Help us choose our high school Athletes of the Week

Welcome to the Bay Area News Group (Mercury News & East Bay Times) 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 May 12-17.

Polls close at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Vote as many times as you’d like until then at mercurynews.com and eastbaytimes.com without using bots or any other artificial methods of voting.

Votes by email and after 5 p.m. Wednesday are not counted.

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:

GIRLS

Brooke Bennett, Granada swimming: The junior captured the state title in the 500-yard freestyle at the CIF championships on Saturday at Clovis West High, covering the distance in 4:49.15. She also finished sixth in the 200 IM in 2:01.50.

Stella Canoles, Campolindo swimming: The freshman won the CIF state championship in the 100 freestyle on Saturday at Clovis West High, touching the wall in 49.26 seconds. She also took second in the 50 free in 22.49 seconds.

Makenzie Leon, Valley Christian softball: The senior had two hits, including a double, and drove in three runs as Valley Christian overcame a 6-0 deficit to beat No. 1 St. Francis 9-7. The outcome left the teams tied for the West Catholic Athletic League championship.

Libby Lyon, Los Altos gymnastics: Captured the SCVAL championship with an all-around score of 38.8. She won league titles on vault (9.6) and floor (9.8), finished third on beam (9.7) and fifth on bars (9.7), earning all-league recognition in every event while leading Los Altos to its first SCVAL team championship since 2019.

Haley Ocumen, Willow Glen softball: Went 3 for 4 with a double, triple and home run, knocked in three runs and scored three runs to lead the Rams to a 10-0 rout of Gilroy in BVAL Mt. Hamilton Division play, capping a 26-0 regular season. The senior is hitting .531 on the season.

Ava Sanchez, Independence softball: The sophomore hit a grand slam over the fence among her two hits and drove in five runs as Independence rallied from a 10-2 deficit to edge San Jose 13-12, an outcome the clinched the outright BVAL West Valley Division championship for the 76ers. Had San Jose won, the teams would have shared the title.

London Shedd, Liberty track and field: Took first in the 100 meters at the NCS Tri-Valley Area Championships on Saturday, crossing the finish line in a personal-best 11.84 seconds. Also won the long jump with a leap of 18-3 1/4 and ran a leg on the 4x100 relay team that placed second.

Mia Torres, San Lorenzo track and field: Finished first in the discus at the NCS Bayshore Area Championships on Saturday with a throw of 111-3, the same mark she reached at the West Alameda County Conference championships a week earlier. Her personal best is 112-0, set at a league meet in early April.

Cynthia Wang, Archbishop Mitty badminton: Qualified for NorCals this weekend at Independence High. In her high school debut season, she has a 19-2 record, including 10-0 in the regular season. She and her sister, Laila, were seeded No. 1 at their league tournament in doubles and finished fifth at CCS this past weekend.

Payten Williams, Livermore softball: The sophomore hit a three-run homer to help Livermore defeat California 7-4 in the East Bay Athletic League championship game. The Cowboys received the No. 2 seed in the NCS Division I bracket.

BOYS

Drew Diffenderfer, Santa Clara baseball: The senior struck out six and gave up no runs in Santa Clara’s 7-0 win over Cupertino. The Bruins finished the regular season 24-3 and won the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League El Camino Division title.

William Dryden, Archbishop Mitty volleyball: Dryden recorded 22 kills to lead Mitty to a 3-1 (25-18, 25-17, 23-25, 28-26) victory over St. Francis in the Central Coast Section Open Division championship match. Mitty received the top seed in the CIF NorCal Division I playoffs and is scheduled to host No. 8 Oak Ridge on Tuesday.

Christian Duarte, Bellarmine baseball: The Santa Clara University commit pitched a complete game, giving up just four hits and a run to lead Bellarmine to a 3-1 win over Valley Christian in the West Catholic Athletic League tournament final. Bellarmine is 17-13 this season.

Tim Edwards, Pittsburg track and field: The senior took first place in the 200-meter race at the NCS Tri-Valley Area Championships with a time of 21.51.

Jaden Jefferson, De La Salle track and field: Jefferson won the 100-meter race at the NCS Tri-Valley Area Championships, crossing the finish line in 10.39.

Yury Kuzmenko, Valley Christian swimming: Kuzmenko, a junior, set a state record in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 19.55 in the prelims. He went on to win the finals the next day with a time of 19.74.

Luka Mijatovic, Foothill swimming: The sophomore broke the national record in the 500 free with a time of 4:11.91. He also set a state meet record in the 200 free, touching the wall in 1:33.52.

Ingmar Nordberg, Northgate volleyball: Nordberg totaled 12 kills in Northgate’s 3-1 (25-17, 25-21, 22-25, 25-15) win over Amador Valley in the NCS Division I championship game. Northgate advanced to the CIF NorCal Division I playoffs and will travel to Clovis on Tuesday.

Cooper Smith, Leigh volleyball: Smith totaled 22 kills to lead Leigh past Branham in the CCS Division I title game. Leigh is the top seed in the CIF NorCal Division III bracket and will host Washington-Fremont on Tuesday.

Nikko Taylor, Berkeley baseball: Taylor, a senior, set the school record for most stolen bases with 129. Berkeley finished the season 10-13.