Vote now: Bay Area News Group boys athlete of the week
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. 26-31.
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:
Christopher Baltrip, St. Mary’s-Berkeley: Baltrip scored 30 points and grabbed 19 rebounds in a 51-44 win over Bethel. St. Mary’s is 14-9 and will travel to St. Patrick-St. Vincent on Tuesday.
Vince Ellis, Clayton Valley basketball: Ellis scored 18 points to lead Clayton Valley to a 57-33 win over Campolindo. Clayton Valley is 19-3 and is scheduled to play Benicia on Wednesday.
Rashod Cotton Jr., Dougherty Valley basketball: The senior scored 26 points and hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 20 seconds left to lead Dougherty Valley to a 59-56 win over Amador Valley. Dougherty Valley is 17-7 and will play San Ramon Valley on Tuesday.
Walter Guzman, Los Altos soccer: Guzman scored a goal in the Eagles’ 3-1 win over Mountain View. Los Altos is 12-2-2 and will host Palo Alto on Tuesday.
Andrew Hilman, Archbishop Riordan basketball: Hilman hit a buzzer-beating jumper to lead Riordan to a 53-51 win over St. Ignatius. Riordan is 16-1.
GJ Hill-Thomas, Bishop O’Dowd basketball: Hill-Thomas scored 15 points and grabbed four rebounds to lead the Dragons to a 51-49 win over Berkeley.
Ananth Kothapalli, Evergreen Valley basketball: The junior scored 21 points to lead EV to a 68-61 win in overtime against Pioneer. EV (12-6) will travel to Leigh on Tuesday.
Quinn Ledesma-Old Elk, Christopher basketball: Old-Elk scored 22 points to lead Christopher past Evergreen Valley. Christopher is 15-5 and will be at Pioneer on Tuesday.
Matteo Mendoza, Moreau Catholic soccer: Mendoza scored two goals to lead Moreau to a 2-1 victory over Irvington.
Peyton Miller, Monte Vista soccer: The senior scored a goal in the Mustangs’ 4-0 win over Livermore. Monte Vista is 12-1-2 and will play De La Salle on Tuesday.
Vincent Ramirez, Liberty wrestling: The 130-pound wrestler defeated the 23rd-ranked wrestler in the state and the No. 2 wrestler in the North Coast Section. He helped Liberty win an NCS duals title.
Lyubomir Tzankov, Monta Vista soccer: The junior had a hat trick to lead Monta Vista to a 5-3 win over MacDonald. Monta Vista (3-10-2) plays Lynbrook on Wednesday.