Editor’s note: We prohibit the use of bots and any other artificial methods of voting. Suspicious activity could lead to the disqualification of candidates and a permanent suspension of the Athlete of the Week poll. No voting by email: Votes by email and after 5 p.m. Wednesday are not counted.
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 Jan. 22-27.
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 [email protected].
We accept nominations until 11 a.m. each Monday.
We also review stats submitted to MaxPreps by coaches/team statisticians.
On to the nominees:
Sayonara Chavez, De Anza soccer: Chavez, a senior, scored twice in a victory against Swett. That gave her 15 goals on the season, with her season-high coming the previous week when she scored four goals against Vallejo.
Yesenia Fonseca, Hill soccer: Fonseca, a sophomore, scored a goal in HIll’s 2-0 victory over Yerba Buena. That gave her six goals on the season according to stats inputted into MaxPreps.
Kendra Furtado, Gunderson soccer: Furtado, a sophomore, had a save and kept a clean sheet in Gunderson’s 4-0 victory over Del Mar. Furtado has 44 saves in 14 games for Gunderson.
Cierra Gallardo, James Logan basketball: Gallardo, a senior, had back-to-back double-doubles in league wins. She had 20 points and 10 rebounds against Moreau Catholic, and 16 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks against American to give her eight double-doubles on the season.
Quinn Godfrey, Branham basketball: Godfrey, a senior, had an epic performance against Evergreen Valley. She had 44 points, 10 rebounds and two assists in the victory. In the next game against Christopher, she had 29 points and six rebounds.
Jhai Johnson, Oakland Tech basketball: Johnson, a sophomore, did everything for the Bulldogs in their 63-27 league victory over Oakland. She scored 19 points, grabbed 22 rebounds and had 10 steals in a dominant all-around performance.
Karyss Lacanlale, Acalanes basketball: Lacanlale, a junior, made seven 3-pointers and scored 30 points in a rout over Ygnacio Valley. Acalanes improved to 19-4 after winning its eighth consecutive game.
Nina Llamas, Santa Clara basketball: Lammas, a senior, scored 31 points in a victory over Gunn, and then put in 27 points in another win against Cupertino. The previous week, she had scored 31 and 26 against Milpitas and Wilcox respectively.
Maxine Sutisna, Archbishop Riordan basketball: Sutisna, a junior, was consistently excellent in Riordan’s WCAL victories over St. Ignatius and St. Francis. She scored 16 points against St. Ignatius, and then scored the same amount vs. St. Francis a couple days later to help the Crusaders improve to 5-3 in league play.
Laia Williams, Lincoln-San Jose basketball: Williams, a senior, scored nine of her game-high 11 points at the free-throw line as Lincoln defeated Prospect 31-26. That victory snapped Prospect’s 13-game winning streak.
