Vote: CSM Spring Athletes of the Week, April 7-13, 2025

This week’s nominees for CSM Spring Athletes of the Week made history, and then some.

Among the top performances across Central Illinois high school sports were a new national record in pole vault and a new all-time home run leader in softball. Walk-off heroes in softball, powerful bats in baseball and prolific goal scorers in soccer and lacrosse helped make for a top-of-the-line list of potential winners this week.

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Check out all of our nominees with information on their standout performances below, vote for who you think should win and spread the word to vote before polls close at 11:59 PM on Thursday!

Girls Athlete of the Week nominees

Kaidance Till, Metamora softball

Till became Metamora softball’s all-time home run queen on April 7, hitting two homers and driving in three runs in a 16-3 victory over Lincoln. She went a perfect 3-for-3 with a double in a loss to Washington and 4-for-4 with a double, homer and two RBIs in a win over Morton. Throughout the week combined, Till batted .765 with seven extra base hits and seven RBIs, scoring eight runs.

Campbell Damery, Normal Community girls soccer

Damery helped lift the Iron to three wins last week, beginning with a hat trick in a 9-0 Intercity win over Bloomington on April 7. The next day, she scored twice as Normal Community beat Champaign Centennial 5-0. Damery’s biggest goal of the week came as the only goal of the game, scored with 1:03 left, in a 1-0 win over Richwoods on April 10. She added a score that helped NCHS to a 1-1 draw with Washington on April 12.

Natalie Downing, Canton softball

Downing delivered in all three of Canton’s games last week in which the Little Giants extended their winning streak to eight. The cleanup batter hit a go-ahead two-run double in the sixth inning of an 8-7 win over Illini Bluffs on April 9, finishing with two hits and three RBIs. She contributed a pair of RBIs in Canton’s 5-1 win over Morton on April 8 and went 3-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs in a 10-0 win over Galesburg on April 11.

Abby Tudeen, Dunlap girls track and field

Tudeen won multiple distance races for the Eagles, who were champions at the Silver Streak Invitational on April 11. The Dunlap senior won the 3200 meters in 11:11.91 and picked up first-place finishes in a tri-meet against Pekin and Metamora on April 8. There, she won the 800 meters in 2:31.14 and did the same in the 1600 meters in 5:26.26.

Addy MacGregor, Washington softball

MacGregor hit a dramatic walk-off two-run homer in the eighth inning of a 6-4 win over rival Metamora on April 8, adding an RBI double earlier in the game. The Washington catcher added a 2-for-3 performance with a double in a 12-2 win over Pekin and went a combined 3-for-7 with a pair of RBIs in a doubleheader split against East Moline United on April 12.

Vote here!

CSM Girls Athlete of the Week poll

Kaidance Till, Metamora softball
Campbell Damery, Normal Community girls soccer
Natalie Downing, Canton softball
Abby Tudeen, Dunlap girls track and field

Boys Athlete of the Week nominees

Griffen Landsverk, IVC baseball

Landsverk had a massive week at the plate for IVC, which went 3-0 with two conference wins. The Grey Ghosts’ outfielder went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two doubles in a 10-3 win over Bloomington Central Catholic on April 9, then exploded for six RBIs and a home run while going 3-for-3 in a 22-1 win over Peoria Notre Dame the next day. Landsverk and the Grey Ghosts took down Monticello 4-0 on April 12 to move to 4-0 in Illini Prairie play.

Isaiah Whitaker, Bloomington Central Catholic boys track and field

Whitaker set a new high mark for prep pole vaulters across the entire country this season, clearing 17 feet and 10.5 inches at Metamora’s Chuck Danner Co-Ed Invite on April 12. The mark beat the previous national season record by six inches and ranks as the 18th-best height this season nationally across high school, college, and club teams.

Tyler Loftus/Andrew Opper, Metamora boys tennis

Loftus and Opper won the No. 3 doubles bracket as Bloomington’s Purple and Gold Invite to help the Redbirds take the team title over 12 other schools. The Metamora tandem blew through the first two rounds with 6-1, 6-2 and 6-0, 6-0 victories before beating Normal Community’s Aitor Togay and Landen Patrick 7-5, 6-1 in the title match.

Chase Knuth, Normal West baseball

Knuth displayed his power across five games for the Wildcats last week, going 8-for-15 with three home runs. He went 3-for-3 with a double, triple, home run and two RBIs, then had another home run with three RBIs in a doubleheader sweep over Urbana on April 7. Knuth continued his home run streak as part of a two-hit, two-RBI game against Bloomington on April 9.

Tommy Dixon, Dunlap boys lacrosse

Dixon led a big scoring output for Dunlap in a 20-3 win over Homewood-Flossmoor on April 12, leading the Eagles with six goals on eight total shots.

Vote here!

CSM Boys Athlete of the Week poll

Griffin Landsverk, IVC baseball
Isaiah Whitaker, BCC boys track and field
Tyler Loftus/Andrew Opper, Metamora boys tennis
Chase Knuth, Normal West baseball