Help us select our high school Athletes of the Week

Welcome to the Bay Area News Group (Mercury News & East Bay Times) boys and girls Athlete of the Week polls.

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 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.

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.

Here are the nominees:

GIRLS

Mariah Avalos, Santa Teresa softball: Avalos, a junior, was a machine at the plate in Santa Teresa’s run to the CCS Division III softball title game. She went 3 for 4 with two doubles and two RBIs in a victory over The King’s Academy in the semifinal, and then was 3 for 3 and hit a home run against Everett Alvarez in the final.

Dre DeJesus, Live Oak softball: DeJesus, a senior, punched Live Oak’s ticket to the NorCal playoffs with a big game in the CCS Division IV title game victory over Pacific Grove. DeJesus was 2 for 3 with a double and a triple, scored two runs and had two RBIs.

Leilani Garcia, KIPP-San Lorenzo softball: Garcia, a sophomore, had an incredible 18 strikeouts in 10 innings to help KIPP win the Oakland Section softball championship 1-0 over Oakland High. She allowed just two hits, and also scored the winning run.

Bronwyn James, Oakland softball: James, a sophomore, was magnificent in defeat, striking out an unbelievable 26 in 10 innings and allowing just one hit in a 1-0 loss to KIPP where the winning run was scored via error. James struck out 19 consecutive batters to start the game.

Lauren Lemire, Pittsburg track and field: Lemire, a senior, medaled at the state championships after she finished seventh in the 1kg discus. Lemire’s distance of 142-0 was a personal record, breaking her old mark set at the NCS Meet of Champions the previous week.

Ellie McCuskey-Hay, St. Ignatius track and field: McCuskey-Hay capped off her freshman season by finishing second in the CIF State 100-meter race, running it just 00.07 seconds slower than first. The freshman was first in the 100 at Arcadia and the WBAL and CCS championships.

Tatum Olesen, Menlo-Atherton track and field: Olesen, a junior, was one of two Bay Area athletes to medal in the 800 meters. She finished seventh after running it in 2:10.25, a personal record.

Kailani Tatro, Pinole Valley softball: Tatro, a senior, pitched another complete game in Pinole Valley’s 6-1 victory over Encinal in the NCS Division III title. Tatro, also a prolific hitter, pitched every inning of every game for the 28-1 Spartans.

BOYS

Wil Brennan, Los Gatos track and field: Ran the anchor leg in 47.718 seconds to help Los Gatos finish second to Long Beach Poly in the 4x400 relay at the CIF State championships in Clovis. Los Gatos’ time of 3:13.97 broke the Central Coast Section record of 3:14.14 that Independence held since 1988. Brennan also finished seventh in the 400 in 48.32.

Michael Castaneda, Valley Christian baseball: Pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings and also knocked in two runs with a third-inning single to lead Valley Christian to a 5-0 victory over Hollister in the CCS Division I championship game at Excite Ballpark.

Anthony Dela Cruz, Santa Teresa baseball: Two days after his team’s primary starters, Johnny Alvarez and Riley Breton, pitched seven innings each in a 14-inning semifinal victory over Leland, Dela Cruz pitched a four-hitter as Santa Teresa beat Palma 2-0 in the CCS Division IV final at Excite Ballpark. Dela Cruz had not pitched more than four innings in any appearance this season.

Jaden Dumdumaya, De La Salle golf: Shot 4-under 68 at the Berkeley Country Club to win the CIF NorCal championship. His low round helped De La Salle capture the team title with a score of 357, 13 strokes lower than runner-up Crystal Springs Uplands.

Paul Montgomery, Bellarmine baseball: The Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo commit pitched a three-hitter with nine strikeouts and one walk as Bellarmine defeated Leigh 2-0 to capture the CCS Division II championship at Excite Ballpark. He lowered his ERA to 0.93 while improving to 7-1.

Trevor Rogers, Acalanes track and field: Helped Acalanes finish second in the 4x100 relay at the CIF state track and field championships, with the Dons finishing second to Granada Hills in a season-best 40.96. The winners ran 40.39. Also placed fourth in the long jump at 23 feet, 4 inches, matching the school record he set in the prelims a day earlier.

Joseph Salazar, Skyline baseball: Led Skyline to its third consecutive Oakland Section championship, pitching a complete-game five-hitter to beat Oakland Tech 3-0 in the final at Laney College. He also went 3 for 3 and scored two runs. Skyline advanced to the NorCal regionals.

Nicholas Strezo, Hillsdale baseball: Scattered eight hits and struck out four while pitching a complete game shutout as Hillsdale won the CCS Division V championship with a 3-0 victory over Capuchino at Excite Ballpark. The senior improved to 9-2 with a 0.72 ERA.

Chukwunonso Udeh, De La Salle track and field: Finished first in the long jump at the CIF state track and field championships, leaping 23-9 ¾. Also placed fifth in three other events — the 110 high hurdles (14.29), high jump (6-4) and 4x100 relay (41.28)