MAY 15-May 22
SCHOOL: Topsail
YEAR: Junior
SPORT: Track and Field
WHAT A WEEK: Thomas won the 2A boys high jump state title, then left the podium to console the heartbroken jumper who finished second. If that's not athlete of the week material, we don't know what is.
MAY 7-MAY 14
NAME: Stanley Broaden
SCHOOL: Ashley
YEAR: Senior
SPORT: Track and Field
WHAT A WEEK: Broaden swept the 4A hurdles for Ashley at the 4A state championship, winning both and giving Ashley High school its first-ever state championship.
MAY 1-MAY 7
NAME: Whitney Adams
SCHOOL: Ashley
YEAR: Senior
SPORT: softball
WHAT A WEEK: Adams was 2-for-3 with two RBI in a 3-1 win against Laney that kept the screaming Eagles undefeated in the Mideastern Conference and in firm possession of first place.
APRIL 25- MAY 1
NAME: Shelby Howell
SCHOOL: New Hanover
YEAR: Senior
SPORT: Track and Field
WHAT A WEEK: Howell won four events at the Mideastern Conference Championships on Friday, including a heroic anchor leg of the 4x800 meter relay, where she made up almost 50 meters of ground to give the Wildcats the win.
APRIL 18-24
NAME: Coley Thompkins
SCHOOL: Hoggard
YEAR: Senior
SPORT: Baseball
WHAT A WEEK: Thompkins led Hoggard to a fifth-place finish in the Coastal Athletics Spring Break baseball tournament, hitting 6-for-9 at the plate in three games. Five of those hits were for extra bases. Thompkins batted in four runs and scored another four.
APRIL 4-10
NAME: Woravin Kumthonkittikul
SCHOOL: New Hanover
YEAR: Sophomore
SPORT: Boys Tennis
WHAT A WEEK: Kumthonkittikul had quite the season so far. First he downed the No. 27 player in the country at an invitational tournament in Louisville, Ky. As an encore, he took down defending All-Area Player of the Year A.J. Stilwell. Kumthonkittikul is 7-0 in conference matches and 13-2 overall this season
MARCH 28-APRIL 4
NAME: Hunter Sutton
SCHOOL: New Hanover
YEAR: Senior
SPORT: Baseball
WHAT A WEEK: Sutton tossed a complete game last Friday in New Hanover's defeat of Ashley. Sutton's 36 strikeouts on the year lead area pitchers so far.
MARCH 21-28
NAME: Stilman White
SCHOOL: Hoggard
YEAR: Senior
SPORT: Boys basketball
WHAT A WEEK: White committed to UNC on Tuesday - the first Wilmington hoops star to head to Chapel Hill since that kid from Laney. We know goals, hits and strikeouts are all the rage this time of year, but we figured it's worth one last basketball flashback.
MARCH 14-20
NAME: Kristin Busby
SCHOOL: Hoggard
YEAR: Senior
SPORT: Girls Soccer
WHAT A WEEK: Busby scored four goals last week, including three in the first 21 minutes in a 7-0 win against North Myrtle Beach on Friday. She also had two assists for the Vikings, who have outscored opponents 21-5 in the last five games.
MARCH 6-13
NAME: Hunter Eden
SCHOOL: Hoggard
YEAR: Senior
SPORT: Boys Lacrosse
WHAT A WEEK:Eden scored 10 goals as the Vikings routed Myers Park 13-6. 10 goals. He beat Myers Park by himself. That's the Wilt Chamberlain of boys lacrosse.
FEB. 25-MARCH 5
NAME: Addison Spruill
SCHOOL: Pender
YEAR: Senior
SPORT: Boys Basketball
WHAT A WEEK: Spruill scored 51 combined points in the regional weekend as Pender routed Riverside and then held on in a close game against Red Springs. He also shot 61 percent from the field in those two games as a guard.
