Natchitoches Central’s Sidney Hicks tops Week 5 Shreveport Times Athlete of the Week voting
Natchitoches Central’s Sidney Hicks 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 volleyball player for NCHS, Hicks becomes the first NCHS winner in the non-football poll for the 2023-24 school year. She joins previous winners that include Benton’s Claire Allen and Brody Hutchison, along with Caddo Magnet’s Elena Pizarro.
Hicks and her supporters racked up 8,440 votes, a solid 55% of the 15,387 Caddo Magnet volleyball player Joy Price votes cast in the weekly online recognition. Those numbers allowed Hicks to top a field of 11 additional candidates, including Airline’s Jayden Williams, who made a strong run for the recognition with 5,758 votes (37.4%).
Hicks will receive a duffle bag, a boxed lunch combo and some additional swag courtesy of Raising Cane’s.
“Sidney Hicks is the player everyone dreams about having on their team,” NCHS coach Kerri Kiracofe said. “She’s the leader of the pack, and the one who remains calm during tense times. She knows how to talk to her teammates to get them going and when to make them laugh.”
Hicks currently has 392 assists in the 48 sets she’s played in.
“Sidney leads the team in aces and assists,” Kiracofe said. “She is 12th in Louisiana for assists and also is third in aces for Division I high schools.”
Others on the fifth ballot the school year were Parker Nations, Ruston cross country; Nathan Lowe, Haughton cross country; Lee Ballard, Caddo Magnet cross country; Leilani Stoa, Pineville volleyball; Jori Shelton, Northwood volleyball; Macaughli Hall-Wilson, Calvary volleyball; Gracie Harper, Parkway cheer; Paris Warmsley, Mansfield cheer; Kaylee Musgrove, Benton swimming and Caston Feazel, Jr., Byrd swimming.
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
Week 2: Claire Allen, Benton cross country
Week 3: Brody Hutchison, Benton cross country
Week 4: Josiah Dang, Parkway swimming
Week 5: Sidney Hicks, Natchitoches Central volleyball
Preseason Fan’s Choice POY: Sicily Fontaine, Airline volleyball
This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: NCHS's Hicks tops Shreveport Times Week 5 Athlete of the Week voting
