Time to vote for Pocial Athlete of the Week; Shadow Hills athlete wins close vote last week
The regular season is complete for the spring sports athletes, but that doesn't mean we're slowing down when it comes to the Athlete of the Week brought to you by Pocial.
This week's candidates lean heavily into the final league meets for tennis, swimming and track from last week where a ton of top-notch and record-breaking performances were achieved.
But first let's hit the diamond to honor last week's winner. You voted and you chose Neveah Walls of Shadow Hills softball as your athlete of the week in a narrow win over Indio softball's Audrey Drumheller.
Walls came up huge in the Knights' biggest win of the year, a 2-1 rally in the seventh inning to beat Palm Desert, with a key hit.
This week's winner is up to you. Simply vote for your favorite in the poll at the bottom of this article at desertsun.com. Whoever has the most votes at noon on Saturday will be declared the winner.
Here are this week's nominees:
Edgar Avila, Coachella Valley tennis
What he did: Avila, only a sophomore, rolled to the Desert Valley League individual tennis title losing just five games along the way, bringing it home for the Arabs. Avila won his semifinal 6-1, 6-0 and beat Ronnie Cressy of Yucca Valley 6-3, 6-1 for the championship.
Nevaeh Cardoza, Cathedral City track and field
What she did: The freshman had a remarkable day at the Desert Valley League meet in Twentynine Palms as she was the only performer to take home three individual titles, and she's only a freshman. Cardoza, a long-distance dynamo, won the 3,200 by more than a minute and also won the 1,600 and the 800.
Ava Ottesen, Xavier Prep swimming
What she did: Ottesen, a sophomore, obliterated the Desert Empire League record in the 200 IM with a time of 2:06.47, besting the mark set by Akemi Von Scheer (2:12.13) by almost six seconds. She also set the league record in the 100 freestyle (which she set in Tuesday's prelims) with a time of 51.77 seconds. She also anchored the winning 400 freestyle relay team.
Alaina Vega, Palm Springs swim/softball
What she did: Vega is a versatile athlete playing two sports this spring with the unusual pairing of swimming and softball, and what a busy week she had. She had the DEL swimming prelims on Tuesday, was the starting pitcher for the Indians final regular-season game on Wednesday and then excelled in the DEL swimming finals on Thursday, winning the title in the 500-yard freestyle and coming in second in the 200-yard freestyle.
Jacob Winn, Palm Desert track and field
What he did: Winn took home the Desert Empire League title in both the 100-meter and 200-meter races on Thursday at the league meet. Winn won the 100-meter in a time of 10.93 seconds and raced to a win in the 200 in 22.47 seconds.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: It's time to vote for Athlete of the Week brought to you by Pocial
