Vote: Who should be the Iowa Ortho female and male Athletes of the Week for Sept. 17-23?
Week 5 of Iowa High School football saw No. 5 Waukee win a 14-10 battle over Johnston in Class 5A, Lewis Central beat No. 9 Glenwood in 4A, 49-21, No. 2 Creston best No. 6 Harlan in 3A, 25-22 and No. 9 Sumner-Fredericksburg upset No. 2 MFL-Mar-Mac in 1A, 13-9.
It was the opening week of district and group play for many of the schools in the larger classes. It featured several outstanding individual performances.
There were also excellent achievements on the cross country course, volleyball court, swimming pool and golf course during the week.
Here are the Iowa Ortho female and male Athlete of the Week candidates for the week of Sept. 17-23. Register readers vote to determine the winners, who will be announced at the end of the week. You only need to register once, so come back each hour for easy voting.
Can't view the embed above? Click here.
Girls
Taylor Judas, Waukee
Judas won two events for the Waukee girls swimming and diving team during the Tiger Tankers Invitational Saturday at Valley High School in West Des Moines.
Judas took first in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 54.90 seconds. She also won the 500 freestyle in 5:07.13.
Keelee Leitzen, Dubuque Hempstead
Leitzen won the varsity girls race at the Jim Boughton Invitational Cross Country Meet Sept. 21 at the Dubuque Cross Country Complex.
Leitzen, ranked No. 1 individually in Class 4A, broke 18 minutes and ran the second-fastest 5-kilometer time in Iowa during the race. She crossed the finish line in 17 minutes, 56.1 seconds.
Meghan Wheatley, North Linn
Wheatley, the No. 1 girls cross country runner in 1A, placed first at the Solon Invitational Sept. 18 at Solon.
Wheatley had her best effort of the season at Solon. She completed the course in 18:23.4 to win the race by over 33 seconds.
Malia Clayburg, Coon Rapids-Bayard
Clayburg had one of the best defensive efforts of the Iowa high school volleyball season for Coon Rapids-Bayard during the Crusaders' five-set victory at West Harrison Sept. 19.
Clayburg finished the match with 50 digs, 15 kills and three blocks. Her dig total is the second-most in the state for a single match.
Maclayn Houston, West Harrison
Houston countered Clayburg with a phenomenal performance of her own during the exciting match between West Harrison and Coon Rapids-Bayard.
Houston finished the match with the most kills in a single match this season at 37 on 39.5% efficiency. She also recorded 42 digs and four blocks in a losing effort.
Boys
Reed Pfaltzgraff, Bondurant-Farrar
Pfaltzgraff was a terror on defense for the Class 4A No. 6 Bondurant-Farrar football team during its 42-21 win over Newton Friday to open 4A District 4 competition.
Pfaltzgraff intercepted three passes for the Bluejays during the victory. He also made eight receptions for 171 yards and one touchdown on offense.
Jackson Stevens, Clear Creek Amana
Stevens was phenomenal on both sides of the ball for the Clear Creek Amana football team during its 28-21 home victory over Oskaloosa Friday.
Stevens ran for 276 yards and three touchdowns and he added nine tackles and one interception plus a blocked punt to lead the Clippers to their first victory of the season.
Preston Ries, Monticello
Riese was a dual threat at quarterback for Monticello during its 55-14 home victory over Northeast Friday.
Riese completed 13 of 16 passes for 261 yards and three touchdowns. He added 122 yards and three scores on the ground.
Rayce Heitman, Williamsburg
Heitman did his job on defense and special teams to help Williamsburg crush South Tama Friday, 61-6.
Heitman returned two interceptions for touchdowns during the victory. He also ran back to two punts for scores.
All four touchdowns came in the first quarter.
Jaden Merrick, Cedar Falls
Merrick ran the fastest 5k time of the season in Iowa boys cross country for Cedar Falls at the Jim Boughton Invitational Sept. 21 in Dubuque.
Merrick completed the boys' race in 15:08.6. He won by 20.6 seconds over teammate Ahmed Aldamak.
The Des Moines Register's Athlete of the Week is underwritten by Iowa Ortho, which is not involved in the writing or editing of this story.
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Des Moines Register's female and male Athlete of the Week candidates
