Each week, publications from the Southern California News Group’s 11 properties (Orange County Register, L.A. Daily News, Press-Enterprise, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Long Beach Press-Telegram, The Daily Breeze, San Bernardino Sun, Daily Bulletin, Redlands Daily Facts, Whittier Daily News and Pasadena-Star News) select the Athletes of the Week for their respective region.
Each athlete is then entered into the overall Southern California Athlete of the Week vote.
Click on the newspaper links below the athlete’s name to read about their performance from last week, and then vote for who you think deserves the top honor.
Readers are allowed to vote multiple times. Voting ends at midnight, but final totals aren’t always immediately reflected due to processing.
BOYS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK VOTING
The overall winner will be announced on Friday, February 25.
Voting poll at bottom of the page.
Ryan Riddle, La Salle: One of the Northview’s most celebrated girls wrestlers won the CIF Southern Section Southern Division 150-pound title over the weekend, which helped the Vikings win the team crown. She will be one to watch at the state championships as well.
Morgan Netherton, Newport Harbor: The USC-bound attacker scored a combined eight goals in the semifinals and finals to help lead the top-seeded Sailors past Foothill 13-3 and Laguna Beach 11-6 en route to the inaugural CIF-SS Open Division title. Netherton had three goals, three assists and three steals in the final against two-time defending champion Laguna Beach.
Esther Toavalu, Banning: Toavalu won the L.A. City Section 235-pound individual wrestling title, becoming the school’s first wrestler to accomplish that feat. She won all three matches by fall, including a first-period fall in the final. Toavalu qualified for this week’s CIF State Wrestling Tournament in Bakersfield.
Jessa Thurman, Chaminade: Thurman has been a double-double machine when the Eagles need it most. In the CIF Southern Section Division 1 quarterfinals, Thurman notched 18 points and 11 rebounds in a 72-54 win over Lynwood, and then had 26 points and 13 rebounds in a 75-64 semifinal win over Oxnard. Chaminade (22-8) will host UCLA-bound guard Gabriela Jaquez and Camarillo (28-1) in the semifinals Wednesday at 7 p.m. Thurman was also the athlete of the week this season on Dec. 13.
Leilani Lepe, North: Lepe has been pulling double duty during the winner sports season as a member of the school’s soccer and wrestling teams. Saturday, she won five consecutive consolation matches and eventually finished fourth in the 121-pound division at the CIF Southern Section Masters Meet to qualify for this week’s CIF State meet. Later that day, Lepe helped the girls soccer team score a 1-0 win over Riverside Prep in a Division 6 quarterfinal match. She also scored a goal in North’s 2-1 win over Ramona earlier in the week.
Nala Williams, Long Beach Poly: The senior guard had 31 points and 10 rebounds against Fairmont Prep of Anaheim in her team’s 49-43 win in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 quarterfinals on Saturday, Feb. 19. Williams had 19 points, 11 rebounds and six steals in Poly’s 41-34 win at Marlborough in the second round of the playoffs/ Long Beach Poly is two wins away from repeating as CIF-SS Division 1 champions.
