Vote now: Who should be SBLive's Indiana High School Athlete of the Week (Oct. 17-22)?

Here are the candidates for SBLive's Indiana High School Athlete of the Week for Oct. 17-22 as nominated by fans, readers and SBLive’s staff

By Kevin Messenger

Here are the candidates for SBLive's Indiana High School Athlete of the Week for Oct. 17-22 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 INDIANA 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.

Jalen Bonds, Heritage Christian football

Bonds rushed for 203 yards on 28 carries and scored on a 49-yard run to stake Heritage Christian to a 35-10 lead. Bonds later scored on a short TD reception to help the Eagles to a 49-45 sectional win.

Alayna Christner, Western Boone girls volleyball

Christner had 11 kills and six blocks while leading Western Boone past Guerin Catholic in the regional championship match. Over two regional matches, the junior tallied 18 kills and eight blocks.

Paul DeWitt, LaVille football

DeWitt smashed his way to four first-half touchdowns to lead LaVille to a 51-6 win over Whiting and matchup next week with highly-ranked Andrean in a sectional semifinal. DeWitt scored from 19 yards out on the game’s fifth play and with just 90 seconds off the clock.

Trey Ehman, Hamilton Heights football

Ehman rushed for 224 yards and three touchdowns to help Hamilton Heights get past Maconaquah. Ehman’s 71-yard burst put his team into a 7-6 lead and moments later he added a 12-yard run for a 14-6 lead.

George Ferguson, Park Tudor boys soccer

Ferguson scored both goals in a 2-0 win over top-ranked Westview to help Park Tudor earn its first berth in the state finals. The win was a bit of sweet revenge for Ferguson and Park Tudor who, last year, fell to eventual state champion Westview 2-1 at semistate.

Maverick Geske, Brebeuf Jesuit football

Geske threw for 202 yards on 15 of 26 passing and four touchdowns to lead the Braves to a sectional win over Northview.

Lauren Harden, Hamilton Southeastern girls volleyball

Harden and the Royals dispatched Fishers in three sets and got past top contender McCutcheon 3-1 to reach next week’s semistate. The junior blocker was a key in defending against the Mavericks. Harden totaled 21 kills over the regional weekend with 11 against McCutcheon. Perhaps more important were her 11 total blocks though, with six against McCutcheon.

Julia Kiesler, Columbus North girls cross country

Kiesler paced the Bull Dogs’ efforts in a dominant first-place finish at the Brown County semistate last weekend. Her time of 17:17.3 was her best of the season and 36 seconds faster than her nearest challenger, teammate Lily Baker.

Gretchen Moore, Yorktown girls volleyball

Yorktown coach Stephanie Bloom credited her defense with controlling Brownsburg’s talented attack line in last week’s regional final and it was the senior Moore who delivered 17 blocks over two regional wins against No. 4 Brebeuf (9 blocks) and No. 7 Brownsburg (8). Moore added 14 kills and two aces while helping No. 2 Yorktown reach this week’s semistate.

Blaine Nunnally, New Palestine football

Helping the Dragons overcome their first deficit of the season, Nunnally picked off two passes for New Palestine and scored two receiving touchdowns of his own. He caught six passes for 127 yards and two scores, including an early 66-yarder, on offense. His defensive exploits helped turn the game. Leading 28-24 midway through the fourth quarter, it was Nunnally’s second pick that set up a clinching 16-yard score by QB Danny Tippit on the very next play.

Nick Patterson, Mooresville football

After a rough start Friday night, Patterson stepped up once again this week to lead the Pioneers to a big win over Lebanon 34-24. He accounted for 270 total yards and four touchdowns.

Devan Roberts, Gibson Southern football

Roberts toted the ball 31 times on Friday for 205 yards and a pair of TDs as Gibson Southern rolled into next week’s sectional semifinal.

Nicki Southerland, Delta girls cross country

Southerland clocked a 17:05.6 to win medalist honors at the New Haven semistate. It was six-tenths of a second behind the personal-best time that she ran two weeks ago in the sectionals. It was 14 seconds ahead of her closest challenger, Addison Knoblauch of Homestead.

Grayson Thomas, New Palestine football

Thomas had a workmanlike 192 yards on 33 carries to help New Pal control the tempo. It was Thomas’ 10-yard run early in the fourth period that put the Dragons back into a 28-24 lead that it never relinquished.

Meredith Tippner, Noblesville girls soccer

Tippner scored four of the Millers’ seven goals in a dominant 7-0 win over No. 12 Crown Point. Tippner’s hat trick gave Noblesville a 3-0 lead in the first 24 minutes. She added a fourth during a 6-0 shutout by halftime. Top-ranked Noblesville will battle Carmel next week for the 3A girls state title.

Drew VanVleet, Bishop Chatard football

VanVleet tossed five touchdown passes before halftime as the Trojans built a 40-7 lead over Northwestern on their way to a 47-19 victory.

Charlotte Vinson, Yorktown volleyball

The Yorktown sophomore paced the No. 2-ranked Tigers (35-2) while downing No. 4 Brebeuf and No. 7 Brownsburg to advance to this week’s semistate. Vinson managed 34 kills, 25 digs and three aces over the pair of regional matches.

Jackson Willis, Indianapolis Lutheran football

The Class A top-ranked Saints haven’t lost in nearly two years and sophomore QB hopes to extend that streak a bit longer. Willis completed 14 of 18 passes for 262 yards and four touchdowns. All four scores came in the first half of a 42-0 blowout of Class A contender South Putnam.

Brian Wuest, Danville football

Wuest helped the Warriors advance to the sectional semifinals as Danville knocked off Tri-West. The Warriors’ two-way star caught six passes for 112 yards and two touchdowns, and he twice picked off Tri-West QB Ty Owens. Both of his touchdown catches came in the second quarter as Danville built a 21-7 advantage.

Justin Zdobylak, Guerin Catholic football

Zdobylak was the Golden Eagles’ workhorse while earning a hard-fought, 24-21 victory to shatter Oak Hill’s hopes of an unbeaten season. Zdobylak carried 40 times for 209 yards and set the temp early with two scores for a 14-0 Guerin Catholic lead.

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Congratulations to Brebeuf Jesuit's Sydney Robinson for being voted the SBLive Indiana High School Athlete of the Week for Oct. 10-15 after receiving more than 42 percent of the votes.

Battling through a bout of shoulder soreness, Robinson led the No. 4-ranked Braves to a sectional championship. She turned in 18 kills against Perry Meridian, then 16 against conference rival and No. 10 Roncalli in a four-set win that sent Brebeuf into regionals.

Isaac Wilson of Pendleton Heights football was second in the voting. 

Previous winners: Franklin's John Shepard (Oct. 3-8), Carmel golfer Claire Swathwood (Sept. 26-Oct. 1), Greenfield-Central golfer Sydney Wherry (Sept. 19-24), East Central (St. Leon) running back Josh Ringer (Sept. 12-17), North Putnam running back Noah Claycomb (Sept. 4-10), Chatard soccer goalkeeper Olivia Hill, (Aug. 29-Sept. 3) and Terre Haute South Vigo outside hitter Lilly Merk (Aug. 22-28).