Vote: Who should be SBLive's Illinois High School Athlete of the Week (11/20/2023)?
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.
Logan Abrams, Cary-Grove football
The sophomore rushed for 166 yards and all four of the Trojans' touchdowns in a 28-10 Class 6A semifinal win against Lake Zurich.
Aaron Ball, St. Laurence football
The senior all-stater, who plans to be a preferred walk-on at Illinois, rushed 30 times for 160 yards and four touchdowns in a 31-30 Class 4A semifinal win against Wheaton Academy.
Noah Battle, Downers Grove North football
The senior ran for 81 yards and a touchdown and returned the opening kickoff of the second half 87 yards for a TD in a 42-0 Class 7A semifinal shutout of Normal.
Robert Battle, East St. Louis football
The senior threw for 75 yards and three touchdowns and added 76 yards and a score on the ground in a 34-18 Class 6A semifinal win against Washington.
Ryan Boe, Batavia football
The North Dakota State commit passed for 309 yards and three TDs in a 64-26 Class 7A semifinal loss to Mount Carmel.
D'Myah Bolds, O'Fallon girls basketball
The senior center averaged 11 points, nine rebounds and three blocks in wins against Althoff, Quincy and Dunlap.
Elle Bruschuk, Willowbrook girls basketball
The senior had a double-double of 12 points and 15 rebounds, along with six assists, in a 46-24 victory against Morgan Park.
Jazmyne Bynum, Hyde Park girls basketball
The Miami-Dade commit had a triple-double of 25 points, 11 assists and 10 steals as the Thunderbirds beat Proviso East 65-26 to win their own tournament and improve to 4-0. She was named the tourney MVP.
Caden Considine, Byron football
The sophomore all-stater intercepted a pass in the fourth quarter and rushed for 244 yards and the game-winning touchdown with 3:29 left in a 26-20 Class 3A semifinal win against Montini.
Darrion Dupree, Mount Carmel football
The Wisconsin commit rushed for 74 yards and two touchdowns and added two touchdown receptions during a 64-26 Class 7A semifinal victory against Batavia.
Jack Elliott, Mount Carmel football
The junior quarterback passed for 461 yards and ran for 76 more, finishing with five total TDs in a 64-26 Class 7A semifinal win against Batavia.
Ryan Fitzgerald, Loyola football
The junior threw for 182 yards and a touchdown and added 67 yards and two touchdowns on the ground in a 23-14 Class 8A semifinal win over York.
Elijah Genenbacher, Camp Point Central football
The junior rushed 19 times for 175 yards and a career-high five touchdowns – all in the first half – in a 54-20 Class 1A semifinal win against Greenfield-Northwestern. He also contributed an interception on defense.
Ariella Henigan, Kenwood girls basketball
The junior guard scored 17 points in a 75-59 win against Homewood-Flossmoor and had 12 points, seven assists and five steals in a 69-26 victory over Amundsen.
Sophia Hoffmann, Carlyle girls basketball
The junior guard had 38 points, 23 rebounds and 19 assists during a 3-0 week that included wins against Waterloo, Greenville and Columbia.
Leon Howard, East St. Louis football
The sophomore linebacker had 11 tackles and a sack in a 34-18 Class 6A semifinal victory against Washington.
Lana Kerley, Lincoln-Way East girls basketball
The senior went over 1,000 points for her career, finishing with 22 points in a 59-46 victory over Stagg at the Hinsdale South Tournament.
Nikki Kerstein, Montini girls basketball
The junior scored 20 points, passing 1,000 for her career, in a 59-47 win against Lockport.
Brayden Knoll, Byron football
The junior running back rushed for 144 yards and three touchdowns during a 26-20 Class 3A semifinal victory over Montini.
Logan Malachuk, Nazareth football
The junior quarterback ran for two touchdowns in a 38-31 Class 5A semifinal win against St. Francis that avenged a regular-season loss.
Alex Marre, Montini football
The senior all-stater ran 25 times for 144 yards and two touchdowns in a 26-20 Class 3A semifinal loss to Byron.
Alessio Milivojevic, St. Francis football
The Ball State commit passed for 313 yards and four touchdowns in a 38-31 Class 5A semifinal loss against Nazareth.
Andres Munoz. Joliet Catholic football
The senior was 6-for-8 passing for 134 yards and two touchdowns, and also ran for a TD in a 31-21 Class 5A semifinal victory against Providence.
Braden Tischer, Lincoln-Way East football
The senior threw two touchdown passes and ran for another two scores during a 49-6 against Barrington in a Class 8A semifinal.
Bryan Zulauf, Rochester football
The junior completed nine of 14 passes for 181 yards and three touchdowns in a 42-14 Class 4A semifinal win against Murphysboro.
Contributing: Mike Carpinelli and Nate Latsch
Wilmington's Reid Juster voted SBLive’s Illinois High School Athlete of the Week (11/20/2023)
• Check out our Illinois Athlete of the Week page
PREVIOUS WINNERS: Blue Island Eisenhower's AJ Abrams (Oct. 30-Nov. 5), 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).
Illinois high school football: Top standouts, best performances in Week 13 (11/19/2023)
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- Mike Clark | latsch@scorebooklive.com | @SBLiveIL