Central Valley football player Beau Butner voted Washington High School Athlete of Week

Congratulations to the Bears' running back on being voted SBLive’s Washington High School Athlete of the Week for Sept. 30-Oct. 5!

Central Valley's Beau Butner voted SBLive WA athlete of week for Sept. 30-Oct. 5.. / Graphic illustration by Jesus Baca

Congratulations to Central Valley's Beau Butner for being voted SBLive’s Washington High School Athlete of the Week for Sept. 30-Oct. 5!

Previous to this season, Butner's biggest claim to fame was the insane amount of kicks he has blocked in his career. But as the undisputed first-year starting running back, the senior had a night for the ages against 3A Greater Spokane League rival Ridgeline, rushing for 367 yards and totaling six touchdowns (8, 28, 58, 73, 4 yards; also 78-yard catch) in a win. It was a single-game league record, eclipsing the 366 set by East Valley of Spokane's Scott Campbell in 2003.

Butner received 63.1% of the vote, beating out Chiawana record-setter Braxton Feldmann, who finished second with 36.5%.

We are currently accepting Washington Athlete of the Week nominations. If you would like to nominate an athlete, please email athleteoftheweek@scorebooklive.com or message us on Twitter or Instagram at @sblivewa.

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Here are the other athletes who were nominated for the week of Sept. 30-Oct. 5:

WASHINGTON NOMINEES

Lance Allred, Royal football: Reigning Class 1A state player of the year had 423 yards of total offense - 287 passing yards and four touchdowns, and 136 rushing yards and four more scores - in the No. 1 Knights win at fourth-ranked Cashmere.

Sam Arango, Lynden football: Pulled in six catches for a career-high 142 yards, including a 36-yard touchdown from Brant Heppner. He also caught the game-winning two-point conversion as the Lions rallied past Sehome.

Braxton Feldmann, Chiawana football: Senior was a big-play scoring machine Friday, rushing for a school-record 311 yards on 15 carries, scoring five touchdowns, including one on an 80-yard scamper in the Riverhawks' win over Southridge.

Sydney Garner, Monroe girls soccer: The striker has a knack for coming up big late in matches, including in a 4-3 Wesco win over Stanwood in which she netted the game winner with three minutes remaining. She tallied all four goals in the match.

Shaylie Haij, Seton Catholic girls soccer: Sophmore midfielder registered her fourth hat track (tying career-best three goals) in win over Stevenson, then had a career-high five assists (with a pair of goals) in a win over Kalama in 1A Trico action.

Joe Harward, Bellingham football: Collected 11 catches for 155 yards, including 15-yard touchdown. He also added 31 rushing yards as the Bayhawks won their first game of 2024 with a win over Granite Falls.

Elektra Higgins, Peninsula girls cross country: Senior posted a personal-best 5K time in winning the 28th John Payne XC Invitational. She covered the course at Chambers Bay in 17 minutes, 0.7 seconds in winning by more than seven seconds. Her mark ranks No. 3 in Washington.

Mara Sandberg, Gonzaga Prep volleyball: Sophomore outside hitter recorded a season-high 19 kills as the Bullpups survived their biggest Greater Spokane League test with a four-set win over Lewis & Clark. They have won 10 matches in a row since loss to Wenatchee.

A.J. Tuivaiave, Graham-Kapowsin football: In what might be looked at as his true coming-out party, the ninth grader completed 20 of 26 passes for 425 yards and a school-record seven touchdowns in leading the Eagles past Yelm in matchup between two former WIAA champions.

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