Wylie Bailey of Northwestern swimming is The Herald’s Fall Sports Player of the Week
Wylie Bailey of Northwestern swimming has been voted The Herald’s Fall Sports Player of the Week.
Bailey — an eighth grader at Sullivan Middle School in Rock Hill — earned this award after finishing second in the 200 individual medley (2:51.51) and third in the 100 breaststroke (1:30.83) to help Northwestern to a runner-up finish in a meet with Spring Valley and Ridge View on Sept. 14.
There were 17,748 votes cast in this week’s poll. Bailey earned 43.2% of the vote; Janelle Blue of Clover volleyball earned 19.7% of the vote; and Sara Maleady of Catawba Ridge tennis earned 13.1% of the vote.
View the nominees for this week’s award below.
Meet the finalists below
Wylie Bailey, Northwestern swimming.
Janelle Blue, Clover volleyball. The Blue Eagle senior middle hitter had 13 kills to lead Clover to a 3-0 sweep of Fort Mill on Sept. 16. Clover (5-2) beat archrival York this past week, too.
Sage DiPietro, York swimming. The senior had personal-bests in the 50 and 100 freestyle to help the York girls’ swim team finish second in a meet with Gaffney and Nation Ford at the Fort Mill Aquatic Center on Sept. 16. DiPietro also swam personal-record times in both of her splits in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays in the same meet.
Sara Maleady, Catawba Ridge tennis. The Copperhead senior is still unbeaten in singles: This past week, specifically, Maleady won her singles match (6-4, 6-2) in a 4-2 loss at Fort Mill on Sept. 13. She also won (6-0, 6-0) in a team win at South Pointe on Sept. 16. The Catawba Ridge girls’ tennis team is 8-1 this season.
Jay Minors, Andrew Jackson cross country. Minors ran a 19:53 (3.3 mile course) to finish second in a race against North Central on Sept. 14. The next day, Minors ran a 18:16.45 to win a race at McBee.
Keerthana Nair, Indian Land tennis. The sophomore earned a big win (6-0, 6-1) in singles to help the Indian Land girls’ tennis team to a 5-1 victory over Lancaster on Sept. 14. Nair is a perfect 3-0 in singles play for Indian Land (2-1) this season.
Megan O’Rourke, Rock Hill volleyball. The senior setter had a productive week against great competition this past week: O’Rourke had 47 assists and three aces in a 3-0 win at Spring Valley on Sept. 14. And the next day, she had 22 assists, eight aces and four kills in a 3-0 victory over South Pointe. O’Rourke can play any position for her team, per her coach Cindy Elder, and has now notched 191 assists, 70 digs, 51 kills and 21 aces for Rock Hill (8-3) this season.
Sam Rich, Catawba Ridge cross country. The Catawba Ridge senior ran a personal- and school-record 14:38.71 to win the Southern Showcase at John Hunt Running Park in Alabama on Sept. 18. Rich’s time was the all-time second-fastest run in South Carolina high school history, according to scrunners.com. Rich, a University of Notre Dame commit, is the defending 4A state cross country champion.
Katelyn Rutledge, Fort Mill volleyball. Rutledge had 12 kills and a dig to help Fort Mill defeat rival Nation Ford for the first time in seven years as the Yellow Jackets won 3-0 at home on Sept. 14. Rutledge also had three kills and three digs in a 3-0 loss at Clover on Sept. 16. Rutledge has 71 kills, 44 blocks and 25 digs for Fort Mill (11-4) this season.
Evan Wey, Fort Mill cross country. The junior ran a personal-best 15:58.48 to finish third while leading his Fort Mill team to victory at the Mike Moore Lake Murray Invitational at Crooked Creek Recreational Park on Sept. 18. Wey also finished as runner-up (18:15) as Fort Mill won a home meet with Boiling Springs, Clover and Nation Ford on Sept. 14.
See full results here
If you can’t view the poll below on your mobile device, click here to refresh the page.
How to nominate
Athlete of the Week awards highlight high school players with outstanding performances. The goal is to recognize all athletes — both the accomplished and the underrated/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 September 20, 2021 at 4:05 PM.
.jpeg)