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Vote: Ames Tribune Athletes of the Week for March 25-31

joe randleman, ames tribune
·4 min read

This past week was the first full week of high school spring sports in Iowa.

Outdoor track got in full swing, and it was the opening week for high school boys and girls soccer, golf and tennis.

There were many standout performances from high school athletes in the Ames area during the week. Athletes have a lot to live up to after all the individual and team state championships and state appearances achieved by area competitors and teams last season, but they are off to a great start in 2024.

Here are the Ames Tribune female and male Athlete of the Week candidates for the week of March 25-31. AmesTrib.com readers vote to determine the winners, who will be announced at the end of the week.

Girls

Gilbert forward Elle O'Brien (4) drives with the ball around Nevada's midfielder Mady Gibson (16) during the second half of the Tigers' 1-0 victory over the Cubs in overtime at Gilbert High School on Monday, March 25, 2024 in Gilbert, Iowa.
Gilbert forward Elle O'Brien (4) drives with the ball around Nevada's midfielder Mady Gibson (16) during the second half of the Tigers' 1-0 victory over the Cubs in overtime at Gilbert High School on Monday, March 25, 2024 in Gilbert, Iowa.

Elle O'Brien, Gilbert

O'Brien came up clutch twice during the opening week for the Class 1A No. 4 Gilbert girls soccer team.

O'Brien scored the winning goal in overtime during a 1-0 victory over top rival and 1A No. 5 Nevada to open the season March 25 at Gilbert. Three days later she again scored the lone goal in a 1-0 Tiger win over No. 1 Des Moines Christian at Gilbert.

Ava Richardson, Ballard

Richardson won the girls 800-meter run, and she helped Ballard take second in the 4x800 relay at the Ballard co-ed track and field meet in Huxley March 28.

Richardson won the girls 800 in two minutes, 35.72 seconds. She ran the opening leg on the Bomber girls 4x800 team that clocked at 10:41.19.

Jayden Peters, Collins-Maxwell

Peters had a big meet for the Collins-Maxwell girls track and field team at the Colfax-Mingo co-ed track and field meet March 28 in Colfax.

Peters won two events and set three new school records to help the Collins-Maxwell girls win the team championship. Peters set school records in winning both the 800 (2:39.13) and 1,500 (5:23.46), and she placed second in the 3,000 with a new school mark of 11:44.71.

Lauren Risdal, Ames

Risdal was a big weapon in distance events for the Ames girls track and field team during the DCG Invitational co-ed track and field meet Saturday in Grimes.

Risdal placed second in the 800 and third in the 3,000. She ran a 2:28.23 in the 800 and a 10:42.34 in the 3,000.

Kennedy Petersen, Roland-Story

Petersen had a big day in sprint relay events for the Roland-Story girls track team during the Roland-Story co-ed Early Bird track meet March 28 at Story City.

Petersen helped Roland-Story win the sprint medley, 4x200 and 4x100 relays. She ran the third leg on a sprint medley team that finished in 1:51.56 and the second leg on 4x200 and 4x100 teams that ran respective times of 1:46.80 and 51.86.

Boys

Nevada's Connor Kunze finishes the 100-meter dash in the Nevada Boys Track & Field Invitational at Cubs Stadium on Tuesday, March 28, 2023, in Nevada, Iowa.
Nevada's Connor Kunze finishes the 100-meter dash in the Nevada Boys Track & Field Invitational at Cubs Stadium on Tuesday, March 28, 2023, in Nevada, Iowa.

Connor Kunze, Nevada

Kunze placed second in the 200 and third in the 100 going against a stacked field at the Winterset Invitational for the Nevada boys track and field team Friday.

Kunze ran the 200 in 22.63 seconds. He finished the 100 in 11.19.

Tyler Holtan, Gilbert

Holtan had a huge opening week for the defending Class 2A state champion Gilbert boys soccer team.

Holtan scored three goals and dished out two assists during a 9-1 Tiger victory at Des Moines Lincoln March 25 in Des Moines. He had another three-goal, two-assist night March 28 during a 7-1 victory at Des Moines Christian in Des Moines.

Jeffrey Roberts, Ames

Roberts had a strong meet for the Ames boys track and field team at the DCG Invitational Saturday.

Roberts took second in the boys 200 during the meet. He won the silver in 22.64.

Roberts also helped Ames take third in the boys distance medley relay with a time of 3:41.00.

Trenton Beard, Colo-NESCO

Beard showed tremendous versatility during the Colfax-Mingo co-ed track meet March 28.

The Colo-NESCO senior won the boys shot put with a throw of 43 feet, three inches. He also ran the opening leg on the Royal boys sprint medley team that placed first in 1:43.38.

Ryan Lynch, Gilbert

Lynch helped the Gilbert boys golf team open the season by winning the Saydel Invitational Friday at the Woodland Hills Golf Course in Des Moines.

Gilbert shot a 300 as a team over 18 holes to edge Pella Christian by one stroke for first out of nine teams. Lynch set the pace for the Tigers by placing third overall with a 1-over-par score of 72.

Joe Randleman covers high school sports for the Ames Tribune. Contact him at jrandleman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JoeRandleman

This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Vote: Ames Tribune Athletes of the Week for March 25-31