Vote for The Herald’s Prep Athlete of the Week for Sept. 27-Oct. 3

Published 1:30 am Sunday, October 3, 2021

The Athlete of the Week nominees for Sept. 27-Oct. 3. Voting closes at midnight Sunday. The winner will be announced with next week’s poll and in Tuesday, Oct. 12’s paper. Each weekly winner will be included in an Athlete of the Month poll.

Last week’s winner

Gaylan Gray | Marysville Pilchuck | Football

Gray, a junior, need just four carries to rack up 104 yards and two touchdowns in the Tomahawks’ 49-14 win over Glacier Peak on Sept. 24. He also returned an interception 39 yards for a score. Gray won last week’s Athlete of the Week poll by claiming 599 (25%) of 2,392 votes.

This week’s nominess

Aaron Barraza | Edmonds-Woodway | Football

Barraza, a senior, churned out 197 yards and four scores on 22 carries in the Warriors’ 33-28 win over Monroe on Oct. 1. He scored three of his touchdowns in the second half, including 38- and 59-yarders in the fourth quarter.

Summer Dean | Everett | Girls Swim and Dive

Dean, a junior, won the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2 minutes, 24.83 seconds and the 100 freestyle with a time of 59.44 seconds in a meet against Archbishop Murphy on Sept. 28. She also helped the Seagulls’ 200 freestyle relay team to a first-place finish.

Aiden Emerson | Arlington | Boys Cross Country

Emerson, a senior, was the top local finisher at the 14th annual Twilight XC Invitational at Cedarcrest Golf Course on Oct. 2. He finished the 5,000-meter race in second place with a time of 15 minutes, 31.0 seconds.

Paige Gerrard | Snohomish | Girls Cross Country

Gerrard, a sophomore, was the top local finisher at the 14th annual Twilight XC Invitational at Cedarcrest Golf Course on Oct. 2. She finished the 5,000-meter race with a third-place time of 18 minutes, 25.0 seconds.

Riley Hoople | Granite Falls | Football

Hoople, a senior, had a passing, rushing and receiving touchdown in the Tigers’ 48-0 win over rival Sultan on Oct. 1. He finished with 61 yards passing, 77 rushing and 15 receiving.

Taylor Nelson | Monroe | Girls Soccer

Nelson, a senior, had a foot in all four goals for the Bearcats in their 4-0 win over Marysville Getchell on Sept. 28. She scored two goals and added two assists.

Taylor Pederson | Arlington | Volleyball

Pederson, a senior, stuffed the stat sheet in both of the Eagles’ victories last week. She had 18 assists, five kills, two digs and one ace in a 3-0 win over Everett on Sept. 27, and 18 assists, seven digs, seven kills, four aces and one block in a key 3-0 victory over Snohomish on Sept. 29.

JuJu Williams | Everett | Football

Williams, a senior, ran for 110 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries, including a 33-yard game-tying score in the final minutes, as the Seagulls edged Shorewood 28-27 on Oct. 1.

Jason Yee | Glacier Peak | Boys Tennis

Yee, a junior, helped the Grizzlies edge Lake Stevens 4-3 by winning his No. 1 singles match 6-0, 6-1.

Note: The Herald’s Athlete of the Week nominees are chosen based off stats reported to the newspaper, recommendations from coaches and first-hand observations. Stats from games and recommendations for nominees can be sent to sports@heraldnet.com.