A pair of standouts from Normal earned the honor of CSM Fall Athletes of the Week with Normal U-High girls golfer Natalie Ocheltree and Normal West running back Cody Muhlbauer taking home last week’s honors.
Both players earned the most votes in their respective polls, where voting concluded on Wednesday evening.
Read more about our winners and get to know them with Q and A’s below!
Ocheltree won CSM Girls Athlete of the Week after receiving 35 percent of the votes in her poll. The Pioneers’ junior took home second place at the Saints Shootout, hosted by Bloomington Central Catholic at Prairie Vista Golf Course, on Aug. 31 with an impressive four-over-par round of 76. Her effort helped Normal U-High finish second out of 16 teams at the tournament. Ocheltree followed it up recently by winning the Pioneers’ home invite at Weibring GC with a round of 75 and helping her team to a strong showing at Richwoods’ Zeb Gardner Memorial Scramble.
Get to know Ocheltree in a Q and A here:
What’s been your favorite memory of the season/offseason so far?
“My favorite memory on the team so far this season was at the first tournament of the season. Our coach shares information with us in military time, which is very confusing for a group of high school girls so when he told us to leave at 13:30 for this tournament, we assumed that meant be at the bus. He actually wanted us at the bus at 13:00 [and] it took me at least ten minutes to wrap my head around the fact that 13:00 means 1:00. We left school early secretly and snuck out to get Smoothie King. On our drive back, we got stopped by a train which made us even later so when we arrived at the bus with our smoothies at 13:40 our coach was a little mad. He said, “Late to the first tournament of the season ladies, this is not good.” Holding back laughter because our coach is silly, we all got on the bus realizing we were only going to have ten minutes to warm up for the tournament. We love Coach Dennis even though the military time is definitely confusing, we’re just girls!”
If you had to be stranded on an island with a teammate, who would it be and why?
“If I had to be stranded on an island with my teammate I’d choose Sofia [Ruiz]. She’s new to the team this year! But we’ve been friends our whole lives and we did do a camping trip with our middle school class when we were younger. At that camp, we learned to make food, about plants, and putting together a tent. The two of us bunked together, so I think we would definitely survive!”
Who’s your favorite music artist?
“My favorite music artist would be Morgan Wallen.”
Favorite food?
“My favorite food is pasta in a sweet tomato sauce.”
Do you have any pre-round routines/rituals?
“My pregame routine/rituals are always listening to hype music including Drake, Travis Scott, Metro Boomin, etc. I usually hit way too many balls [and] sometimes I get too tired at the range before I compete. I always try to eat a meal before I play. I’m also the last person to always be on the putting green no matter what. There are so many strokes that can be shaved by putting, so knowing the greens can save my round. Our team always wishes each other luck [and] gives each other hugs before we leave to tee off which is so sweet!”
Who’s your favorite collegiate or professional athlete?
“My favorite athlete is Jordan Spieth.”
Do you have any hidden talents?
“One of my hidden talents is dance. I have my pointe shoes and I used to be a big dancer. However, it got too hard to manage ballet and golf so I had to quit. Another hidden talent I have is nail art. I usually paint my own nails and I’m able to do cute designs on them!”
Who’s your role model and why?
“My role model is without a doubt Jesus. I’m always striving to try to be the best person I can be, just like Him. He is perfect in every way. Obviously, I’m flawed but I know I’ll always have God by my side supporting me through whatever golf or life brings me.”
Muhlbauer won CSM Boys Athlete of the Week by receiving 42 percent of the votes in the boys poll. The Normal West sophomore running back carried the load in a 33-27 win over Peoria Notre Dame on Aug. 30, rushing for 350 yards and all five of the Wildcat’s touchdowns. He averaged nearly 20 yards per carry in the win and scored on runs of 49, 76, 80, 12 and four yards, including the eventual game-winning touchdown with 3:52 left in the back-and-forth contest.
Get to know Muhlbauer in a Q and A here:
What’s been your favorite memory of the season/offseason so far?
“Playing games at our cookout.”
If you had to be stranded on an island with a teammate, who would it be and why?
“It would be CJ Porter because we are the same person.”
Favorite music artist?
“Don’t have a favorite music artist, I like all music.”
Favorite food?
“Steak.”
Do you have any pregame routines/rituals?
“No.”
Who’s your favorite collegiate or professional athlete?
“Christian McCaffrey and Breece Hall.”
Do you have any hidden talents?
“I can do a backflip.”
Who’s your role model and why?
“My dad because he always gives me good advice and takes me to all my practices and games.”
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