Aotw 8/27
Athlete of the Week Jordan Lakewood Long Beach Poly Long Beach State

The562.org’s Athletes Of The Week

Check out this week’s winners and thanks to Naples Rib Company for sponsoring these weekly awards.

HIGH SCHOOL

Kejuan Markham, Long Beach Poly Football

It’s hard to make history at Long Beach Poly, especially on the defensive side of the ball. But senior Kejuan Markham did exactly that on Friday night against Narbonne, as the Jackrabbits upset the nationally-ranked Gauchos. Markham had three interceptions, and ran all three of them back for touchdowns, personally accounting for 18 points while also helping to hold Narbonne to three.

Anthony Scott, Jordan Football

Jordan hadn’t won a game since 2016, but junior Anthony Scott came to play on Friday against Rancho Dominguez. Injuries forced Scott into the quarterback position for the Panthers and he starred on Friday, with 63 yards passing, 115 yards rushing and three touchdowns to lead the Panthers to a win. He also had a team-high nine tackles.

Julia Crawford, Lakewood Volleyball

Lakewood didn’t quite pull the big upset over Redondo Union in the Tae Kim Molten Classic, but they came close, pushing the Sea Hawks to five sets despite losing their starting middle blocker early. A big reason? Julia Crawford, who was Ms. Do-Everything for the Lancers. Crawford had 31 kills, 11 digs, and two blocks for Lakewood in the loss. She had 28 kills against Santa Margarita earlier in the week.

COLLEGE

Ashley Gonzales, Long Beach State Soccer

Long Beach State’s Ashley Gonzales has been working her way back from a season-ending injury sustained last year, and each week it’s more obvious she’s returning to her dominant form. She showed flashes earlier this year but on Friday against Northeastern she was dominant, with a goal and an assist in a 2-1 win. The 49ers went 2-0 on the week to improve to 3-1 on the season.

 

Mike Guardabascio
An LBC native, Mike Guardabascio has been covering Long Beach sports professionally for 13 years, with his work published in dozens of Southern California magazines and newspapers. He's won numerous awards for his writing as well as the CIF Southern Section’s Champion For Character Award, and is the author of three books about Long Beach history.
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