Smashing school records and clutch in OT: Vote for Athletes of the Week for Jan. 10-16
Every Monday, the Pocono Record will publish Athletes of the Week polls online. The polls will run from Monday at 5 p.m. until Wednesday at 5 p.m.
Voting is restricted to once daily through public IP addresses.
To nominate a student-athlete for next week's poll, email Pocono Record sports reporter Frank Piscani at fpiscani@gannett.com with the athlete's name and relevant statistics or results. Featured athletes are otherwise chosen based on results provided by coaches.
Scroll down to vote in the polls in this article and see the previous winners. Descriptions of the athletes' accomplishments are included before the polls.
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Girls athlete of the week candidates
Vatijah Davis, junior, Pocono Mountain West basketball
Monroe County's top girls basketball player continued to dominate with 24 points in loss to Emmaus, another 30 points in West's rivalry game win over Pocono Mountain East and then another 21 points in a win over William Allen.
Zoey Delaney, senior, Stroudsburg swimming
Stroudsburg suffered a close loss to Nazareth, but Delaney impressed nonetheless. The Stroudsburg senior won the 200-yard individual medley with a 2:30.03 time and finished second in the 100-yard backstroke with a 1:07.89 time. Delaney also participated in Stroudsburg's first-place 400-yard freestyle relay and 200-yard medley relay finishes.
Layla Hernandez, sophomore, East Stroudsburg South basketball
Hernandez gifted South with offensive consistency, posting point totals of 18, 18 and 19 in the Cavaliers' three-game week. South beat William Allen and East Stroudsburg North in the first two games, then lost to Whitehall in the third.
McKayla Strunk, freshman, Stroudsburg basketball
Strunk has emerged this season as a solid offensive option for a Stroudsburg team undergoing growing pains. The freshman hooper dropped 13 against Northampton, seven against Parkland and 13 in Thursday's win over Pleasant Valley — Stroudsburg's first win since Dec. 17.
Last week's results: Here's your Pocono Record Athletes of the Week for Jan. 3-9
Of interest: Mid-week hoops scouting report: Here's the top performances in the Poconos so far in 2022
Boys athlete of the week candidates
Christian Fermin, senior, Pocono Mountain West basketball
The Virginia Commonwealth University commit had himself a week, first dropping a triple-double with 25 points, 20 rebounds and 10 blocks in an impressive win over Emmaus. Fermin then broke West's single-game scoring record with 43 points on school-record 21-25 shooting (84%) in a rivalry game win over East. The week ended on a sour note for the team in narrow loss to Allen, but Fermin still posted 18 points, 18 rebounds and five blocks.
Donald Francois Jr., senior, Pleasant Valley basketball
Francois maintained offensive consistency for PV during an otherwise bumpy week with two losses and one win. The one win, though, came in overtime and took clutch performances from Francois and teammates Patrick Moore and Jarod Moore. Francois posted 21 points against Whitehall and 18 points against Stroudsburg.
Qadir Mitchell, senior, Stroudsburg basketball
One of the smoothest scorers in the EPC, Mitchell hit the 20-point mark against both Nazareth and Parkland's staunch defenses. He nearly did the same against Pleasant Valley with 19 points, but will surely settle for the Mountaineers' win.
Carter Mui, sophomore, Pocono Mountain West swimming
Carter finished first in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 57.19 and the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:02.23. He also helped West win the 200-yard medley and 200-yard freestyle relays against North.
Frank Piscani is the Sports Life multimedia reporter at the Pocono Record. You can email him at fpiscani@gannett.com or find him on social media platforms @frankpiscani.
This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: PIAA Athlete of the Week: Vote for top varsity player in the Poconos
