Vote: Who should be SBLive's Florida High School Athlete of the Week (3/20/2024)?

Vote now to select SBLive Sports Florida High School Athlete of the Week for Mar. 11-Mar. 16

Here are the candidates for SBLive’s Florida High School Athlete of the Week for Mar. 11-Mar. 16 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, March 24th at 11:59 p.m. and the winner will be announced in next week's poll. 


SBLive Sports Athlete of the Week winner
SBLive Athlete of the Week winner

Congratulations to last week’s winner, Troy Guthrie, Baseball, Parrish Community! 


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. 

Here are the nominations: 

Noah Franco, Baseball, IMG Academy: The TCU commitment was on his ‘A’ game in the Ascenders’ 3-0 St. Johns Country Day, with Franco going five innings, throwing 86 pitches and striking out five. 

Gabe Troya, Baseball, Carrollwood Day: Troya is back on the list after winning last week and for good reason. The junior pitcher went the distance in a 2-0 win over Brooks-DeBartolo, going seven innings, allowed four hits and struck out nine. 

Couper Gatch, Baseball, Eustis: The junior hurler pitched a complete game, striking out three, to lead the Panthers past Montverde Academy, 2-1 last week. 

Cade Eidam, Baseball, Ponte Vedra: Eidam helped Ponte Vedra secure their first win of the year last week when he went 3-for-4, had one stolen base, and he scored one run. In their two other games, Eidam tallied three hits with one RBI.

Peyton Rassbach, Baseball, Imagine School of North Port: The freshman pitcher went five innings, pitching a no hitter and striking out 11 batters in a 17-0 win over the Gulf Coast HEAT. 

Braden Smith, Baseball, George Jenkins: Smith pitched all seven innings of a three-hit shutout against Wellington. He struck out six and walked one in the win. 

Joseph McRoy, Baseball, FAMU DRS: In their win last week versus Baker County, McRoy was 4-for-4 with two doubles and six RBIs. He was also a problem on the base paths as he had two stolen bases and scored three runs.

Katelynn Oxley, Softball, Bartow: The University of Florida signee struck out nine Lake Region hitters and walked none in four innings, to spark a 7-0 win. She also went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs against Auburndale. 

Leila Ammon, Softball, Gulf Breeze: In the win over Vancleave (MS), she drove in two runs to help lead the Dolphins to victory. Ammon also pitched 21.2 innings last week over three games. Ammon only allowed five hits, three runs and recorded 30 strikeouts.

Sabrina Boyer, Softball, Windermere: Boyer went 4-for-5 with two doubles, home run, two runs scored and six RBI to lead the Wolverines past Boone 14-3. 

Jena Edwards, Softball, Yulee: The Hornets won their game over Bradford 11-8 and Edwards was a big reason why. She was 3-for-3 with two doubles and one home run. She also recorded three RBIs and scored two runs. 

Kaydence Evans, Softball, Braden River: Evans has continued her hot hand in the 941, with the sophomore going five innings of one hit ball and striking out 11 in a 12-0 win over Cardinal Mooney. 

Sydney Klein, Softball, Academy at the Lakes: The senior pitcher was terrific in the Wildcats’ 6-1 win over Nature Coast, going the full seven innings, striking out 17 batters and only giving up one run. 

Courtney Wahlbrink, Softball, Coral Springs Charter: The freshman pitcher was superb in the Panthers’ 12-0 win over Pompano Beach, going six innings, allowing no hits and striking out 12 batters. 

Stella Gutierrez, Girls Flag Football, St. Thomas Aquinas: Gutierrez arguably had the top passing performance last week of any girls flag quarterback. The Raiders’ signal caller completed 29-of-37 passes for 333 yards and six touchdowns in a 46-6 win over Don Soffer Aventura. 

Amaya Pablo, Girls Flag Football, Pace: The junior signal caller had the hot hand in the Patriots’ 68-0 win over Northview, throwing for 327 yards and nine touchdowns. 

Ashley Purdy, Girls Flag Football, Sandalwood: The Sandalwood quarterback completed 7-of-9 passes for 205 yards, four touchdowns in a 56-0 win over Englewood. 

Victoria Fernandez, Girls Flag Football, Lakewood Ranch: The Mustangs’ quarterback completed 23-of-29 passes for 265 yards for accounted for two touchdowns in a 20-18 loss to Tampa Catholic. 

Ava Kopp, Girls Flag Football, Tampa Catholic: Kopp was literally perfect passing wise in a 20-18 win over Lakewood Ranch. The junior completed all 15 of her passes for 93 yards and two touchdowns. 

Zoey O'Nan, Girls Flag Football, Riverdale: The Raiders’ quarterback for nine touchdowns in three games, plus intercepted two passes on defense. O’Nan has been one of the top passers in SWFL. 

-- Andy Villamarzo | villamarzo@scorebooklive.com | @sblivefl


Published
Andy Villamarzo
ANDY VILLAMARZO

Andy Villamarzo has been a sports writer in the Tampa Bay (FL) Area since 2007, writing for publications such as Tampa Bay Times, The Tampa Tribune, The Suncoast News, Tampa Beacon, Hernando Sun to name a few. Andy resides out of the Tarpon Springs, FL area and started as a writer with SB Live Sports in the summer of 2022 covering the Tampa Bay Area. He has quickly become one of Florida's foremost authorities on high school sports, appearing frequently on podcasts, radio programs and digital broadcasts as an expert on team rankings, recruiting and much more.