Vote now: Who should be SBLive’s Nebraska high school athlete of the Week? (May 8-14)

By Nathan Charles 

Here are the candidates for SBLive’s Nebraska high school athlete of the week for May 8-14. Read through the nominees and cast your vote. Voting will conclude Sunday at 11:59 p.m. If you would like to make a nomination in a future week, email athleteoftheweek@scorebooklive.com. 

Editor’s Note: Our Athlete of the Week feature and corresponding poll are 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 who receive votes generated by script, macro or other automated means will be disqualified. 

Kerstyn Chapek, Bishop Neumann Girls Track & Field

Chapek hasn’t needed much of a learning curve in her first year of varsity track. The freshman heads to Morrison Stadium scheduled for four events, three she earned on her own and another as part of a relay. Last week at the district meet at Aquinas, Chapek won the 100, 200 and 400 and was the opening leg of the Cavaliers’ 1600 relay team that also took gold. Chapek’s rookie season has included four gold medals in the 100, three in the 200, three in the 400 and four as part of the 1600 relay. She heads to Omaha with Class C top-five times in the sprints and seventh in the 400.

Obed Benazo, Schuyler Boys Soccer

Benazo was the hero for the Warriors in a first-round state tournament win last week over South Sioux City. Schuyler, which had played in 11 state tournaments in the previous 22 seasons, hadn’t been back to Omaha in five years and hadn’t won a match in six. Benazo made it happen with an equalizing goal early in the second half then the game-winner just moments later when he gathered in a pass inside the six-yard box and made it 2-1. It was Benazo’s third multi-goal game of the season.

Presley Douglas, Skutt Catholic Girls Soccer

Douglas didn’t waste any time returning to the pitch at Morrison Stadium. The Skutt junior scored in the fifth minute of the SkyHawks’ first-round state tournament win over Elkhorn North then added two more later in the match for a 4-1 win. Douglas left last year’s title match with a head injury and wasn’t able to enjoy her team’s win for a second straight championship. She put Skutt on its way to a third in a row with a hat trick that gave the SkyHawks their seventh straight state tournament win and eighth straight first-round state victory. It was Douglas’ first hat trick of her career.

Lance Brester, Howells-Dodge Boys Track & Field

Brester couldn’t have planned it any better for himself at last week’s district meet, winning three times with three personal best times and distances. The Howells-Dodge senior broke 16 seconds for the seventh time this year and hit the line at 15.63 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles, nearly went under 40 seconds in the 300 at 40.89 seconds and bested his high jump mark by an inch when he cleared 6 feet, 5 inches. It was Brester’s fourth win in the 110s, second in the 300 and fourth in the long jump. Brester was also the anchor in the Jaguars’ district championship 1600 relay.

Grace Greenwald, Westside Girls Tennis

Greenwald took it to the limit in last week’s Metro Conference No. 1 singles championship match. Her win went the distance in more ways than one. She won the first four games of the opening set, dropped the next four but then won the final two. She was up 5-2 in the second set and had a match point but was forced into an extra set. But while her opponent might have had the momentum at that point, Greenwald jumped out to a 7-3 lead. She again found herself tied 8-8 after squandering the big lead but eventually finished off her championship with back-to-back points. Greenwald finally claimed the win after a 2 and 1/2 hour match.

Carson Frank, Malcolm Baseball

The Clippers haven’t been to the state tournament in 81 years. They’re wasting no time in getting back to competing for a championship. Frank started Malcolm off on the right foot when he went 2 for 4 and drove in three runs in Saturday’s 9-1 win over Omaha Concordia. Frank also scored twice during a game that made it 17 with a hit, 33 hits overall, 27 RBIs and eight games with multiple RBIs.

Charley Kort, Lincoln Southwest Girls Soccer

Kort scored both goals, her second in the second overtime period for the game-winner, in Friday’s 2-1 semifinal win over Lincoln East. Her efforts sent Southwest into its first championship game in program history. Kort has scored 14 goals this season, now has three games with multiple goals and has also added eight assists. Kort already has 23 goals and 17 assists and has one more year remaining of varsity soccer.

Nolan Hurt, Central City/Fullerton/Centura Baseball

Hurt is playing in his third straight state tournament and continues to have a major effect. The opposition just couldn’t find a way to get him out in Saturday’s first-round game. Hurt was on base three times, hit safely twice and walked while also stealing a base. Hurt drove in three runs and now has 17 RBIs on the season with a .317 batting average and .458 on-base percentage. He’s drawn 12 walks and struck out just five times.

Torrey McManus and Jada Vosick, Marian Girls Tennis

McManus and Vosick were thrust into the No. 1 doubles position a year ahead of schedule when teammate Elsa Jurrgens went down with a knee injury. Jurggens is a two-time state medalist who anchored the lineup at No. 1 singles. Since she was lost for the season, McManus and Vosick have responded. Their latest effort includes the No. 1 doubles championship this past week at the Metro Conference Championship. The duo dominated a tiebreaker 10-2 for a second straight conference title after winning last year’s No. 2 doubles title.

