Nine Snohomish County Athletes Nominated for Prep Athlete of the Week After Mat Classic and District Hoops

Readers of The Everett Herald can now vote on the newspaper's Prep Athlete of the Week for Feb. 13-19, with nine nominees drawn from wrestling, basketball and swimming. Voting closes at midnight Sunday, and the winner will be announced with the next poll and in the following Tuesday's edition.

The previous week's honoree was Evan Wold, a sophomore at Archbishop Murphy. Wold won the 200-yard individual medley in 2 minutes, 3.50 seconds and the 100 breaststroke in 1:02.29 at the 2A District 1 swim and dive championships on Feb. 11. He took the Feb. 6-12 vote with 1,290 of 2,560 votes, or 50.4%.

Wrestling dominates this week's list, following Mat Classic XXXIV on Feb. 18. Glacier Peak sophomore Connor Aney won the 4A 285-pound state title with a 5-4 ultimate tiebreaker victory over Sunnyside's Mateo Armendariz. His teammate Karianne Baldwin, a junior, finished a 50-0 season by pinning Union's Niah Cassidy in the second period to take the 3A/4A 125-pound crown, her second straight state title.

Arlington freshman Tre Haines won the 3A 138-pound title, defeating favorite Ethan Freund of Kelso in the semifinals and then beating Mt. Spokane's Hudson Buth 3-1 in the final. He is the first Arlington freshman to win a state wrestling title. Shorewood senior Hunter Tibodeau claimed the 3A 220-pound championship with a 7-0 decision over Chief Sealth's Dayne Camacho.

Marysville Pilchuck senior Alivia White became the first girls wrestler from Snohomish County to win three state titles. She won the 3A/4A 190-pound championship with four consecutive first-period pins, including a 50-second win over Isabella Phillips of Bellingham School District in the final.

In the pool, Shorecrest senior Sean Neils collected two top-five individual medals at the 3A boys swim and dive state championships on Feb. 18, placing fourth in the 100 freestyle and fifth in the 50 freestyle. He also helped the Scots' 200-yard freestyle and 400 freestyle relay teams finish in the top six.

Two basketball players round out the field. Meadowdale junior Gia Powell set single-game school records with 41 points and nine 3-pointers in a 73-51 loser-out win over Monroe at the 3A District 1 tournament on Feb. 14. She then scored a team-high 17 points in a 64-26 victory over Snohomish on Feb. 16 that sent the Mavericks to the state tournament.

Everett junior Isaiah White made four free throws late to help the Seahawks beat Marysville Getchell 58-54 in a winner-to-state, loser-out 3A District 1 game on Feb. 18. The win gave Everett its first state tournament berth since 2000. White finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

The Herald selects nominees using statistics reported to the paper, coach recommendations and its own observations. Stats and nominations can be sent to sports@heraldnet.com, and submissions for each week must arrive by noon on Monday.