FEB. 16-24
NAME: Courtney Melvin/Freddie Jackson
SCHOOL: East Bladen/New Hanover
YEAR: Seniors
SPORT: Boys/girls Basketball
WHAT A WEEK: Sorry, but we couldn't choose between Melvin's perfect 15-point fourth quarter with a game winner or Jackson's 34-point performance leading New Hanover past top-ranked Garner. In the postseason, the best players stand out and these two certainly did.
JAN. 31-Feb. 7
NAME: Courtney Melvin
SCHOOL: East Bladen
YEAR: Senior
SPORT: Girls Basketball
WHAT A WEEK: Who else could it be? Melvin broke Ann Hancock's record for career points at East Bladen last week in a 56-23 win against South Columbus. She's scored more than 2,200 points in her career, and the postseason hasn't even started.
JAN. 23-30
NAME: Stilman White
SCHOOL: Hoggard
YEAR: Senior
SPORT: Boys Basketball
WHAT A WEEK: White averaged 31 points per game last week as the Vikings took down conference rivals New Hanover and Laney. Against the Bucs on Friday, White scored 36 of Hoggard's 53 points.
JAN 16-23
NAME: Kabrina Truesdale
SCHOOL: Laney
YEAR: Senior
SPORT: Girls basketball
WHAT A WEEK: Truesdale has helped the Bucs turn things around in conference play and put up 24 points to lead Laney past New Bern on Friday. The Bucs are 3-1 and tied for second in the Mideastern Conference after Friday's win.
JAN 9-15
NAME: Freddie Jackson
SCHOOL: New Hanover
YEAR: Senior
SPORT: Boys basketball
WHAT A WEEK: Jackson led the Wildcats to a triple-overtime 74-70 win against visiting Laney on Saturday with 22 points, handing the Bucs their first loss of the season and vaulting New Hanover to tops in the Mideastern at 3-0 in the conference.
DEC. 26-JAN. 1
NAME: Kadeem Allen
SCHOOL: Laney
YEAR: Junior
SPORT: Boys basketball
WHAT A WEEK: Allen led the Bucs to their first-ever Brogden Tournament title last week and collected MVP honors for the tournament. Allen is averaging 14.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game this season, as well as 5.7 assists and 4.5 steals.
Dec. 19-25
NAME: Courtney Melvin
SCHOOL: East Bladen
YEAR: Senior
SPORT: Girls basketball
WHAT A WEEK: Melvin scored 87 points in three games to lead East Bladen to a runner-up finish in the Time Warner Cable Classic girls basketball tournament.
DEC. 12-18
NAME: Jose Flores
SCHOOL: Wallace-Rose Hill
SPORT: Football
WHAT A WEEK: Flores kicked the winning field goal in the waning minutes to lift Wallace-Rose Hill to its second straight state title.
DEC. 5-11
NAME: Dawan McKinzie
SCHOOL:Wallace-Rose Hill
SPORT: Football
WHAT A WEEK: McKinzie threw for three touchdowns and 165 yards and rushed for another as Wallace romped into the state finals for the second straight year with a 38-0 defeat of Plymouth.
NOV. 23-30
NAME: Xaviar and A.J. McKoy
SCHOOL: East Bladen
SPORT: Football
WHAT A WEEK: The McKoys led East Bladen past Carrboro, 56-48 and into the 2A semifinals. The pair combined for 206 yards on the ground and 20 points with three touchdowns and a two-point conversion.
NOV. 15-22
NAME: Tyrain Matthews
SCHOOL: East Duplin
YEAR: Senior
SPORT: Football
WHAT A WEEK: Matthews rushed 113 yards and three touchdowns as the Eagles took down First Flight, 49-30 in the second round of the state playoffs. Matthews scored from 45, 26 and three yards out.
NOV. 7-14
NAME: Javon powell
SCHOOL: Pender
YEAR: Senior
SPORT: Football
WHAT A WEEK: Powell scored six touchdowns as Pender routed East Montgomery in the 1AA playoffs. He returned the opening kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown, scored four times on the ground and caught a late touchdown pass. He also intercepted a pass on defense.
