Welcome to the Bay Area News Group (Mercury News & East Bay Times) boys 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 Jan. 27-Feb. 1.
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:
Mia Borja, Alameda basketball: Borja, a freshman, scored 22 points as Alameda took down San Leandro in a 63-22 rout.
Ella Gunderson, San Ramon Valley basketball: Gunderson, a sophomore, scored 22 points to lead SRV to a 73-25 win over Foothill.
Chloe Keating, Bishop O’Dowd soccer: Keating had a strong week for O’Dowd, notching two goals and two assists in a 6-0 win over Castro Valley and adding a goal and an assist in a 2-1 triumph over Berkeley.
Valerie Kuelker, Pinewood basketball: Kuelker led all scorers with 25 points as Pinewood took down Priory in a top-10 matchup at home.
Isabella Lo, Harker basketball: Lo paced Harker with 26 points as the Eagles beat Castilleja 53-35 at home.
Lara Macian, Westmont basketball: Macian nailed five 3-pointers and scored 17 points in all as Westmont took down Piedmont Hills 47-42 after rallying from a four-point halftime deficit.
Maddison Sardelich, Northgate basketball: Sardelich posted a dominant week for Northgate. She scored 16 points and added 16 rebounds against Alhambra, then poured in 14 points while grabbing 15 rebounds against Ygnacio Valley.
Sa’rye Starks, Ygnacio Valley basketball: Stars had a game for the ages against Northgate on Thursday. The 5-foot-6 senior scored 43 points, grabbed 10 points and stole 15 passes to clinch a nontraditional triple double. Starks scored all but four of YV’s points in the 61-47 loss.
Murphy Walsh, Archbishop Mitty soccer: Walsh scored both of Mitty’s goals in a big 2-0 win over St. Ignatius in West Catholic Athletic League action.
Kennedy Whyte, Monte Vista basketball: Whyte, a sophomore, had two big games last week. Against Dougherty Valley, she scored 19 points, grabbed 17 rebounds and blocked two shots. Against Amador Valley, she scored 22 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and added a block.
Abigael Zennadi, Mills soccer: The senior led Mills to a 7-3 win over Oceana, scoring three goals to clinch a hat trick.