Vote: Who should be SBLive’s Nebraska high school athlete of the week (10/23/2023)?
Here are the candidates for SBLive’s Nebraska high school athlete of the week for Oct. 16-22. Read through the nominees and cast your vote. Voting will conclude Sunday at 11:59 p.m. If you would like to make a nomination in a future week, email athleteoftheweek@scorebooklive.com.
Editor’s Note: Our Athlete of the Week feature and corresponding poll are 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 who receive votes generated by script, macro or other automated means will be disqualified.
Kamryn Behrns – David City Volleyball
Behrns has played in 29 matches this season and has double-digit kills in all of them but two. Since Sept. 19, she’s had at least 11 in all of them and currently sits in the top five in all of Nebraska in total kills. This past week she added 67 to her total in a matter of just four matches. One of those four included her best of the season when she piled up 27 kills in a match against Bishop Neumann. Behrns collected those 27 kills on 64 swings with just five errors for an impressive .344 hitting percentage. Behrns has 427 total kills and is averaging nearly six per set.
Sienna Borer – Boone Central Volleyball
Good luck getting a ball down against this defender. Borer is just a newcomer but she hasn’t had any trouble adjusting to the varsity level of competition. The freshman ranks among the top 20 in Nebraska in digs and could pass 500 before the season concludes. This past week, Borer played three matches and piled up 62 digs. Her best match was 35 digs in a match against O’Neill on Oct. 16. It was the second time this season she had 30 or more digs in a match, falling quite a bit behind an impressive 55 back in August in just the fourth match of her career. She’s had six matches with 20 or more digs and averages 5.6 per set.
Sofia Dill – Ashland-Greenwood Softball
Dill has already had a lot of big moments in her young career, but none bigger than last week when she pitched the Bluejays to the first softball title in school history. The sophomore has had more dominant performances, but her complete-game effort with eight strikeouts and no runs allowed was just what Ashland-Greenwood needed in a 2-0 Class C state championship win over Bishop Neumann. It was her fourth complete game of the year, first since August, and the 15th time in 28 appearances she hasn’t allowed an earned run. Dill finishes with just 38 earned runs in 125 innings and 212 strikeouts.
Lindee Henning – Ogallala Cross Country
Always the bridesmaid, never the bride? Not so fast. Henning had walked away from the state meet each of the last three years as the runner-up. She ran her best time of the season in her freshman trip to state but was still 10 seconds behind the winner. That is as close as she would come for the next two years when she was a silver medalist to a back-to-back winner. All that frustration came to an end Friday when she was the dominant runner in a championship performance that hit the line more than 20 seconds ahead of second place. It was Henning’s third win in a row, seventh of the season and the 20th of her career.
Presley Ivener – Papillion-La Vista Softball
Ivener couldn’t have done much more for the Monarchs during their Class A state title win over Millard North. The Papio senior was 3 for 4 with a double, scored three runs and scored two more in a win that gave the program its 16th title in school history. For Ivener, it was her second three-hit game of the season and it gave her an eight-game winning streak to end the season. Ivener hit a robust .418 this fall, drove in 27 runs, scored 27 runs and had 15 extra-base hits.
Katherine Kerrigan – Ainsworth Cross Country
Kerrigan had the experience but not the result she wanted at the state meet. The Ainsworth senior has run in Kearney three times and come home with three medals, silver, sixth and third. She was the runner-up last year but was a distant runner-up to Crofton’s Jordyn Arens, who won her third straight Class D state title. The two were on the course together again, but this time it was Kerrigan who was the best of the best. Her time of 20 minutes was nine seconds better than second place and gave Ainsworth its second state champion in school history after three from Rylee Rice.
Jordan Metzler – Wakefield Volleyball
Few setters in Nebraska can run an offense like the Wakefield senior. As the season moves into the subdistrict round, Metzler sits in the top 10 in the state and has over 800 assists on the year with an average of over 10 per set. This past week, Metlzer racked up 132 assists in five matches and had a top performance of 41 in a win over Bloomfield. She has had four matches with 40 or more assists and currently sits at 838 on the season.
Claire White – Westside Cross Country
Fifth, third and third – those were the state cross country finishes for Claire White when she stepped back onto the course at the Kearney Country Club on Friday. And as close as she was, it was still so far away. White was fifth as a freshman but 50 seconds back of the winner, third as a sophomore but 36 seconds behind the champ and third as a junior but 22 seconds trailing the winner. White had one last chance to make it right and did so with her fourth win of the year and second in a row at the state meet. Her time was just about eight seconds ahead of the runner-up, finally ending her quest for a championship and giving Westside its first champ in school history.
Kendall Zavala – Norris Cross Country
Zavala must have felt some redemption from a year ago when she hit the line first on Friday in Kearney and claimed the girls Class B state cross country championship. Zavala was the 2021 runner-up as a freshman but then ran about 28 seconds slower as a sophomore and finished in seventh. She left no doubt in her third race at state, taking her championship by just about 15 seconds and capturing her sixth win of the season. Zavala finishes her junior year with three straight wins, now has 13 wins in her career and has a year left to add to her legacy.