Ayo Makinde, Bennington Boys Soccer

Makinde continues to be the spark of a potent Bennington offense. The Badger senior has scored in all 19 matches this season, had 15 multi-goal games coming into state then made it 16 with his fourth hat trick of the season in a semifinal win over Schuyler. Makinde has had three of those four hat tricks in three of the past four matches, notching 10 goals and three assists between subdistrict play and two games at the state tournament. In the first round, Makinde scored a goal and had two assists. Thanks to his leadership Bennington is into its first state title match in program history.

Macy Richardson, Sterling Girls Track & Field

There are only a handful of athletes around the state that can claim the same kind of dominance as Richardson this season. Last week at the district meet she won both hurdle events in the 100 and 300 meters, took the title in the triple jump and was the runner-up in the long jump. Richardson has won 21 races/events this season including all nine times she’s competed in the 100 hurdles, five in the 300 hurdles, four times in the long jump and four times in the triple jump.

Gabe Miles, Lincoln East Boys Track & Field

Miles was a three-time winner at last week’s district meet and heads to state with his eyes on three state medals to wrap up a successful season. The East senior won the 100, 200 and 400 at Lincoln Northeast and was the second leg of the 400 relay that also took gold – meaning he is in the maximum four state events this week at Burke Stadium. After runner-up finishes each of his last two times out in the 100, Miles claimed gold, made it four wins in both the 200 and 400 and was a part of a 1600 relay gold medal team for the third time.

Madison Seiler, Gering Girls Track & Field

Seiler has been unbeatable over the past month. The Gering senior came into Tuesday’s district meet with a conference title in the 800, three straight wins in the 1600 and three in the 3200. She continued her dominance in those three events in Ogallala, winning the 800 with a PR, the 1600 by more than 15 seconds and the 3200 by more than a minute. Seiler is looking to add to her state medal collection that includes two pieces of hardware in the two-mile and one in the mile.

Porter Topp, Westside Boys Golf

Topp led the Warriors to their 19th Metro Conference Championship last week by also winning conference gold of his own. The senior shot a career-best 68, rolled in six birdies on the day and nearly chipped in for quite the finish to a superb round. Topp won the title by three shots and claimed his first tournament win of the season. With him at the top of the leaderboard, Westside ended a seven-year drought at the Metro Tournament.

Kaitlyn Swartz, Papillion-La Vista South Girls Track & Field

Swartz has state experience from each of the past two seasons. She’ll be at Omaha again this week looking to be more than just another competitor. The Papio South junior won the 800, 1600 and 3200 at the Columbus district meet and set a PR along the way. Her time of 2:18.57 in the 800 was the first time she broke 2:20 this season. Swartz is ranked in the top five in the 800 and the top 15 in both the mile and two-mile.

Jackson Urban, Roncalli Catholic Baseball

Urban pitched a gem and earned the Crimson Pride a first-round state tournament win on Saturday over Plattsmouth. The senior wasn’t’ overpowering but was more than efficient and effective while striking out four, walking three and allowing just two hits. Urban went the distance and pitched all seven innings while picking up his fifth win of the season. Urban has a 1.73 ERA, has allowed just nine earned runs in 36 innings and is holding opponents to .135 hitting.

Nyasia Thomas, Omaha North Girls Track & Field

Thomas is rounding into form at just the right time of the season. The Omaha North junior won the 100 and 300-meter hurdles in each of her first few meets of the season but had been settling for runners-up and less in recent weeks. Last week at the district meet in Kearney she returned to the top of the podium with a gold medal in both, qualifying for state in the two hurdle events for the first time in her career. She won the 100 hurdles with her second-best time of the season and took the 300 with her top time of the season. Thomas was also part of the 400 relay team that gook gold.

Nick Venteicher, Millard West Baseball

Millard West and Venteicher couldn’t have asked for much better of a start in their first-round state tournament win Friday Grand Island. Venteicher, who’s hitting .369 this season with two home runs, doubled his homer output with a leadoff blast then a grand slam in a 10-0 win over Grand Island. His 2 for 5 game that included five RBIs increased his RBI total to 31 and his OPS to 1.103. Friday’s win was his eighth game with multiple RBIs.

Ize Tidball, Norris Girls Soccer

Tidball was the difference in Norris surviving a first-round state match with Bennington and came up big again in the semifinals with more hard work between the pipes. Norris won a pair of shootouts on its way to making a third straight title match, and while Tidball wasn’t as big in the second shootout, she’s been rock steady in two state matches. Tidball has stopped 11 shots and allowed just one goal in 200 minutes of play. In the win over Bennington, Tidball deflected a shot over the crossbar early in the second half, made a one-on-one save minutes later and stopped two shots in the shootout.

Barrett Wilke, Tekamah-Herman Boys Track & Field

Wilke is one of the best young throwers in Class C. He heads to the state meet with his top shot put and discus throws in the top five. Every other thrower around Wilke is either a junior or a senior. At last week’s district meet, Wilke won both and set a personal record in the shot put by landing his best toss at 58 feet, 4 inches. He took the top spot in the shot put by more than three feet and was the winner in the discus by more than four feet.