Vote Now: Who should be this week's SBLive North Carolina High School Athlete of the Week (May 22-27)?

Here are the candidates for SBLive’s North Carolina High School Athlete of the Week for May 22-27 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 and the winner will be announced Monday, June 5. If you would like to nominate an athlete, please email athleteoftheweek@scorebooklive.com or tag us on Twitter or Instagram at @sblivenc.

THIS WEEK’S NORTH CAROLINA 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 by script, macro or other automated means will be disqualified.

Micah Simpson, T.C. Roberson, Baseball

You can freely use the word clutch with this guy and he’s only a sophomore. Simpson hit a walk-off home run in the Rams’ 3-2 win over Northwest Guilford in Game 1 of the 4-A Western Regional championship series. In Game 3, he blasted a go-ahead solo home run, helping propel the Rams to the state finals for the first time since 2017.

Marianne Maxon, West Henderson, Girls Soccer

The Falcons’ leading scorer tallied both goals in a 2-1 win over Lake Norman in the fourth round of the 3-A state playoffs. Mason has 51 goals altogether and the Falcons will play in the Western Regional championship for the first time in school history.

Daniel Higdon, Voyager Academy, Baseball

Higdon, a senior, tossed a three-hitter with eight strikeouts in an 8-1 win over North Moore, forcing a Game 3 in the 1-A Eastern Regional championship series. The run was unearned.

MacKenzie Morrow, Jacksonville, Girls Soccer

Morrow scored the game-winning goal with 38 seconds remaining in the first overtime period, lifting the undefeated Cardinals to a 3-2 win over Hunt in the fourth round of the 3-A state playoffs. The Cardinals had to play shorthanded over the last five minutes of regulation and overtime after a player got two yellow cards.

Molly Widderich, Eastern Alamance, Girls Soccer

Widderich had a goal and an assist in the unbeaten Eagles’ 4-0 win over Dixon in the fourth round of the 3-A state playoffs. It was her 50th goal of the season.

Summer Bowman, Wheatmore, Girls Soccer

Bowman had both assists in the undefeated Warriors’ 2-1 win over Community School of Davidson in the fourth round of the 2-A state playoffs. The senior forward has 58 goals and 24 assists for the Warriors, who tied a state record with their 48th consecutive win.

Leah Kendall, Apex, Softball

Kendall’s two-out double, two-run double in the bottom of the sixth inning gave Apex the lead as the Cougars rallied from a 4-0 deficit to defeat Topsail 7-6 in Game 3 of the 4-A Eastern Regional championship series. Kendall was 4-for-4.

Brendan Chamberlain, South Granville, Baseball

The junior right-hander hurled a three-hitter with four strikeouts and no walks as the Vikings beat Camden County 2-0 in Game 3 of the 2-A Eastern Regional championship series.

Truitt Manuel, West Henderson, Baseball

The North Carolina State commit, who is a junior, pitched a three-hitter with 10 strikeouts as West Henderson beat Oak Grove 2-1 in Game 2 of the 3-A Western Regional championship series. The Falcons went on to win the series.