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Vote for the Blue Federal Credit Union High School Athlete of the Week (Feb. 4-10)

chris abshire, fort collins coloradoan
·3 min read
Blue Federal Credit Union is partnering with the Coloradoan to honor our best Fort Collins-area high school athletes every week. Check coloradoan.com/sports every Monday to vote.
Blue Federal Credit Union is partnering with the Coloradoan to honor our best Fort Collins-area high school athletes every week. Check coloradoan.com/sports every Monday to vote.

The Coloradoan is proud to present our weekly Athlete of the Week series for this high school year, partnering with Blue Federal Credit Union to honor the best Fort Collins-area high school athletes.

There are five nominees every week, and fans can vote every Monday through Wednesday at coloradoan.com/sports/high-school-sports.

As winter sports hit their championship season, here is the 18th edition of the 2023-24 school year for the week of Feb. 4-10. And with a jam-packed week, there are six nominees this time!

You can find the ballot at the bottom of the page. Voting is open until 11 p.m. Wednesday each week, with the winner announced on Thursday at Coloradoan.com and via the Coloradoan's Instagram page.

Fans can nominate their favorite athletes (deadline: 11:59 p.m. every Sunday), and the Coloradoan Sports staff will ultimately select the five nominees each week.

Previous winner: This PSD team was named Blue Federal Credit Union Athletes of the Week

If you have nominations for a future Athlete of the Week, please send them via email to ChrisAbshire@coloradoan.com for consideration.

The following athletes are nominated for their performances last week (Feb. 4-10):

  • Ella Gaca-Thiele, Fossil Ridge girls swimming: The SaberCats sophomore dominated the freestyle events at the 5A state meet. Gaca-Thiele won the 50- and 100-yard freestyle championships and nearly made up a massive deficit on the anchor leg to help Fossil's 200 free relay squad finish runner-up. She's one of the state's rising swim stars.

  • Billy Greenwood, Poudre boys wrestling: While there were several local regional winners, Greenwood was especially impressive. The Impalas junior won the 144 class in 5A Region 3 with four consecutive wins via pin, all of them in the first two periods. He's now 9-0 with league and regional titles since beginning his season in mid-January after an early injury.

  • Natasha Hartman and Pearl Morris, PSD girls wrestling: This Stars duo earned regional titles on the mat down in Fort Lupton. Hartman won the 140 title with three straight pins before a bonus-time win in the final. Morris took the 125 crown and, like Greenwood, won all four matches via pin in the first two periods. They led four Stars state qualifiers.

  • Avantae Hood, Rocky Mountain boys basketball: The Lobos' junior guard came up clutch. In a tie game against rival Fossil Ridge, Hood hit a sweet fadeaway jumper with five seconds left to give Rocky a huge city win. He also scored the final five Rocky points in the last 90 seconds, including a key go-ahead three-point play.

  • Cody Monajjem, Wellington girls swimming: The Eagles sophomore showed out in the pool. She won a coveted Class 3A 200 freestyle state title, jumping out to a big lead and cruising home by nearly a second. Monajjem also won silver in the 100 back, giving her four top-2 finishes in four tries during her first two state meets.

  • Josie Stahl, Liberty Common girls swimming: Just a freshman, Stahl put the state on notice. The Eagles' first-year swimmer won the 3A 100 breaststroke title, coming within .2 seconds of the 3A state record. For good measure, Stahl also took third in the 200 individual medley and swam on two Liberty Common top-5 relay squads.

VOTE HERE:

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Vote for The Coloradoan's high school Athlete of the Week (Feb. 4-10)