Vote now: Who should be SBLive's Missouri High School Athlete of the Week (Oct. 10-15)?

By Cody Thorn

Here are the candidates for SBLive's Missouri High School Athlete of the Week for Oct. 10-15 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 MISSOURI 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.

​​Rylie Andrews, St. Joseph’s Academy girls golf

Fired an even-par 70 to take first place at the Class 4 District 1 meet on Oct. 10 at the Golf Club of Wentzville. The Angels shot 301 to win the team title by 26 strokes.

Jack Behl, Lafayette (Wildwood) football

The sophomore threw two touchdowns late to help the Lancers pick up a 48-47 win over Ritenour. The game-winner was his 6-yard touchdown pass to Zae Jones with 24 seconds left. Behl was 46 of 72 passing for 472 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.

Kate Bettlach, Bishop DuBourg girls tennis

Qualified for the Class 1 state tournament, becoming the first singles player in school history to advance to state two years in a row.

Olivia Branstetter, Liberty softball

In a rematch of last year’s district finals, Branstetter helped flip the script this year for the Blue Jays. She drove in four runs and had a home run in an 11-8 victory over Liberty North to win the Class 5 District 8 finals on Friday.

Khayli Buckels, Parkway South girls tennis

After a runner-up finish last year, Buckles won the Class 3 finals this year with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Sahana Madala of John Burroughs on Friday in Springfield.

Bailey Burkett, Liberty North girls golf

Shot a 67 to claim first place in the Class 4 District 4 meet on Oct. 10 at Paradise Pointe in Smithville. She won the district title by seven shots and helped the Eagles win the team title by 17 strokes.

Angela Chen, Ladue girls tennis

The debut season for Chen ended with a sweep in the Class 2 championship match on Friday. She beat Lincoln College Prep’s Leiloni Payton 6-1 and 6-3.

MaKya Clayton, Lee’s Summit girls volleyball

The senior hit a milestone in a 3-0 win over Park Hill South on Oct. 13. She had 16 assists, 15 digs and 5 kills in the win. The assist total helped her reach 1,000 in her career.

Aaron Cordova, Platte County boys soccer

The senior tallied four goals, his last coming with two minutes left on a rebound off his own shot, and added an assist in a 7-0 win over St. Joseph Central.

Sierra Dailey, Branson softball

In the district semifinal 8-7 win over West Plains, Dailey hit a triple in the top of the eighth inning and then scored the winning run on Jerzi Yacko’s single. That was Dailey’s 52nd hit of the season, setting a new school record for a single season.

Kennedy Diggs, Sherwood softball

In the Class 2 District 8 tournament finals against Lawson, Diggs stood out at the plate and in the circle. She was 3-for-4 with a double in the 6-2 win and struck out 17 and gave up one earned run.

Maddy Duvall, Blue Springs South softball

Duvall had three hits, drove in three runs and pitched a complete game in a 6-2 win over Columbia Rock Bridge, which was 37-1 before the game, in the Class 5 District 6 finals.

Jacie Frencken, McDonald County softball

She hit a home run in a four-run first inning and later added a single in an 8-3 win over Nevada in the Class 4 District 7 finals.

Mason Frisinger, Carthage football

The Joplin Eagles were going for the game-winning field goal with 2.5 seconds left. Instead, it was blocked and Frisinger picked it up and ran it back 80 yards for a dramatic 34-28 win in a showdown of two state-ranked teams.

Evan Fuller, Farmington boys cross country

The junior won the Farmington Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 15, running the 5K course in 16:38.13. It was a new personal record and his first win of the season.

Breckin Galardo, Webb City football

Galardo ran for a pair of scores in a 42-21 win over Neosho in a Central Ozark Conference game. Galardo had scoring runs of 20 and 33 yards and finished with 236 yards – as the Cardinals’ rushing attack gained 427 yards.

Ella Hayes, Liberty North softball

In a 16-0 win over Oak Park in the Class 5 District 8 tournament, Hayes went 4-for-4 with three home runs for the Eagles.

Zae Jones, Lafayette (Wildwood) football

The Lancers’ wild 48-47 come-from-behind win over Ritenour produced some crazy stats for Behl (see above) and Jones, who connected for the game-winning 6-yard TD pass with 24 seconds left. Jones, a junior, finished with 20 receptions for 153 yards and three touchdowns and also threw a 35-yard touchdown pass.

