Vote now: Who should be SBLive's Indiana High School Athlete of the Week (Oct. 3-8)?

By Kevin Messenger

Here are the candidates for SBLive's Indiana High School Athlete of the Week for Oct. 3-8 as nominated by fans, readers and SBLive’s staff.

Read through the nominees and cast your vote at the bottom of the page. Voting will conclude on Sunday at 11:59 p.m. and the winner will be announced the following week. If you would like to nominate an athlete in the future, please email athleteoftheweek@scorebooklive.com.

THIS WEEK’S SBLIVE INDIANA ATHLETE OF THE WEEK NOMINEES:

Editor’s Note: Our Athlete of the Week feature and corresponding poll is intended to be fun, and we do not set limits on how many times a fan can vote during the competition. However, we do not allow votes that are generated by script, macro or other automated means. Athletes that receive votes generated by script, macro or other automated means will be disqualified.

Jean Azard, Pike boys soccer

The Pike junior scored both Red Devils’ goals in a 2-1 overtime battle with Brownsburg to capture the sectional championship. The second goal broke a 1-1 tie about two minutes into the extra session. It is Pike’s first sectional championship in soccer since 2016.

Cole Ballard, Westfield football

The Shamrocks' QB was Westfield’s offensive star with a hand in all four Westfield touchdowns during a convincing 28-17 win over No. 7 Fishers. It was Ballard’s three second-half runs that pushed the Shamrocks to a 28-10 lead as he bolted for scores of 49, 51 and 12 yards. On the night, he rushed for 103 yards and three scores, while passing for 113 yards and another.

Chloe Chicoine, McCutcheon girls volleyball

The senior outside hitter helped McCutcheon to its 23rd consecutive win, including five matches last week, all in straight sets. She ranks sixth in the state with 458 kills and third with a 47.2% hit percentage. During three conference tournament matches last weekend, she had 28 kills, just two errors and a 74.2% hit percentage.

Lily Cridge, Bishop Chatard girls cross country

The Chatard senior won the Brebeuf Sectional in 16:46.3, shattering her own course record and recording what is believed to be the fastest girls 5K ever run in Indiana prep history.

Thomas Gotkowski, Ben Davis football

Navigating a Giant comeback, Gotkowski completed 10 of his final 11 passes, with three of those going for touchdowns. His 60-yard pass to Zane Skibinski cut Lawrence Central’s lead to 28-14 and his 3-yard pass to Lincoln Murff pulled the Giants within 28-27 in the final seconds. Gotkowski ran right on a 2-point try and pitched to Murff on a reverse for the go-ahead conversion.

Mylan Graham, New Haven football

Catching seven passes with three TDs for the second straight week, Graham finished with 146 receiving yards and an average of 20 yards per reception. The state’s leader with 1,020 receiving yards, Graham helped the Bulldogs get past East Noble 37-14.

Clayton Guthrie, Columbus North boys cross country

Guthrie turned in the state’s best boys time last week with a 15:19.0 5K finish at the Brown County Sectional, run at Eagle Park. Guthrie paced seven Columbus North runners who dominated the field and all were among the top ten finishers.

Luke Hansen, Roncalli football

It was the first time this season Hansen has not had multiple rushing touchdowns, but a 10-yard reception for TD was his second score of the game and gave Roncalli a short-lived 23-17 lead. The state’s leading rusher finished with 221 yards on 34 carries in a loss to Cincinnati Elder.

Keith Jackson, Warren Central football

Jackson’s numbers weren’t huge, but he engineered the Warriors’ huge upset over No. 4-ranked Carmel. Jackson was 12-of-17 passing for 146 yards including the game-winning touchdown, a 20-yard strike to Devaon Holman. In a game accented by defense and four first-half field goals, Jackson used seven different receivers to keep the Warriors offense moving.

Aly Kirkhoff, Roncalli girls volleyball

Kirkhoff had 16 digs and six aces in a 3-0 win over Columbus East on Thursday and put together a whopping 39 digs in a four-set loss to Brownsburg last Tuesday. She earned her 1,000th career dig in the loss to the Bulldogs.

Robert Lamar, Clarksville football

Lamar carried for 250 yards and three touchdowns while leading Clarksville to a 46-8 win over Greenwood Christian. It was his third game with at least 250 yards this season, but with only 15 carries, his 16.7-yards-per-carry average was certainly his best of the season.

