East's Sierra and West's Lockett among Pueblo's top performers of the week

The first full week of the 2023 fall prep season has come and gone, and even though the season is just beginning, there are still many top performers around Pueblo prep sports.

This week's Players of the Week nominees consist of some top performers from the softball field, a sub-par score on the golf course, some early season goals on the soccer pitch, impressive volleyball performances, and a debut at quarterback for the ages.

Each week, the Chieftain recognizes the top student-athletes from area schools to highlight those who have performed at a high level. The Chieftain sports staff selects them. Coaches can nominate players by emailing cabdelmalek@gannett.com prior to Thursday night.

Here are this week's top prep performers (all stats and standings are updated through Thursday, Aug. 24):

More: Pueblo East soars over Cheyenne Mountain 35-13 to win home opener

Softball

Sammie Ortega, Pueblo West softball

Ortega was on fire this past week for the Cyclones as she went a perfect 4-4 including driving in 2 runs and scoring a home run in the process. She also reached home all four times she got on base helping her team to an 18-7 victory over Palmer Ridge.

Adrianna Lopez, Pueblo Centennial softball

Lopez had an outstanding outing against Sand Creek this past week helping the Bulldogs to a 29-3 victory over the Scorpions. Lopez went 4-5, scoring three runs and driving in seven along the way. She also had three triples in the game.

Sienna Estrada, Pueblo County softball

Estrada went 3-5 earning a walk as well in the Hornet's 14-1 victory over Mesa Ridge this week. Estrada also drove in three runs while scoring two of her own. One of her three hits in this game was a home run. Impressive start for Estrada and the Hornets for their season opener.

Chantel Duran, Pueblo East softball

Duran was perfect at the plate this past week, going 3-3 with a run scored and four runs batted in. She also was able to help out the team defensively with five put-outs in this game. Overall, Duran helped the Eagles to a 16-3 victory over Coronado.

Soccer

Logan Smith, Pueblo Centennial soccer

Smith had a stellar opening week for the Bulldogs. He scored a goal and earned an assist in the 5-0 victory over Pueblo South to start the season. He followed that up with a two-goal performance against Palmer Ridge this week, earning Centennial the 3-1 victory and moving the team to 2-0 for the early part of the season.

Adrian Adubato-Koch, Pueblo Central soccer

Adubato-Koch helped the Wildcats to a 3-0 victory over Pueblo East this past week by netting a goal and helping out with an assist as well. He also had a goal in the team's opening game of the season against Lamar.

Football

Gavin Lockett, Pueblo West football

Lockett was on point in the Cyclones’ opening-week victory over Grand Junction 32-0. The Cyclones QB went 10-14 for 140 yards and two touchdowns in the air and also rushed the ball 9 times for 94 yards and three touchdowns as well.

Domnick “Bam-Bam” Sierra, Pueblo East football

Sierra was impressive during his debut as the Eagle's new quarterback as he scored a total of four touchdowns in a 35-13 victory over Cheyenne Mountain this past week. Sierra had two touchdown passes to Izaiah Trujillo and also rushed in for two touchdowns as well.

Volleyball

Rylee Lambert, Pueblo West volleyball

Lambert was impressive in the Cyclones' 3-0 victory over Overland this past week. She walked away with eight kills, three aces, a blocked shot, and four digs to help her team earn the victory and start the season off right for the Pueblo West squad.

Bradie Menegatti, Pueblo West volleyball

Menegatti also had a tremendous performance against Overland this past week. She put up six digs, a blocked shot, and added three kills, but what was really impressive from Menegatti was her 17 assists in this one helping to lead the Cyclones to a 3-0 victory.

Boy’s Golf

Preston Allen, Pueblo West golf

Allen finished first this past week at the Centennial Invitational held at Walking Stick Golf Course. Allen shot a 68 overall score which was four strokes better than second-place finisher, Pueblo East’s Jayden Padilla. His first-place finish also helped the Pueblo West team secure a first-place finish overall with a score of 223, seven strokes better than second-place Coronado.

More: Pueblo's top high school games to watch this week: Soccer, football, volleyball and more

Cross-Country

Luke Ware, Pueblo West cross-country

Ware ran an impressive time this past week at the Rye Thunderbolt Invitational held at Hollydot Golf Course. He finished the 5000-meter run with a time of 17:57.40, which was good enough to earn him second place overall in the event.

Christopher Abdelmalek is a sports reporter for the Pueblo Chieftain and can be reached at cabdelmalek@gannett.com or on Twitter: @chowebacca. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Players of the Week: Sierra and Lockett among Pueblo's top performers