Ella Smith, Connor Williams win Seacoast Athletes of the Week honors for Feb. 12-17
The Seacoast high school Athletes of the Week winners for Feb. 12-17 are Portsmouth High School alpine skier Connor Williams and Berwick Academy basketball player Ella Smith.
Williams joins other winter winners such as Portsmouth basketball player Isaiah Reis, Marshwood/Noble/Traip/Sanford hockey player Zac Camp, Dover hockey player Calab Marasca, Portsmouth/Newmarket hockey player Dom Eaton, Exeter hockey player West Vaillant, Somersworth/Coe-Brown hockey player Tully Keefe and Oyster River basketball players Ethan Brewer and Matthew Jernigan.
Smith joins previous winter winners, which includes Marshwood High School alpine skier Hadley Prewitt, St. Thomas Aquinas basketball player Genna Bolduc, Marshwood High School basketball player Sarah Theriault, St. Thomas Aquinas High School basketball player Emma Toriello, Portsmouth basketball player Mackenzie Lombardi, Exeter basketball player Anna McGuinness, Spaulding wrestler Sadie Nadeau and Dover basketball player Avery Littlefield as this winter season's girls winters.
The weekly poll runs each Monday through midnight Thursday, and can be found at seacoastonline.com/sports and fosters.com/sports.
More on girls winner Ella Smith of Berwick Academy
Smith won the online poll by collecting over 36% of the online poll with 964 votes to earn girls athlete of the week. Exeter basketball player Karli Scherpf finished second with 791 votes.
Spaulding hockey player Annabel Prochilo collected 526 votes, Oyster River/Portsmouth hockey player Eliza Farwell received 195 votes and Exeter hockey player Lilyan Blood had 174 votes, to round out the top five, respectively.
Smith, a Rye resident, secured a double-double by scoring 26 points and grabbing 20 rebounds in Wednesday's win over Hyde Park.
"We are very excited for Ella for this well deserved recognition," Berwick Academy head coach Jonathan Smith said. "As a sophomore captain she has led the team on the court all season ... We are lucky to have such a team-minded player on the court that simply wants to win and for her teammates to succeed. During a three-game stretch back in January, (Smith) scored 100 points and was the catalyst for a win streak that has propelled us into a playoff contender. We are now on the verge of making the NEPSAC tournament for the third year in a row with final rankings getting posted on Monday. (Smith) will be a critical player for the Bulldogs the next two seasons as we continue to build the program here at Berwick."
More on boys winner Connor Williams of Portsmouth High School
Williams won the online poll with over 33% of the votes, totaling 804 to capture boys athlete of the week. Somersworth/Coe-Brown's hockey player Colby Strum was second.
St. Thomas Aquinas basketball player James Allen had 612 votes, Winnacunnet basketball player Andrew Simmons had 193 votes and York hockey player Shea Buckley had 146 votes, for third through fifth, respectively.
Williams placed third in the slalom, with a time of 1:14.04, and was fourth in the giant slalom (1:14.20) to lead the Clippers to a Division I state championship on Friday.
"Connor is a well-rounded skier who always works hard and never hangs his head after a poor performance, which is quite rare," Portsmouth head coach Kyle Harrison said. "(As a) sophomore, Connor came out of the gates a bit under performing compared to his freshman season, but in the end proved to be one of the best skiers in the state."
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Ella Smith, Connor Williams win Seacoast Athletes of the Week
