Caddo Magnet’s Elena Pizarro tops Week 1 Shreveport Times Athlete of the Week voting
Caddo Magnet’s Elena Pizarro garnered enough votes this week to win the fifth annual Shreveport Times online poll for Athlete of the Week, sponsored by Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers, the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission and Silmon and Cosse Orthodontics.
A standout swimmer for the Mustangs, Pizarro becomes the first Magnet winner in the non-football poll for the 2023-24 school year. She joins previous winners that include Calvary's Landon Sylvie, Airline's Sicily Fontaine and Huntington's Jamarion Washington.
Pizarro and her supporters racked up 13,868 votes, a solid 48.3% of the 28,688 votes cast in the weekly online recognition. Those numbers allowed Pizarro to top a field of 11 additional candidates, including Benton volleyball player Lia Vergis, who made a strong run for the recognition with 14,149 votes (20.2%).
Pizarro will receive a backpack, a boxed lunch combo and some additional swag courtesy of Raising Cane’s.
One of the top swimmers in Northwest Louisiana, Pizarro continues to make waves in the pool and in the classroom.
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“Elena is an outstanding student and athlete,” said Magnet swim coach Julie Anderson. “She is our team captain and a four-year team member. Elena is an excellent role model and exemplifies the traditional value of academic excellence at Caddo Magnet.”
Others on the first ballot the school year were Alex Knowles, Airline volleyball; Ella Vickers, Haughton volleyball; Leigha Christen, Red River volleyball; Sadie Huenefeld, Ruston swimming; Isabella Romanski, Loyola swimming; Zoe Johnson, Plain Dealing cheer; Laney Allison, North Webster cheer; Harley Yoder, Northwood cheer; Cheyenne Olson, Parkway cross country and John Patrick Bartle, Byrd cross country.
They were chosen because of their performance the previous week or because their names were submitted by their coach. The Times poll is posted each Monday at shreveporttimes.com with a new slate of student-athletes in high school sports other than football.
The Times online only poll runs through Thursday midnight. The poll includes northwest Louisiana athletes competing in volleyball, cross country, swimming, cheerleading, basketball, soccer, wrestling, powerlifting, indoor and outdoor track, baseball, softball, golf, tennis, bowling, gymnastics and fishing while those sports are in season.
Jimmy Watson covers Louisiana sports for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at jwatson@shreveporttimes.com and follow him on Twitter @JimmyWatson6.
PREVIOUS WINNERS
Week 1: Elena Pizarro, Caddo Magnet swimming
Preseason Fan’s Choice Player of the Year: Sicily Fontaine, Airline volleyball
This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Caddo Magnet’s Pizarro tops Week 1 Times Athlete of the Week voting
