Vote: The Des Moines Register Athletes of the Week for Oct 22-28, sponsored by Iowa Ortho

State cross country individual and team champions were decided on Oct. 27-28 in Fort Dodge and the state volleyball tournament field was set last week.

High school football also had the Round of 16 state playoff competition on Oct. 27.

Several outstanding races were run in cross country and a number of impressive individual performances took place on the football field and volleyball court.

Here are the Iowa Ortho female and male Athlete of the Week candidates for the week of Oct. 22-28. Register readers vote to determine the winners, who will be announced at the end of the week. You only need to register once, so come back each hour for easy voting.

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Girls

Noelle Steines, Calamus-Wheatland

Steines claimed her third Class 1A girls cross country individual championship in as many tries during the state cross country meet on Friday, Oct. 27 in Fort Dodge.

Steines missed over a month of the season with an ankle injury, but she fought her way back to state and peaked at the perfect time. Steines ran a 5-kilometer time of 18:22 to best the 18:35.6 by top-ranked Meghan Wheatley of North Linn.

Addison Dorenkamp, Valley

Like Steines, Dorenkamp came back from an injury to put together a state championship run.

The Alabama verbal commit bounced back from an inflamed quad and glute to earn her second 4A individual title in three years. Dorenkamp ran the fastest time of any female runner from all four classes at state, crossing the finish line in 17:41.5.

Hillary Trainor, Sumner-Fredericksburg

Trainor capped a dominant senior season in cross country with her first individual state championship.

Trainor won the 2A girls' race at the state cross country meet on Saturday, Oct. 28. She dethroned three-time defending champion Danielle Hostetler of Mid-Prairie by running an 18:09.5 to win the race by an impressive 26.2 seconds.

Marissa Ferebee, Pella

Ferebee helped the Pella girls cross country team cruise to a repeat championship in 3A by winning her first individual title.

The Dutch sophomore completed the course in 18:38.6 to edge out Harlan's Lindsey Sonderman (18:42.1) for first.

Molly Shafer, Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont

Shafer had a huge night at the net for the 2A No. 15 Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont volleyball team during the Rockets' sweep of Tri-Center in the 2A Region 3 finals Oct. 25 at Adel.

Shafer hammered down 30 kills on 41% efficiency, and she also recorded 14 digs to help Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont earn a trip to the state volleyball tournament.

Boys

Ethan Zuber, Ankeny

Zuber won his first individual state cross country championship during the 4A boys' race at the state cross country meet Oct. 27.

Zuber ran the fastest time of any male runner from all four classes when he crossed the finish line in 15:07.7.

Canaan Dunham, Pella

Dunham followed up last year's team championship for the Dutch in 2022 by winning an individual title during the 3A boys' race at the 2023 state cross country meet Oct. 28.

Dunham finished Saturday's 3A boys' race in 15:18.5 to top Lewis Central's Ethan Eichhorn, the defending champion, by seven seconds for the win.

Emmett Swartzendruber, Mid-Prairie

After coming in 20th individually during the 2022 2A boys' cross country race, Swartzendruber moved all the way up to No. 1 at the 2023 2A race on Oct. 28.

Swartzendruber ran a time of 15:51 to edge the 15:53.9 by Denver's Neal Pinter to claim the 2A individual title.

Landon Bendgen, Woodbine

Bendgen repeated as 1A boys' individual cross country champion during the state cross country meet Oct. 27.

Bendgen finished the race in 15:55.3 to win the race by 7.2 seconds over Grundy Center's Emerson Vokes.

Brent Yonkovic, West Delaware

Yonkovic accounted for seven touchdowns during West Delaware's 58-45 shootout victory over Assumption during the 3A football playoffs Round of 16 Friday, Oct. 27 at West Delaware.

Yonkovic completed 16 of 21 passes for 199 yards and two touchdowns and he ran for 288 yards and five more scores to lift the Hawks into the 3A quarterfinals.

The Des Moines Register's Athlete of the Week is underwritten by Iowa Ortho, which is not involved in the writing or editing of this story.

Joe Randleman covers high school sports for the Ames Tribune. Contact him at jrandleman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JoeRandleman

This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Vote: Des Moines Register Athletes of the Week for Oct. 22-28