Division I-bound stars, freshman phenoms and more: Vote for high school athlete of the week

After plenty of solid spring sports performances over the last week, here are the Journal Star high school athlete of the week nominees for April 22-27.

Head to pjstar.com/sports to vote. The poll closes at noon Friday. Information about the nominees is below.

If you have a nominee for the honor, email us at sports@pjstar.com or tag us on Twitter @pjstarsports. Last week, Elise Hahn of the Deer Creek-Mackinaw softball team was named JS athlete of the week.

Josh Vaughn, Illini Bluffs baseball

The senior put on a pitching clinic last week. Vaughn twirled a three-hitter with 14 strikeouts in beating North Fulton, 4-0 on Thursday. The Bradley signee walked one and faced 27 batters on 100 pitches — 75 of which were strikes. He's now 4-1 on the season with 56 strikeouts and a 0.28 ERA in 25 innings.

Peoria baseball: These 16 Peoria-area high school baseball players have emerged as sluggers in 2024

Sophia Revallo, East Peoria softball

Revallo came up big in East Peoria's lone game last week. Her two-run home run provided the Raiders with some insurance in a 3-1 win over Washington last Monday. The junior catcher finished the day with a 3-for-3 effort, adding a double. She then went 2-for-3 in beating Limestone, 2-0, on Thursday. Revallo's sixth-inning suicide squeeze set the final score as she finished 2-for-3 with a triple.

Peoria softball: 7 breakout pitchers around the Peoria area this high school softball season

Delaney Reynolds, Richwoods girls soccer

The freshman goalkeeper recorded a pair of shutouts last week, picking up her ninth and 10th of the season. Last Tuesday, she saved all three shots on goal as the Knights beat Champaign Centennial, 2-0. In a 1-0 win over Union Grove (Wisc.) on Saturday, Reynolds grabbed a pair of saves to pick up her 11th victory of the season.

Carson Lehman, Eureka boys track and field

Lehman was a part of three wins last week including a key victory at the Morton Distance Gala. The senior turned in an 800-meter run victory of 1:55.20 at Saturday's meet that features just the 800-, 1600- and 3200-meter runs. In the Roger Washburn Meet on Friday, Lehman won a pair of relays – the 4x400-meter (3:31.30) and the 4x800-meter (8:26.31). The Hornets (172.5 points) won the meet over Olympia (93.5) and Bureau Valley (83).

Sophia Ramirez, Washington girls track and field

Ramirez was also a three-event winner last week led by an impressive mile at the Morton Distance Gala. The sophomore won the 1600-meter run in 4:55.42, clocking in ahead of the 53-runner field by nearly seven seconds. She also added an 800-meter run (2:22.24) win and a 4x800-meter relay (9:48.10) victory in last Tuesday's dual meet with East Peoria.

Peoria to NCAA: Peoria has 6 Division-I bound baseball and softball players. Here's how they're playing in 2024

Tommy Sopko, Metamora boys tennis

Sopko went undefeated last week in two matches. On Saturday, the sophomore teamed with Adam Culp to beat Father Tolton (Mo.) in a doubles match at the Belleville East Invite. Earlier in the day, Sopko joined Hudson Shaw to beat the hosts. Sopko then picked up singles and doubles wins to beat East Peoria in a Mid-Illini Conference dual meet last Wednesday.

Adam Duvall is a Journal Star sports reporter. Email him at aduvall@pjstar.com. Follow him on X.com @AdamDuvall.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Division I-bound stars, freshman phenoms and more: Vote for high school athlete of the week