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 Oct. 7-12.

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

Kiyona Brown, Homestead field hockey: The senior scored a hat trick in an 8-0 victory over crosstown opponent Monta Vista. Brown has scored seven goals in 10 matches this season

Ava Ellsworth, Washington-Fremont water polo: The senior scored six goals, three in the first quarter, in the Huskies’ 21-4 victory over Newark-Memorial. Washington improved to 8-1.

Mia Ferdinand, Mercy-Burlingame volleyball: The senior had 39 kills, 12 aces and a whopping 23 blocks in victories over Notre Dame-Belmont, Aptos, Santa Cruz and Buchanan.

Zoe Gaffney, San Leandro volleyball: The senior had 16 kills and four aces in San Leandro’s 3-1 victory over Mt. Eden. She has 180 kills and 12 blocks so far on the season as the Pirates improved to 5-0 in league play.

Carla Granados-Perez, Branham flag football: The senior quarterback threw for a combined five touchdowns and ran for two more scores in victories over Lincoln and Andrew Hill. Granado-Perez has thrown for 25 touchdowns in 10 games this season.

Meena Kasirajan, Carondelet volleyball: The junior had a team-high 16 kills and 11 digs in Carondelet’s 3-1 victory over Monte Vista. The outside hitter already has 183 kills on the season.

Tessa Lee, Carlmont golf: The only freshman on the Carlmont team helped lead the Scots to led Carlmont to three league victories this week. She had scores of 41, 42 and 400 against Hillsdale, Aragon and San Mateo.

Marin Lnenicka, Granada flag football: The junior had eight receptions for 130 yards and three touchdowns in a 26-14 victory over Monte Vista. This win improved the Matadors to 9-3.

Mia Macauley, Fremont-Sunnyvale water polo: The senior got a steal in overtime, and then assisted on a goal a few moments later in the 11-9 victory over Wilcox. She also scored a goal against Homestead.

Natalia Valerio, Willow Glen flag football: The senior quarterback had a monster game against Piedmont Hills, throwing for three touchdowns and rushing for another. Valerio also picked off three passes in the 32-18 victory.

BOYS

Nic Austen, College Park water polo: The junior totaled five goals, six steals and an assist as College Park defeated Clovis 12-9. College Park (16-3, 2-0) is tied for first place with Campolindo in the Diablo Athletic League- Foothill Division standings.

Benjamin Bouie, Crystal Springs Uplands cross country: Bouie crossed the finish line in 15:41.21 to take first place in the 2.95-mile run at the West Bay Athletic League meet. Bouie set the CCS championship record in the 1,600 meter event in the Spring.

Trey Caldwell, De La Salle cross country: Caldwell broke a course record when he took first place in the Crystal Springs Invitational 2.95-mile run, crossing the finish line in 14:27. The previous record was held by Mitch Kingery, whose time of 14:28 held for 51 years.

Josh Elerts, Acalanes football: Elerts rushed for 81 yards and two touchdowns in his first game as a running back to lead Acalanes to a 35-28 win over Miramonte. Acalanes (5-2, 1-0) will play Clayton Valley on the road on Friday.

Moussa Fall, MacDonald football: Fall completed 8 of 16 passes for 124 yards and a touchdown to lead MacDonald to a 20-14 win over Cupertino. The junior also rushed for 48 yards and a score for MacDonald, which is 2-4 and will host Saratoga on Friday.

Matthew Garibaldi, San Ramon Valley football: Garibaldi, a senior, totaled 236 rushing yards and three touchdowns as SRV held off California 38-26. The Wolves are now 7-0, 1-0 and will travel to De La Salle on Friday.

Ethan Kennedy, Dublin football: Kennedy had a 60-yard pick-six in Dublin’s 18-14 upset win over Foothill. Dublin, which improved to 2-4, 1-0, is slated to host Granada on Friday.

Dylan Ly, Evergreen Valley football: The senior rushed for 108 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries in Evergreen Valley’s 22-8 win over James Lick. The Cougars are 4-2, 2-0 and are scheduled to host Gunderson on Friday.

Carmel Mendes-Grassia, Woodside football: The senior quarterback returned two kicks for touchdowns and had a passing score in Woodside’s 77-12 win over Homestead. Woodside (4-2, 2-0) plays at South San Francisco on Friday.

Casey Watkins, Menlo-Atherton water polo: Watkins had four goals and four steals in M-A’s 14-3 win over Carlmont. The Bears are 10-7, 7-1 this season.