Athlete of the Week

Athlete of the Week Voting: January 20-26

by
LebCoSports Staff
January 28, 2025

Presented in coordination with Froggy Valley 100.1/WiLBuR 99.7 & Lebanon Federal Credit Union, help us decide which male and female athlete should be honored for their outstanding efforts during last week’s local high school sports action. While you may have a favorite school or athlete already, we still encourage you to read through the lists below and then click on the link to vote.

The winners will be announced at the end of the week. Linked below are the articles about our most recent winners of the award.

Voting will remain open until Wednesday at 10 pm.

One vote per email address, per day will be allowed.

While athletes can be nominated multiple weeks, the winners will be removed and updates will be provided as the season progresses.

While this may be a vote and emotions can run high, this is intended to bring attention to some of the best performances from our local student-athletes.

Nominations, which are made working with the schools, are listed below in alphabetical order.

Please read about each nominee, celebrate their accomplishment, and then go vote who you feel is most deserving of this week’s honor.

If you like this type of coverage, please let us know by Following us on social media:

Twitter/X – @lebcosports1 and Facebook.

For any questions, comments, or discrepancies, please reach out to dan@lebcosports.com.

Female Nominees

Dakota Dengler (Northern Lebanon / Fr.) – Wrestling: Competing at 142 pounds, the freshman pinned two opponents in :29 & :57 to earn her spot in the Lancaster Lebanon League Championship Finals. Following a hard-fought loss, Dengler was awarded silver. She is now 15-4 this season.

Kenzie Eckhart (ELCO / Jr.) – Basketball: The junior put forth solid efforts in three games last week. In a close loss to Manheim Central, Eckhart scored a team-high 19 points. She followed it up with 16 points in Saturday’s win over Blue Mountain, the 10th of the season for the Lady Raiders.

Riley Hatzfeld (Our Lady of the Cross / Sr.) – Basketball: The Lions went 3-0 this past week, with Hatzfeld again leading the scoring. Against Harrisburg Academy, the senior scored 36. She then followed it up with 46 points in a victory over Lehigh Valley Charter. In that game, Hatzfeld hit nine three-pointers. Our Lady of the Cross finished the week with a seven-game win streak, moving their record to 8-3.

Miracle Hershey (New Covenant / Sr.) – Basketball: The Flames went 3-0 last week, with Hershey playing a major role in the winning efforts. Against Lititz Christian, the senior scored 20 points. She followed it up with a 20 point, 4 rebound, 4 assist, 4 steal performance against Covenant Christian on Friday night. The Flames ended the week with a record of 12-2.

Angy Martinez Severino (Lebanon / Sr.) – Wrestling: The senior finished as the runner-up at the Lancaster Lebanon League Championships. Competing at 116 pounds, Martinez Severino earned her spot in the finals with a pin and a 12-7 decision. She is 9-6 this season.

Kya Missimer (Annville-Cleona / Sr.) – Wrestling: The senior earned bronze at the Lancaster Lebanon League Championships. The 106-pound Missimer went 4-1, including two tech falls and a pin. Following this 3rd place finish, Missimer is now 9-5.

Maddie Shanfelder (Cedar Crest / Fr.) – Wresting: The freshman finished as the 136-pound runner-up at the Lancaster Lebanon League Championships. Shanfelder fought her way to the finals with two pins. The silver medalist is now 21-6 this season.

Kristen Thai (Palmyra / Sr.) – Swimming & Diving: The senior excelled in the pool and also diving as the Cougars faced Boiling Springs last Friday. In only her 2nd year as a diver, Thai is showing that she has put the work in to improve upon her top-16 place finish at States last year. Her continued growth in diving has taken place despite training off-site and being limited to competing at sites that have diving wells.

Male Nominees

Karter Adams (Northern Lebanon / Sr.) – Wrestling: The senior ascended to the top of the podium, winning the 127-pound weight class at the Lancaster Lebanon League Championships. Adams went 5-0, finishing the tournament with a major decision, a pin, and then finished with three straight tech falls. Adams is 32-8 on the season.

Oliver Funck (Annville-Cleona / Jr.) – Wrestling: The 127-pound junior went 4-1 at the Lancaster Lebanon League Championships to place 3rd overall. Funck had two tech falls and two major decisions on his way to earning bronze. He is now 24-4 this season.

Tyson Griffiths (Lebanon / Sr.) – Bowling: In Lebanon’s 5-2 victory over Manheim Township, the senior had a high score of 247 in the match’s second game. This was the high game from either team and helped Lebanon win the game 849-698.

Klint Miller (ELCO / So.) – Wrestling: The 160-pound sophomore earned silver at the Lancaster Lebanon League Championships. He pinned three opponents to earn his spot in the finals with the quickest match ending in just :40. In the final match, Miller lost a tough 4-2 decision. He is now 27-5 this season and has served as a great asset in the middle of ELCO’s line-up as they have won the Section 3 Championship and earned a spot in Districts.

Myles Ross (Palmyra / Jr.) – Swimming & Diving: The junior diver earned a new personal high score of 193.30 while competing against Boiling Springs last Friday. Ross has shown great growth this season while having to train off-site and pay his own fees.

Grayden Summers (New Covenant / So.) – Basketball: The Flames reeled off three straight wins last week, with the sophomore looming large in the victories. Against Lititz Christian, he had 23 points and 6 rebounds. He then had 8 points and 5 assists against York Christian. Summers finished the week with 18 points against Covenant Christian. The Flames finished the week with a record of 10-7.

RJ Young (Cedar Crest / Sr.) – Basketball: The senior scored 22 points in Thursday’s win over Lebanon. In a close 54-52 loss to Lampeter-Strasburg earlier in the week, Young scored a team-high 16 points. The Falcons finished the week holding a 12-5 record.

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