Emma Lisenbee, Mid-Buchanan softball

The junior provided the biggest hit in the Class 2 District 7 finals, with the game-winning solo home run in a 7-6 win over North Platte.

Braxton McBride, Carthage boys swimming & diving

He won the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle in individual, while also being part of the 200-yard medley and 400-yard freestyle relay team that took first place at the Carthage Invitational on Oct. 14.

Calissa Minatee, North Kansas City girls volleyball

Recorded 24 wins in a victory over Truman this week. Minatee, a senior, hit the 1,000 career kill mark this week and is averaging 4.3 kills per match for the Hornets.

Adam Montanez, Joplin boys soccer

Recorded two goals in an 8-0 win against Carl Junction and then scored two more in an 8-0 win over College Heights Christian this past week.

Chance Moreland, Excelsior Springs football

The QB ran for three touchdowns in the second half to help the Tigers secure a 34-27 conference win against Raytown South. Moreland had four total touchdowns on the ground and ran for 217 yards on 32 carries.

Mark Panagos, Scott City football

Scott City beat Charleston 49-14 to claim its first conference championship since 2004. The junior QB ran for 196 yards and three touchdowns and threw for 88 yards and another touchdown in the victory. He also tied a MSHSAA record with a 99-yard interception return for a score.

Juan Rivera, Jasper football

The senior scored six touchdowns on 19 carries and rolled up 211 yards in a 48-24 win over College Heights Christian in 8-man action.

Lindsey Salem, Incarnate Word girls golf

Shot a 79 to take first place in the Class 2 District 1 meet held on Oct. 10 at Ste. Genevieve Golf Course.

Tiago Ruas DeLuca, Missouri Military Academy boys swimming & diving

Picked up wins in the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly, while taking part in relays that took third (200 freestyle) and fourth (400 freestyle) at the Sedalia Smith-Cotton Invitational on Oct. 15.

Aanya Singh, Clayton girls tennis

She came short last year in the semifinals, but this year Singh won that round and then claimed the Class 1 championship on Saturday. She beat Emelia Kinder of Ursuline Academy in an all-St. Louis area championship matchup.

Ashlyn Smith, Raymore-Peculiar girls cross country

The junior ran 18:35.19 to claim first place in the Suburban Conference Gold Division finals on Oct. 15. Ray-Pec also won the team title.

Jobe Smith, North County football

The senior ran for four touchdowns in the first half to help North County pick up a 45-14 win over Potosi on Thursday night. Smith added his longest scoring run on a 54-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. He had 254 yards on 18 carries.

Phineas Theall, Cape Girardeau Central boys swimming & diving

The sophomore won the 200-yard individual medley and the 100-yard freestyle in a tri-meet with John Burroughs and CBC on Oct. 12.

Paige Webb, Rosati-Kain softball

The freshman struck out 11 and didn’t give up an earned run in a 6-4 win over Hazelwood West in the Class 5 District 5 tournament. At the plate, Webb also drove in two runs for the Kougars.

Anthony Wenson, Liberty football

The Air Force pledge was a workhorse in a 48-28 win over Lee’s Summit, with 35 carries out of Liberty’s 60 plays. He ran for 299 yards and had three touchdowns.

Brooklyn Young, Liberty girls volleyball

The senior set a pair of records this week for the Blue Jays. In a win on Thursday against Staley, she broke the single-season record for blocks and broke the school record with 300 blocks in her career. She has 72 blocks for a Liberty squad that is 31-1.

Congratulations to Kirkwood's Deion Brown, who was voted the SBLive Missouri Athlete of the Week for Oct. 3-8 after receiving more than 46 percent of the votes. 

The Eastern Michigan pledge broke a pair of school records in the Pioneers’ 49-7 win over Lindbergh. Brown ran for 352 yards and scored seven times. 

Isabel Day of Park Hill South girls volleyball was second with more than 28 percent of the total votes.  

Previous winners: Parkway North's Zyan Royal (Sept. 26-Oct. 1), Liberty North's Ella Hayes (Sept. 19-24), North Platte's Colton Kirkham (Sept. 12-17), Truman's Freddie Sheppard (Sept. 4-10), Hannibal's Aneyas Williams (Aug. 29-Sept. 3), Truman's Cecilia Mora (Aug. 22-28).