Mother Nature certainly cooperated well enough to provide opportunities for area athletes to excel, and quite a few did so on the diamond, track and in the field.
This has provided a strong list of candidates for the Daily Leader Athlete of the Week honor for the week of April 15-20.
Each week, the Daily Leader nominates a group of stars and you get to go and vote in our poll. Coaches may email Erich Murphy at emurphy@gannett.com by 9 a.m. each Monday to submit a potential nominee who can be placed on the ballot.
The voting at pontiacdailyleader.com ends at noon on Friday.
Mikayla Chambers, Dwight
Chambers was a double-winner for the DTHS girls by claiming the 200-meter dash in 27.1 seconds and the 800 run in 2:22.47 as the Trojans placed second in the girls’ portion of the Manteno Invitational.
Dwight Boys Track
Dwight’s boys track and field team won the Manteno Invitational after collecting 106 points with seven first-place finishes. Weight man Graham Meister won the shot put and discus, Tyler Gubbins won the 400 dash, was second in the 200 and joined Joseph Duffy, Tysen Walker and Ayden Roff in winning the 4x400. Duffy won the 110 high hurdles and was second in the 300 hurdles. The 4x800 quartet of Chris Ozee, Frank Lasser, Logan Bovelle and McKay Gleeson placed first.
Madi Ely, Dwight
Ely tossed a no-hitter in helping DTHS win two of three games on the week. She held Putnam County hitless while fanning 13. She had 25 strikeouts in three appearances in the circle. On offense, Ely had three hits and drove in three runs.
Elena Krause, Pontiac
Krause did it all for Pontiac in helping claim six wins and a tournament championship for the week. She recorded 70 strikeouts and allowed nine hits and went 4-1 in the circle. Krause had 11 hits and drove in four runs at the plate.
Emma Palaschack, WFC
Palaschack hit for the cycle for the week, collecting a homer, triple, double and two singles in the two games she played for the week.
Pontiac Girls Track
Maria Long and Jaden Lucas each won individual events and were part of a winning relay team as PTHS placed second at a 17-team invitational at Gibson City. Long won the triple jump and Lucas captured the 800. Long, Lucas, Mykyla Torrez and Hallie Opperman combined to take the 4x400 relay. Payton Semmens won the 100-meter hurdles.
Drake Powell, Lexington
Powell had a hot bat with seven hits, including a double, and 12 RBIs for the Minutemen. He also claimed a win with five strikeouts on the mound.
Mason Vandegraft, El Paso-Gridley
Vandegraft collected five base hits and drove in four runs for EPG’s baseball team. He also struck out 11 batters in two appearances on the bump.
Mackenzie Wesson, Lexington-Ridgeview
Wesson had a big week with seven hits, which included three home runs and 12 RBIs in four games. This included a 2-homer, 5-RBI game against Putnam County.
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