The Trophy Shop Athlete of the Week for the week of January 29 is KURSTEN BAKKEN* of the Union County (Lake Butler) girls’ weightlifting team.
*Bakken set a new Florida record as the Tigers won their first-ever FHSAA championship in girls weightlifting. The senior was one of four individual state champions for Union County. She bettered her fifth-place showing at state last year as a junior by setting a new state record in the bench press in the unlimited class at 300 pounds. She lifted a combined 525 pounds in the bench press and clean-and-jerk, breaking a Florida high school record that had stood since 2009.
Nominate an Athlete of the Week each week no later than Sunday at 6 p.m. Email your nominations to mike@ThePrepZone.com
Previous 2017-18 winners:
Jan. 22 – Devin King-Porter (Buchholz girls’ soccer)
The sophomore midfielder helped lead the Lady Bobcats to the Class 5A-District 1 title. King-Porter led all scorers with three goals in an 8-0 win against Sandalwood (Jacksonville) in the district semifinals. She followed that up with a goal and an assist in a 4-0 win against Forest (Ocala) in the district championship.
Jan. 15 – Zack Martin (Santa Fe boys’ soccer)
Martin had eight goals during the week to help lead Santa Fe to a 3-0 record, with all three wins coming in Class 2A-District 5 competition. He began the week with a hat trick in an 8-0 win at Interlachen. Two days later, the senior forward scored two goals for Santa Fe in a 3-0 win against second-place Crescent City, which gave the Raiders the No. 1 seed in the upcoming district tournament. Martin finished the week with a hat trick in an 8-0 win at P.K. Yonge (Gainesville).
Jan. 8 – Ayanna Rollins (Oak Hall girls’ basketball)
The senior forward helped lead Oak Hall to a couple of wins during the week. Rollins led the Eagles with 30 points, 10 rebounds and two assists in a 65-33 win against Florida School for the Deaf (St. Augustine). She followed that up with a monster effort two nights later in a 39-31 win at Eastside (Gainesville). Rollins scored 24 points, grabbed 22 rebounds and had six steals.
Jan. 1 – No award due to holiday and cancelled school
Dec. 25 – Jimmy Johnson (Eastside boys’ basketball)
Johnson helped lead the Rams to a third-place finish at the Hitchcock’s Challenge in Alachua. The senior guard scored in double figures in every game as Eastside went 3-1 in the tournament. He scored 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting, including 3-of-3 behind the arc, in a 70-36 win against Columbia (Lake City) in the 3rd-place game.
Dec. 18 – Christian Miller-Cardwell (Gainesville boys’ basketball)
Miller-Cardwell led Gainesville to the Kiwanis Christmas Tournament title at Bradford High School (Starke), Dec. 21-23, by scoring 70 points in three games. The tournament MVP led the Hurricanes (8-2) with 22 points in a 75-55 win against host Bradford in the championship game. He scored a game-high 26 points in a 69-58 win against 8A No. 2 Creekside (St. Johns). The senior also scored a game-high 22 points in a 62-44 win against Madison County.
Dec. 11 – Sierra Millinor (Eastside girls’ soccer)
Millinor helped lead the Lady Rams to a pair of Class 3A-District 5 wins. The junior forward scored five goals in a 7-3 win against Crystal River. Two days later against Vanguard (Ocala), she scored three goals and assisted on another in a 5-1 win.
Dec. 4 – Lee Ducharme (P.K. Yonge girls’ soccer)
The senior forward scored seven goals, giving her 300 on her career, as the Blue Wave remained undefeated with a dominating 8-1 win at Santa Fe (Alachua). The win snapped a 5-game losing streak to the Lady Raiders. Two days later, the West Florida commit scored five goals in an 8-0 win against Interlachen. The 12 goals gave Ducharme 32 goals in eight games.
Nov. 27 – Anthony Allen (Newberry boys’ soccer)
Allen helped the Panthers bounce back from its first defeat of the season, a 6-0 loss at Crescent City on Monday, by scoring five goals in their next two games to lead Newberry to a 2-1 week. The senior scored both of his team’s goals in a 2-0 win at Interlachen on Thursday, followed by the first hat trick of his career in a 5-0 win at Oak Hall on Friday. He also added an assist in the win against the Eagles.
