Welcome to the Bay Area News Group (Mercury News & East Bay Times) girls Athlete of the Week poll.
For the entire academic year, we will provide a list of candidates who stood out over the previous week and allow you, the reader, to vote for the winner.
This week, we consider performances from March 17-22.
Polls close at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Vote as many times as you’d like until then without using bots or any other artificial methods of voting.
Votes by email and after 5 p.m. Wednesday are not counted.
Scroll to the bottom for the poll.
Winners are announced each Friday online and in the print edition of the Mercury News and East Bay Times sports sections.
Candidates for future Athlete of the Week polls can be nominated at highschools@bayareanewsgroup.com.
We accept nominations until 11 a.m. each Monday.
We also review stats submitted to MaxPreps by coaches/team statisticians.
On to the nominees:
Delaney Aumua, Granada softball: Aumua hit two home runs and drove in four runs as Granada lost 8-7 in a tight matchup with Foothill. In a 9-1 win over Dublin, she added another home run, a double and four more runs batted in.
Eden Chuang, Menlo School swimming: The senior, an Army commit, won and qualified for CCS in three events at a West Bay Athletic League meet on Wednesday, topping the 100 breaststroke, the 200 individual medley and 200 free relay.
Alanna Clincy, Willow Glen softball: Clincy twirled a two-hitter in the circle, striking out 10 as Willow Glen shut out Branham 5-0.
Leah Gonzales, Mt. Pleasant softball: Gonzales drove in five runs and tripled twice as Mt. Pleasant toppled Overfelt 35-18 in a wild game.
Melody Gonzales, Valley Christian softball: Gonzales, a freshman, pitched a two-hitter as Valley knocked off Branham 8-0 in nonleague play.
Julianna Hammons, California School for the Deaf softball: Hammons broke the CSD school strikeout record, punching out 15 in an 8-5 win over Tomales. She also hit a double and triple, drove in two runs and scored twice.
McKenzie Ortega, Pinole Valley softball: Ortega continued her excellence in the circle, spinning a one-hitter in a 10-0 win over De Anza and a two-hitter in a 4-0 win over Albany one week after spinning a no-hitter in a win over St. Patrick-St. Vincent. She also drove in and scored three runs with a home run and double against De Anza.
Mary Rangel, Notre Dame-San Jose lacrosse: Rangel scored seven goals in each of NDSJ’s games last week, adding three assists as the San Jose school knocked off Presentation 24-13 and Notre Dame-Belmont 13-9.
Tyler Scott, Wilcox softball: Scott compiled three hits and three RBIs as Wilcox knocked off Sobrato 11-3 to improve to 4-3.
Arlie Tatum, El Cerrito softball: Tatum hit two doubles and drove in three runs as El Cerrito routed Swett by a score of 15-2.
Ellie Novitske, Foothill softball: Novitske had two hits and an RBI in an 8-7 victory over Granada and doubled and drove in three runs as Foothill took a 5-3 loss to Livermore.