Arj Lothe, Indian Creek football

In a game featuring 99 points and more than 1,000 yards in offense, it was Lothe who claimed the loftiest and winning numbers. Lothe found wideout Lance Butler for a two-point conversation to beat Sullivan 50-49 in overtime. Lothe led the Braves to 554 yards of offense, 355 of those and a couple of TD passes coming from his arm. He also rushed for three TDs, the last of which gave the Braves their first lead of the night at 42-35 with 5:00 remaining.

Justin Marshall, Merrillville football

Marshall ran 28 times for 207 yards and caught eight passes for 124 yards in a win over Lake Central. His 13-yard run late in the third period sealed the Pirates’ win.

D.J. Mendez, Scecina football

Mendez only completed seven passes, but he averaged over 36 yards per completion, finishing 7-of-10 for 258 yards as the Crusaders beat Cardinal Ritter, 45-6. Mendez threw touchdown passes of 42, 65 and 38 yards, in addition to two more rushing scores from 2 and 4 yards.

Danny O’Neil, Cathedral football

O’Neil threw for 303 passing yards and two touchdowns, completing 22 of 31 throws. He scored another TD on the ground as the Irish got past Catholic rival Brebeuf Jesuit.

Nicholas Patterson, Mooresville football

Patterson ran for 101 yards and a score but did most of his damage through the air on Friday night. He led the Pioneers’ 37-31 comeback win in overtime with 244 yards and three TDs on 22-of-31 passing. His 10-yard TD pass to Dylan Gardner, in overtime, was a fitting finish.

Daniel Peyton, Park Tudor boys soccer

The sophomore reserved provided the spark Park Tudor needed after 93 minutes of scoreless play in a Class A sectional final against University. Peyton handled a rebound off the post and off a teammate’s knee, putting the game-winning shot into the back of the net for the game’s lone goal.

John Shepard, Franklin football

Shepard piled up 215 scrimmage yards with four touchdowns in the Grizzly Cubs’ 41-6 spanking of Greenwood. He carried 14 times for 147 yards, including touchdowns of 28 and 74 yards. He caught another pass for 68 yards.

Peyton Slaven, Homestead football

When the final score is 61-54, there are bound to be some stats! The Homestead senior was 20-of-29 passing for 394 yards and three TDs. He rushed for another score while carrying for another 73 yards as part of the Spartans’ win over Ft. Wayne Wayne.

Cooper Simmons-Little, Traders Point Christian football

Simmons-Little led the Knights to a 35-7 win over Edinburgh, throwing for four touchdowns and 295 yards on just 10 completions (10 of 15). Simmons-Little is second in the state with 2,021 passing yards.

Nicki Southerland, Delta girls cross country

Southerland’s winning time of 17:05.0 at the Delta Sectional was 34 seconds faster than her personal best time, and the second-fastest time recorded in Indiana this season.

Jimmy Sullivan, Fort Wayne Carroll football

Sullivan threw for 237 yards and five TDs as the Chargers blitzed Concordia 51-0 to claim their second straight Summit Conference title.

Sophie Willey, Danville girls soccer

Through two overtime sessions, Danville was tied 1-1 with Tri-West in a sectional championship match. Willey had notched 16 saves through 94 minutes and just about single handedly helped the Warriors advance while minding the net in a 3-1 victory in penalty kicks.

Congratulations to Carmel golfer Claire Swathwood, who was voted SBLive's Indiana High School Athlete of the Week for Sept. 26-Oct. 1.

Swathwood received more than 55% of the votes. Heritage Christian's Luke Valerio finished second with more than 28% of the votes. 

Swathwood, a junior, shot a 155 over two days to lead Carmel to a team championship at the Indiana girls golf state finals. Her final round of 70 cut five strokes off her Friday round while adjusting to windy weather conditions and finish in sixth place overall.

Previous winners: Greenfield-Central golfer Sydney Wherry (Sept. 19-24), East Central (St. Leon) running back Josh Ringer (Sept. 12-17), North Putnam running back Noah Claycomb (Sept. 4-10), Chatard soccer goalkeeper Olivia Hill, (Aug. 29-Sept. 3) and Terre Haute South Vigo outside hitter Lilly Merk (Aug. 22-28).