Vote now for The Herald’s high school sports athlete of the week

Below are the nominees for The Herald’s high school athlete of the week.

You may vote as often as you like. Poll results may not always be shown.

Kyleen Bents, Catawba Ridge girls’ soccer: The Copperheads’ senior midfielder scored five goals in a 15-0 win over Lancaster, April 9.

Bents also netted two goals in a 4-1 victory at Indian Land.

Catawba Ridge (15-4) also lost 3-0 at J.L. Mann, April 8.

Bents has 32 goals and 10 assists for Catawba Ridge this season.

Mackenzie Boggess, Clover girls’ track: The Blue Eagles’ junior won the long jump (16-9) and triple jump (35-10) in a home meet versus Rock Hill, April 10.

Boggess, who holds the school record in both the long and triple jumps, also finish second in the 100-meter hurdles at the same meet.

Boggess also finished 14th in the long jump (17-1) at the All-American Track Classic at Spring Valley, April 13. She also finished 25th in the triple jump (34-3) the same day.

Braden Gritz, Fort Mill boys’ soccer: The Yellow Jackets’ senior scored two goals in a 4-0 win at Rock Hill, April 9.

Gritz had two more goals in a 3-0 win over Spring Valley, April 12.

Gritz leads Fort Mill (11-6-1) with 13 goals this season.

Payton Kennedy, York Prep girls’ soccer: The Patriots’ senior defender scored three goals in a 10-0 win over North Central, April 9.

Kennedy also led the York Prep defense (11-1-1) to its’ eighth shutout this season.

Jackson Madden, Andrew Jackson baseball: The Volunteers’ senior tossed a complete-game, one-hitter with 12 strikeouts to lead Andrew Jackson to a 1-0 win over York Prep, April 9.

Madden is 3-3 with 63 strikeouts in 40.1 innings of work for Andrew Jackson (6-11) this season.

Brayden Morgan, Buford baseball: The Yellow Jackets’ went 5-for-9 with three singles, a double and a triple to go with three walks as Buford went 3-0 on the diamond this week

Buford (17-1) won 14-4 against Chesterfield, April 9, 4-3 over Piedmont the next night and won 8-1 at Chesterfield, April 12.

Isaiah Palmer, Rock Hill boys’ track: The Bearcats’ senior went 15-0 to finish as runner-up in the pole vault at the All-American Track Classic at Spring Valley High, April 13.

Palmer also went 8-11.87 to win the pole vault in a home meet versus Clover, April 10.

Mia Royall, Nation Ford girls’ track: The Falcons’ senior ran a personal-best 4:57.24 to win the 1,600-meter run at Fort Mill High, April 10.

Royall, a United States’ Military Academy (West Point) commit, also won the 800-meter run at the same meet.

Ava Shook, York girls’ track: The Cougars’ sophomore ran a 2:27.94 to win the 800-meter run on her home track in a meet versus Indian Land, Northwestern and Riverwalk Academy, April 11.

Shook also went a personal-best 5-2.2 to win the high jump at the same meet.

Jaxson Smithers, Legion Collegiate boys’ lacrosse: The Lancers’ sophomore scored the winning goal and had one assist in a 12-11 overtime victory at Dorman, April 8.

Smithers also scored four goals and had two assists in an 18-11 victory at Blythewood, April 10.

Smithers has 16 goals and 10 assists for Legion Collegiate (9-5) this season.

** Information published today includes statistics through April 13.

If you want to nominate an athlete: Athletes of the week highlights high school players with outstanding performances. The goal is to recognize all athletes in all sports, both the most accomplished and the underrated or underappreciated players. If you want to suggest someone to be included in the Athletes of the week column, send email to Jay Edwards at edwardswork23@gmail.com. Please include the athletes’ name, school, class, photos and applicable game performance statistics. Coaches must be willing to verify information.