Preston Hodges of Rock Hill track is The Herald’s latest Player of the Week (May 10)
Preston Hodges of the Rock Hill track team is The Herald’s latest Player of the Week.
Hodges finished fourth in the 110-meter hurdles in a personal-best 15.82 at the Region 4-5A championships at Spring Valley (May 5-6) to qualify for the 5A Upper State championships. Hodges also finished sixth in the 400-meter hurdles at the region championships.
There were 18,194 votes cast in this week’s poll. Hodges earned 26.8% of the vote; Isabell Cunningham of Rock Hill softball earned 24.4% of the vote; and Keenan Summer of Fort Mill baseball earned 16.8% of the vote.
Read about the selected finalists and see full results below.
(Information published below includes statistics through May 8. Voting opened on Monday, May 10.)
Meet the finalists
Sami Chavis, Clover softball: Chavis had two singles and an RBI in a 4-3 loss at Gaffney on May 6. The Blue Eagles’ junior also had a single and a walk in a 7-5 win over Indian Land on May 7. Chavis is batting .322 with two doubles, a triple, six stolen bases and 15 runs batted in for Clover this season.
Channing Ferguson, Northwestern track: The Trojan won the long jump, triple jump and 110-meter hurdles at the Region 4-5A championships at Spring Valley on May 5-6. Ferguson won the 110-meter hurdles in 14.93 seconds and jumped 22-6 to win the long jump — all in the same meet as when he set a personal-record with a 45-10 to win the triple jump. The senior also finished as region runner-up in the high jump (6-6).
Serrea Goodman, Lancaster track: The Bruins’ senior qualified for the Upper State championships in four different events at the Region 3-4A championships at York on May 6. Goodman won the region title in the triple jump with a personal-best 33-4. She also finished fourth in both the high jump (4-6) and long jump (15-2) and second in the 4x100-meter relay (50.87).
Madison Griffin, York track: The Cougars’ junior sprinter won the 100- (12.63) and 200-meter (personal-best, 26.41) races and helped the 4x100-meter relay team to victory at the Region 3-4A championships at York on May 6. She also finished as region runner-up in the long jump. Griffin earned the Region 3-4A Athlete of the Year award for her efforts.
Preston Hodges, Rock Hill track.
River Joye, Clover baseball: The Blue Eagles’ sophomore tossed a complete game with five strikeouts — allowing only one run — in a 3-1 win over archrival York on May 6. Joye is 5-2 on the mound with 41 strikeouts for Clover this season.
Olivia Morales, Indian Land track: The Warriors’ freshman qualified for the 4A Upper State championships in four different events at the Region 3-4A championships at York on May 6. Morales finished third in the 1600-meter run in a personal-best 5:52.45, while also setting a personal record in the 800-meter run (2:42.43). She also finished fourth in the 3200-meter run with another personal-best effort (13:13.27) and was part of the region runner-up team in the 4x800 meter relay.
Emma Sexton, Catawba Ridge soccer: The Copperheads’ senior midfielder scored all three goals in a 3-0 4A state quarterfinal win over AC Flora on May 6. Sexton, a Lander University commit, has 29 goals and 11 assists for Catawba Ridge this season.
Gabe Simmons, Nation Ford baseball: The Falcons’ sophomore went 4-for-7 with three doubles and four RBI as Nation Ford split games with AC Flora and Catawba Ridge this week: Simmons was 1-for-3 with a double and two RBI in a 7-2 victory in 11 innings at Catawba Ridge on May 5. He was also 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI in 6-4 loss at AC Flora on May 7. Simmons is batting .408 and has notched 10 doubles and 19 RBI for Nation Ford this season.
Keenan Sumner, Fort Mill baseball: The Yellow Jackets’ senior went 2-for-4 with a double, a run scored, a stolen base and four RBI to help Fort Mill to a 10-4 win at Catawba Ridge on May 7. Sumner is batting .397 with two doubles, two home runs and 18 RBI for Fort Mill this season.
Isabell Cunningham, Rock Hill softball: The Bearcats’ junior went 9-for-12 with two doubles, two triples, nine RBI, eight stolen bases and nine runs scored as Rock Hill beat Ridge View (May 4) and split games with Northwestern (May 6, 7) this week. Also in those three games, Cunningham turned two double plays and notched no errors in the field — all while also recording six putouts and seven assists.
Vote here and see running results
If you can’t view the poll on your mobile device, click here to refresh the page.
How to nominate
Player of the week awards highlight high school players with outstanding performances. The goal is to recognize all athletes — both the most accomplished and the underrated or underappreciated players. If you want to suggest someone to be included in the ballot in future weeks, send an email to Jay Edwards at edwardswork23@gmail.com. Please include the athlete’s name, school, class and applicable game performance statistics. Coaches must be willing to verify information. The Herald reserves the right to remove a name from the poll at its discretion.
This story was originally published May 10, 2021 at 10:20 PM.
.jpeg)