At long last, the high school sports season in central Illinois is back in earnest and so our our nominees for CSM Fall Athletes of the Week Presented by Dominos, as if they never left.
This week’s nominees include all golfers as the boys and girls golf seasons got underway. Football, volleyball, boys soccer and other sports all join the fray this week.
This week’s nominees include golfers that set new personal records, helped their team set records, or had other outstanding performances to kick off their 2024 season.
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UPDATE: Washington's Gavin Schreurs and Pekin's Leah Brown won voting in their respective polls for CSM Fall Athletes of the Week. Voting concluded at 8 PM on Wednesday. Stay tuned for a story on our winners!
Boys Athlete of the Week nominees
Gavin Schreurs, Washington boys golf
The Panthers’ junior has sizzled on the course so far this season and earned medalist honors at Peoria Notre Dame’s Mickey Schallau Invite on Aug. 19 with a career-low 67 (-5) at Kellogg Golf Course. His round featured no bogies and three straight birdies on holes 15-17 at Kellogg Golf Course plus back-to-back birdies on holes 2 and 3. He and teammate Court Bohanon took third place as a two-man team at East Peoria’s Raider Cup Challenge on Aug. 22.
Brock Brown, Richwoods boys golf
Brown’s senior season has gotten off to a great start as he shot a 73 with four birdies at PND’s Mickey Schallau Invite to finish as the runner-up. That wasn’t his lowest round of the week though, which came in the form of a 71 at the Raider-Redbird Classic at Weibring Golf Course on Aug. 20. He and teammate Hayden Lochbaum combined to shoot a 79 at the Raider Cup Challenge to close out the week.
Jack Quinn, Normal U-High boys golf
The Normal U-High freshman certainly didn’t play like a typical freshman, taking home two top-five finishes. Quinn carded a 74 at PND’s Mickey Schallau Invite, the lowest on a Pioneers team that finished as the runner-ups by one stroke, to help him finish third overall and included a 34 on the front nine at Kellogg Golf Course. He fired a 71 at the Raider-Redbird Classic to finish in a tie for fourth as well.
Connor Watson, East Peoria boys golf
The East Peoria standout took home some hardware to kick off his senior year as he and teammate Nicholas Unes won the Raider Cup Challenge at Quail Meadows with a four-under 68. Watson also shot nicely at the Raider-Redbird Classic with a 72 to finish in the top 10.
Cole McCoy, Illini Bluffs boys golf
McCoy shot a 36, the lowest nine-hole score of his career, to win medalist honors at a pentagonal meet at Greenview and help the Tigers win by 25 strokes over runner-up Petersburg PORTA on Aug. 21. Two days earlier, he also came up clutch with a 44 that helped Illini Bluffs win a tri-meet over ROWVA/Williamsfield and Elmwood by two strokes.
Girls Athlete of the Week nominees
Leah Brown, Pekin girls golf
Brown is enjoying an early breakout campaign and helped the Dragons extend their match winning streak to 21, a program record, last week. She shot a 40 to earn co-medalist honors and lead Pekin to victory at a tri-meet with Richwoods and Galesburg on Aug. 22 As the No. 3 golfer in the Pekin lineup, her 77 at the Rock Island Alleman Invite on Aug. 24 was enough for a third-place finish individually and helped the Dragons win the event for the first time in program history as well.
Jessica Schultz, Fieldcrest girls golf
Schultz has made her mark as one of the best girls golfers in the Heart of Illinois Conference and shot an 85 to finish third at the Peru St. Bede Tee-Off Classic and helped Fieldcrest finish in fourth. She also shot a 43 to lead the Knights to a 217-226 dual win over conference rival Eureka at Kaufman Park Golf Course on Aug. 19.
MacKenzie Howard, Peoria Notre Dame girls golf
Howard is one of only a few golfers left from PND’s state-qualifying team from a year ago and took the Irish’s No. 1 spot in stride, winning the Metamora Redbird Classic at Metamora Fields with a five-over par 77. Her round was buoyed by an even-par 36 on the front nine
Caroline Braucht, Bloomington Central Catholic girls golf
Braucht displayed a big step up in her game as one of the Saints’ stars at the Redbird Classic. The sophomore tied for first with a five-over par 77 at the challenging track and only finished second due to a scorecard tiebreaker.
Sydney Hunt, Dunlap girls golf
Hunt has had her handprints all over a successful start to the season for the Eagles. She led her team to a first-place finish at the Redbird Classic for the first time in program history on Aug. 21 with a round of 78, which placed her in third individually. On Aug. 23, Hunt and fellow Eagle Audrey Aparahamian teamed up to shoot 76 and finish third at the Bloomington Best Ball Tournament at Highland Park Golf Course, where Dunlap took second as a team.
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