists and six digs in a semifinal win against Morton.
Reid Juster, Wilmington football
The senior kicked two field goals – a 54-yarder as time expired in the first half and a 37-yarder at the end of regulation to force overtime. He also caught three passes for 41 yards in a 20-14 overtime win against Seneca in the Class 2A quarterfinals.
Greta Kavanagh, Loyola girls swimming and diving
The senior scored 483.80 points to win the state diving championship.
Katie Kuehn, Fremd girls swimming and diving
The senior won the 50-yard freestyle state title in 22.79 seconds.
Owen Lansu, Downers Grove North football
The sophomore passed for 259 yards and four touchdowns in a 34-6 Class 7A quarterfinal win against Lincoln-Way West.
Luke Mailander, York football
The senior caught 10 passes for 204 yards and two touchdowns in a 36-29 Class 8A quarterfinal win against Edwardsville.
Alex Marre, Montini football
In a 27-9 Class 3A quarterfinal victory over Princeton, the senior ran for 174 yards and three TDs.
Alessio Milivojevic, St. Francis football
The Ball State commit passed for 164 yards and two touchdowns and also ran for two TDs in a 37-14 Class 5A quarterfinal win against Morgan Park.
Nuri Muhammad, Lincoln-Way East football
The senior ran for 123 yards and two touchdowns in a 24-0 Class 8A quarterfinal shutout of Warren.
Elizabeth Nawrocki, Rosary girls swimming and diving
The junior won the 100-yard breaststroke state title in 1:00.98.
Addison Nenninger, Breese Mater Dei girls volleyball
The sophomore had four kills, 18 assists and six digs in a 25-21, 25-22 win over IC Catholic in the Class 2A state final. She also had 20 assists and 10 digs in a semifinal win over Rock Falls.
Annika Parkhe, Deerfield girls swimming and diving
The senior won two events at state, taking the 100-yard freestyle in 48.47 and the 100 backstroke in 54.40.
Nick Peipert, Barrington football
The junior threw for 482 yards and five TDs in a 42-40 Class 8A quarterfinal win against Maine South.
Jimmy Penley, Nazareth football
The junior had seven catches for 106 yards and the game-winning touchdown with 46 seconds left in a 21-17 Class 5A quarterfinal win against Carmel. He also had a late interception to seal the victory.
Chris Pirrone, Lake Zurich football
The senior ran 31 times for 139 yards and scored two touchdowns in a 14-10 Class 6A quarterfinal win against Belvidere North.
Andrew Prio, Cary-Grove football
The senior ran for 118 yards and two scores and also caught a 5-yard touchdown pass in a 41-7 Class 6A quarterfinal win against Geneva.
Becky Rentz, Rosary girls swimming and diving
The junior won two individual events at the state meet, taking first in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:47.47 and going 53.47 to win the 100 butterfly. She also was a member of two first-place relay teams: the 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle.
Jack Trautmann, York football
In a 36-29 Class 8A quarterfinal victory over Edwardsville, the senior had five tackles and tied the program single-game record with four sacks.
Ellie White, Mother McAuley girls volleyball
The senior had 18 kills and eight digs as the Mighty Macs beat Benet 25-22, 18-25, 25-16 for the Class 4A state title. She also had 10 kills and 10 digs in a semifinal win over Barrington.
- Mike Carpinelli, Mike Clark and Nate Latsch contributed to this list.
• Check out the Illinois Athlete of the Week page on SBLive Sports
PREVIOUS WINNERS: Althoff's Antwan Strong (Oct. 23-29), Breese Central's Griffen Becker (Oct. 16-22), Mater Dei's Markus Kehrer (Oct. 9-15), Hersey's Thomas Mulder (Oct. 2-8), Dixon's Katie Drew (Sept. 25-Oct. 1), Barrington's Scout Storms (Sept. 18-24), Neuqua Valley's Andrew Hoffman (Sept. 11-17), Naperville North's Cole Arl (August 28-Sept. 3), Joliet Catholic's Patrick Durbin (August 28-Sept. 3), Waubonsie Valley's Tyler Threat (August 21-27).
For live updates and complete statewide results, bookmark our Illinois high school football scoreboard: STATEWIDE ILLINOIS FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD
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- Mike Clark | latsch@scorebooklive.com | @SBLiveIL