Reyse Zobel – Grand Island Northwest Softball
Zobel was at her best in the biggest moment of the year and delivered her team another state title. The Viking catcher was a perfect 4 for 4 at the plate, smacked a double and a home run and was the major offensive force in a game Northwest needed exactly that. The Vikings won their second straight Class B state championship 9-8 over Blair with such plays from Zobel that included an RBI single in the first, double in the third and home run in the sixth.
Quinn Bailey – Chadron Football
The Eagles sat on the brink of the playoffs and had to have a win Friday to keep the season alive. Chadron turned to its workhorse and found the formula to extend the season. For the eighth time in nine games and the sixth game in a row, Bailey churned up more than 100 yards rushing, found the end zone three times and led his team to a crucial 28-21 win over McCook. Bailey carried it 38 times and racked up 197 yards. Now in the postseason, Bailey brings 1,865 rushing yards and 27 touchdowns to a first-round game at Ashland-Greenwood. He has over 3,300 career rushing yards and 44 scores.
Lincoln Benne – Oakland-Craig Football
Benne went over 1,000 career receiving yards in Friday’s win over Logan View/Scribner-Snyder, and has had several top performances in that career, but none bigger than last week. The senior caught 10 passes for 188 yards, ripped off a long of 54 and scored a touchdown. Benne’s previous best was 127 yards in a game last season, and his best this year was 123. He has had three straight games with more than 100 yards receiving, has 41 catches on the season with 626 yards and has scored four touchdowns.
Riley Boonstra – Norris Cross Country
Boonstra closed one of the most dominant stretches in Class B history when he crossed the line for his second straight state championship on Friday in Kearney. The Norris senior caps a career that includes four state tournaments, three medals, back-to-back golds and 18 total wins. Boonstra entered the race on a six-meet winning streak and with wins in 14 of the past 15 races. The only time Boonstra didn’t finish on top the podium the past two years was the Platte River Rumble on Sept. 9 at Mahoney State Park. The winner that day was this year’s Class A state runner-up, and Boonstra still set a PR that day. At state he took his second title by just over a second.
Gavin Dutton-Mofford – Shelby-Rising City Football
The Huskies made it to the playoffs for the second year in a row this fall. After a few years of losing seasons, making it back to the postseason was a welcome change. But unlike last season, the Huskies will be extending their stay thanks to their offensive leader. Dutton-Mofford racked up his third 200-yard rushing game of the season, found the end zone twice and averaged more than 10 yards per run. He totaled 201 yards on 19 carries and surpassed 1,000 yards in a season for the first time in his career.
Juan Gonzalez – Fremont Cross Country
It looks like Gonzalez is on the doorstep of a dynasty after winning his second Class A state title. Gonzalez took the 2022 championship in 15 minutes, 36 seconds and edged out the runner-up by just about two seconds. Defending his title back in Kearney, Gonzalez left no doubt, dropping about 10 seconds off his time from a year ago and winning by more than 11 seconds. It was Gonzalez’s seventh with of the season and the 11th of his career. A junior, Gonzalez will have a chance to become a three-time state champ next fall – something that has only happened seven times in Nebraska history.
Gus Lampe – Omaha Roncalli Cross Country
Lampe made personal and school history at the state meet when he captured the Class C title at the Kearney Country Club. The Roncalli senior trailed most of the race but had just enough with his final kick to pass the leader and take the championship by two seconds. Roncalli had never had a boys champion until Lampe etched his name into Crimson Pride history with a run of 16:33.8.
Mason McGreer – Perkins County Cross Country
Unbeaten and largely untested, McGreer remained that way while winning the Class D state championship on Friday in Kearney. The Perkins County junior came in with seven straight wins, two other trips to state and 11 total wins in his career when he captured the biggest one yet. McGreer essentially matched his time from his district run a week earlier and took the crown by over eight seconds. He had a perfect season this fall, winning all eight races he started and five of them by 10 seconds or more.
Brady Singer – Douglas County West Football
DC West is in the midst of a historic season for the program, and Singer is a major catalyst in making it a reality. The senior had his best rushing game of the season, scored four times and collected 10 tackles. Singer surpassed 1,000 yards rushing for the season by taking 25 handoffs and turning those into a career-high 246 yards – an average of 9.8 yards per carry. He averaged nearly 10 yards per carry and put up his seventh 100-yard game of the season. As one of the top teams in Class C-1, the Falcons have a chance to make a deep run into November and give Singer the chance to be a rare 1,000-yard, 100-tack player.
Jett Thomalla – Millard South Football
Thomalla didn’t need many attempts to be effective. The Millard South quarterback threw just 14 passes in Friday’s win over Lincoln High. It was his fewest attempts of the season but one of his best games overall. Thomalla completed nine for 221 yards and three touchdowns. He went over 2,000 passing yards for the season and also rushed one time for 46 yards. Just a sophomore, Thomalla has completed 59% of his passes this fall, is averaging 232 passing yards per game and has 21 touchdowns.
Cooper Torrell – Lincoln Christian Football
The Crusaders might have found their running back of the future in Friday’s win over Syracuse. Torrell had never had a rushing attempt before the game, but then took 26 handoffs and turned those opportunities into 169 yards. He ripped off one run for 43 yards and scored four times. The freshman averaged 6.5 yards per carry and was the leading rusher in a Lincoln Christian rushing attack that piled up 700 rushing yards.