Nov. 20 – No award due to Thanksgiving holiday
Nov. 13 – Zion Barber (Bradford football)
The senior helped lead the Tornadoes to their first state semifinal appearance since 2004 with a 24-14 win against Dunnellon in the Class 4A Region 2 Final. Barber had a rushing touchdown on a 4th-and-goal, threw two TD passes, kicked three extra points and made a 20-yard field goal as Bradford (10-1) won its 10th straight game.
Nov. 6 – Isabel Ivey (Buchholz girls’ swimming)
Ivey helped lead Buchholz to its third straight state title. She set a state record in the 100 breast stroke (1:00.99), and she beat Stanford commit Morgan Tankersley of Plant (Tampa) to win the 200 freestyle (1:44.68), in winning two individual state titles. The junior was also a part of the 200-yard freestyle relay team which set a school record, and a state record, with a time of 1:31.66, less than a second from the national mark, and she helped lead the Lady Bobcats to a state record in the 400-freestyle relay.
Oct. 30 – Austin Montini (Oak Hall boys’ cross country)
The freshman helped lead the Eagles to a third-place finish at the high school cross country regional championships. Montini finished third with a time of 16:48.86 to lead the Eagles to a third-place finish. The Oak Hall boys were ranked sixth but finished third.
Oct. 23 – Brandis Smith (St. Francis Catholic Academy volleyball)
Smith helped lead the Wolves (8-9) to an upset of previously unbeaten North Florida Christian (Tallahassee) in the FHSAA Class 3A Regional Semifinals. The senior had 50 kills, 7 blocks, and 12 digs for the defending state champions. St. Francis Catholic Academy d. North Florida Christian 20-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-14.
Oct. 16 – Heather Pedrick (Santa Fe volleyball)
The junior setter helped lead the top-seeded Lady Raiders to the Class 6A-District 6 title. Pedrick had 14 kills, eight digs, 14 assists and six service points to lead the Raiders to a sweep of North Marion (Citra) in the district semifinals. In the championship against No. 2 seed Belleview, she led the way with 17 kills, 20 digs and five blocks as Santa Fe swept the Rattlers.
Oct. 9 – Amelia Williams (Buchholz girls’ golf)
Williams helped the Lady Bobcats capture their fifth straight Jill Darr Invitational title. The sophomore was the low medalist with a 3-under 69. She had a bogey-free round. The Jill Darr Invitational, named after the late Jill Darr Rowell, represents the Alachua County championship.
Oct. 2 – Charles Strong (Union County football)
The FSU commit rushed for 262 yards and scored three touchdowns as Union County (6-1) defeated previously unbeaten Hawthorne, 31-25, in overtime. Strong, who has 1,139 yards and 13 TDs on the season, scored the game-winner from 10 yards out in OT. He also had a 23-yard scoring run and a 12-yard TD run.
Sept. 25 – Demari Turner (St. Francis Catholic football)
Turner came up with the big plays, catching four passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns, to help lead the Wolves to a 36-0 win against rival Oak Hall and snap the Eagles’ two-game win streak in the series. The senior wide receiver had scoring catches of 63 and 89 yards as St. Francis Catholic knocked off the previously-unbeaten Eagles and snapped their overall winning streak at 13 games. He also had a 2-point conversion and helped the defense pitch its first shutout of the season.
Sept. 18 – Anthony Richardson (Eastside football)
The sophomore quarterback led the Rams to a 2-0 week, which is twice as many wins as Eastside had (1) all season in 2016. Richardson had 646 yards and 10 touchdowns rushing and passing. In the Rams’ 33-28 home win over Newberry on Monday, he accounted for all five of their touchdowns, finishing with 348 yards and two scores through the air and 65 yards and three scores on the ground. On Friday, at Lake Weir (Ocala), Richardson ran for 102 yards on 11 carries with two TDs, and 131 yards passing with three scores.
Sept. 11 – No award due to Hurricane Irma
Sept. 4 – Gerard Williams III (Williston football)
Williams set a school record with 307 yards on 27 carries, with three touchdowns, in the Red Devils’ 28-14 win at Seven Rivers Christian (Lecanto). During Williston’s first five possessions, the senior had 13 carries for 115 yards. However, on Williston’s final three drives, he had 192 yards on 14 carries, with 2 TDs.