OCT. 31-Nov. 6
NAME: Haley Lanier
SCHOOL: Pender
YEAR: Senior
SPORT: Volleyball
WHAT A WEEK: Lanier led Pender to its second straight state championship Saturday. The senior middle hitter had 15 kills in the1A title game to earn MVP honors as the Patriots beat Rosman, 3-0.
OCT. 24-30
SCHOOL: Cape Fear Academy
SPORT: Girls Tennis
WHAT A WEEK: The two Hurricanes each won a pair of state titles as CFA won its fourth consecutive NCISAA Class 2A team championship. Goudarzi won titles in No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles, while Massey won at No. 4 singles and No. 2 doubles.
OCT. 17-23
NAME: Marcus Hankins
SCHOOL: South Brunswick
YEAR: Senior
POSITION: Running Back
WHAT A WEEK: Hankins ran 19 times for 323 yard, caught three passes for 51 yards and scored four touchdowns in a 51-26 win over rival North Brunswick.
OCT. 9-16
NAME: Mike Sheehan
SCHOOL: Laney
YEAR: Junior
POSITION: Quarterback
WHAT A WEEK: Making up for lost weeks, Sheehan could have been named here in any of the past five. This week, Sheehan completed 28 of 43 passes for 357 yards and 4 TDs in a win over Rose to help improve the Bucs record to 5-3 on the year. Over the past five weeks, Sheehan is a combined 114 for 175 for 1,783 yards and 19 TDs, going over 400 yards twice and throwing for 4 or more TDs three times.
SEPT. 19-25
NAME:Madison Walker
SCHOOL: South Brunswick
YEAR: Junior
POSITION: Setter
WHAT A WEEK: The Cougars' team captain has her team rolling, as she passed out 65 assists in a pair of three-game sweeps against Ashley and Waccamaw Conference rival North Brunswick last week as the team moved to 9-2, 3-0. She edges out Wallace-Rose Hill running back Omar Carr (41 carries, 234 yards) and Hoggard tennis player Caitlin Neil (2 singles, 2 doubles wins vs. New Hanover and Rose).
SEPT. 12-18
NAME: Quan Bates
SCHOOL: West Brunswick
YEAR: Senior
POSITION: Quarterback
WHAT A WEEK: The Trojans' signal-caller rushed for 191 yards and five touchdowns -- and his team needed every last bit of it to hold off Laney, 42-39. He got help from Bradley Bell (120 yards, TD) to keep West Brunswick just ahead of a staggering 455 passing yards and five touchdowns from Bucs QB Mike Sheehan.
SEPT. 5-11
NAME:Francisco Hernandez
SCHOOL: North Brunswick
YEAR: Senior
POSITION: Forward
WHAT A WEEK: Hernandez had all three of his team's goals in a 3-3 tie with Cape Fear Academy, then added two more in a 4-1 win over Lejeune last week as the Scorpions improved to 4-1-1 early in the boys soccer season.
AUG. 30-SEPT. 4
NAME: Josh Johnson
SCHOOL: Pender
YEAR: Senior
POSITION: Running back
WHAT A WEEK: Johnson rushed for 196 yards on 16 carries to lead Pender to a 26-10 season-opening win at Topsail. He scored the final touchdown for the Patriots on a 34-yard run late in the fourth quarter.
AUG. 16-21
NAME: Marcus Hankins
SCHOOL: South Brunswick
YEAR: Senior
POSITION: Running back
WHAT A WEEK: Hankins had four touchdowns and 191 total yards in a 50-14 season-opening win over Midway. He had touchdown runs of 10 and eight yards in the first and second quarters, respectively. Hankins scored twice in the third, first on a 63-yard pass from NeJuan Watts and then on a 28 yard run. He finished with 128 rushing yards and 63 receiving.
