Volleyball, cross-country early season leaders; Vote for the Week 1 Athlete of the Week
HILLSDALE COUNTY — The early season results are in for Hillsdale County cross country, soccer, tennis and volleyball teams, and with those results there were several standout athletic performances from area student athletes. We've gathered submitted stats and compiled a list of athletes who are making an impact early on this season for their schools and teams.
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Athlete of the Week submissions can be made up to Monday of each week. Because of the Holiday break, our Week 1 submissions can be continued on through Wednesday, and the voting poll closes on Friday at midnight. Coaches can submit athletes to be nominated. A total of four additional athletes may be chosen for the voting poll, with no more than 10 athletes to be nominated in one week.
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Readers can vote multiple times. The poll closes exactly at 11:59 p.m. E.S.T. Specific stats may be updated as additional information is made available or is changed. Athletes can be nominated multiple times throughout the season but will not be nominated in back-to-back polls if they have won. Schools that win back-to-back reader's choice polls will not be eligible for the following week's Athlete of the Week polls.
In addition, the Hillsdale Daily News will name one male and female student athlete as our Daily News Athlete of the Week honorees. Unlike the reader's choice poll, schools can earn honorees in back-to-back week's depending on results and performances. Athletes will not be separated by gender in the readers' choice polls.
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Logan Youngman and Chloe Stalhood earn two early season victories for their teams
Hillsdale boys cross country runner Logan Youngman and girls runner Chloe Stalhood both came home with early season victories. They both won at the Pittsford early bird invitational. Stalhood won the Hillsdale invitational, and Youngman took second in the boys race.
Stalhood, a senior, ran 21:43.99 at Pittsford to take first and ran 19:54.89 at the Hornet invite to win. The Hornet girls cross country team was named the Pittsford Invitational winners.
Youngman, a sophomore, ran a 17:39.01 at Pittsford to win and took second at home with a 16:40.37, a new PR time.
Caleb Blonde leads Jonesville boys cross country to a victory at Concord
Jonesville sophomore Caleb Blonde took second overall at the Concord invitational with a time of 17:27.60. Combined with Nicholas Fowler's 18:15 fifth place run, Collin Fucile's 18:51 12th place run and Ashton Potwin's 19:00.44 14th place run, the Comets took first overall for the Invitational. Blonde also took second at the 6th Annual Happy Acres Invitational.
Senior Natalynn Beach leads the Comets in kills in silver bracket tourney win
Jonesville volleyball seniors led the way for the Comets in the team's first trophy win of the season. The Comets were led by senior Natalynn Beach with 29 kills, 28 digs and seven aces in the team's tourney win at Harper Creek in Week 1. Several other senior Comets had big games, including Haley Mach with 64 total digs during the tournament. Carley Graves had 70 total assists. Senior Korra Estel had 13 kills.
More: Seniors Beach and Mach lead Jonesville volleyball to first tourney trophy of the year
Senior Aubree Ervans helps state ranked Reading volleyball team earn first trophy of the season
The Reading volleyball team won the Addison tournament championship thanks to several top performances from their seniors. Senior Aubree Ervans, dream team honoree from last season, has 12 aces, 107 assists, 32 digs and 20 kills through Week 1. In addition, senior Abby Affholter leads the team in kills with 52 and blocks with six. Senior Ariana McDowell has 48 digs, 25 kills and nine aces. McDowell and Santure are tied for second on the team in aces.
More: D4 No. 8 ranked Reading volleyball seniors have big goals after earning early tourney win
Ella O' Grady leads Hillsdale Academy volleyball in kills to start the season
At a recent quad match in Union City, state ranked Hillsdale Academy volleyball posted an undefeated night, beating Athens, Homer and Union City, losing zero sets on the night. Senior Ella O' Grady led the team with 23 kills. O' Grady currently leads the team with 63 kills overall this season. Senior Clara Heath already accumulated 187 assists as the team heads into Week 2 holding a 7-2 overall record.
Dawson Scharer leads Hillsdale Academy boys soccer past Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic
Junior Dawson Scharer was the focal point of the team offense in the Colts' 4-3 win over Hackett Catholic. Scharer scored three goals in the game. The team is 3-2 overall.
Landon York earns two match wins to start the season
3rd singles competitor Landon York leads Hillsdale boys tennis with two match wins so far this season in singles competition. York won a 6-2, 6-2 match against Columbia Central. He also won 6-4, 7-5 against Pennfield to help the team tie in final scores 4-4.
1st doubles team of Alex Portteus and Tydan Bible also have posted two wins. Their first was a win against Jackson Northwest, which was the only win that day for Hillsdale. They also won their match 6-2, 6-4 against CC.
Vote for the Week 1 Reader's Choice Athlete of the Week
This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Checking in on early leaders for prep sports in Hillsdale County
