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Vote for The Herald’s Prep Athlete of the Week for Sept. 12-18

The Athlete of the Week nominees for Sept. 12-18. Voting closes at midnight Sunday. The winner will be announced with next week’s poll and in Tuesday, Sept. 20’s paper.

Last week’s winners

Sean and Cole Balen

Sean and Cole Balen

Cole Balen and Sean Balen | Archbishop Murphy | Boys Tennis

Brothers Cole Balen, a junior, and Sean Balen, a senior, won all four of their matches on their way to winning the first annual Class 2A District 1 Doubles Invite held Sept. 9-10 at Sehome High School. The pair won their matches 6-0, 6-3; 6-2, 6-1; 6-1, 6-4; and 6-3, 6-4. Both also won all three of their singles matches during week to help the Wildcats to a 3-0 start. They won last week’s voting by claiming 378 (38.2%) of 990 votes.

This week’s nominees

Grace Andrews | Snohomish | Girls Swim & Dive

Andrews, a junior, won the 200-yard individual medley (2 minutes, 26.34 seconds) and 100 butterfly (1:05.11) in the Panthers’ 95-75 win over Everett on Sept. 13. She also helped Snohomish’s 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay teams secure victories.

Ella Edens | Lake Stevens | Girls Cross Country

Edens, a senior, took first place in the Girls Varsity Division 1 race at the 43rd annual Carl Westling Invite at South Whidbey High School on Sept. 17. She finished the 5,000-meter course in 19 minutes, 52.68 seconds.

Liam Fitting | Edmonds-Woodway | Football

Fitting, a senior, piled up 283 yards on three touchdowns on 26 touches in the Warriors’ 44-21 victory over Lynnwood. He had 231 yards and two scores on the ground and 52 yards and one TD receiving.

Trey Leckner | Glacier Peak | Football

Leckner, a senior, scored on all five of his touches as the Grizzlies thumped Ferndale 42-14 on Sept. 17 at Lumen Field. He scored on catches of 5, 70, 63, 13 and 59 yards. Leckner finished with 210 yards receiving.

Chloe Lewis | Arlington | Volleyball

Lewis, a senior, had a whopping 44 digs in the Eagles’ 3-1 loss to Snohomish on Sept. 15. The mark is believed to be a single-game program record.

Keiyu Mamiya | Shorewood | Boys Cross Country

Mamiya, a junior, took first place during a four-team meet on Sept. 14 at McCollum Park. He finished the 2.5-mile course in 13 minutes, 38.0 seconds.

Emma Orthel | Shorecrest | Girls Soccer

Orthel, a junior, scored the go-ahead goal in the 74th minute as Shorecrest topped Archbishop Murphy 2-1 on Sept. 15.

Zach Overbay | Monroe | Boys Tennis

Overbay, a sophomore, won all three of his No. 1 singles over a three-day stretch last week. Overbay earned victories of 6-2, 6-2; 6-3, 6-1; and 6-1, 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. Nominations for each week must be received by noon on Monday.

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