VOTE: SJ County Martin Dentistry's Oct. 26-31 Athlete of the Week
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Each week, The Record will nominate several high school athletes for the Martin Dentistry Athlete of the Week award.
The rest is up to you, the readers.
Visit lej.life for more information.
The Martin Dentistry Award recognizes top performances from 209-area schools — excluding boys football, which has its own poll. This week’s ballot highlights athletes who made their mark from Oct. 26-31.
Anyone can nominate an athlete of the week from any sport. Readers can email nominations to sports reporter Dylan Ackermann at [email protected]. Please include the player's stats and a photo if possible.
The poll at the bottom of this page closes at noon Thursday, Nov. 5. There are no voting restrictions, so vote now and vote often.
Here are the Oct. 26-31 nominees (athletes listed in alphabetical order by last name):
Anna Dittman, girls cross country, Sierra
Two years of coming close, but never quite reaching the top. That changed for Sierra's Anna Dittman this season. After three top-five finishes in 2024 and four runner-up finishes in 2025, the junior won VOL League Meets No. 1 and No. 2 before saving her best for Oct. 28. Dittman ran a personal-best 18:00.7 at Mistlin Sports Complex, winning the three-mile VOL championship by 3.3 seconds after finishing fourth the previous two years.
Alexia Garcia, flag football, Lathrop
Lathrop made winning look easy all season, going 20-3, capturing back-to-back WAC titles and matching its program wins record. But when the playoffs arrived, the Spartans needed every point they could get. Called up from junior varsity for the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division III postseason, quarterback Alexia Garcia delivered a pivotal 7-yard touchdown pass in No. 4 Lathrop's 9-6 first-round win over No. 13 Vanden on Oct. 28, finishing 3 of 4 for 24 yards.
Yasmin Guadarrama, flag football, Tokay
Last year's 45-0 first-round playoff loss wasn't an ending Tokay wanted to repeat. Yasmin Guadarrama helped change the story with four catches for 88 yards and three touchdowns in a 46-0 CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I first-round win over No. 10 McClatchy on Oct. 28. The senior earned first-team All-SJAA honors last year and has made another strong case with 1,937 total yards and 23 touchdowns this season.
Shea Hardcastle, girls volleyball, St. Mary's
With 14 section titles, five NorCal championships and 32 league crowns, St. Mary's has a standard to uphold in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoffs. Shea Hardcastle helped keep it intact, recording 16 kills in a 3-0 win over No. 14 Inderkum on Oct. 27 and 18 kills and four digs in a sweep of No. 6 Downey two days later. The Westmont College commit has 299 kills, a .287 hitting percentage and 58 digs.
Aniston Hunt, girls volleyball, Escalon
Section semifinal. State regional semifinal. For Escalon, last season's finish left unfinished business. With section titles in 2019, 2021 and 2022, the Cougars want another, and Aniston Hunt is helping lead the charge. The senior totaled 23 assists, nine kills, 10 digs and two aces against No. 14 River Islands on Oct. 27, then 33 assists, seven kills and five aces against No. 6 Union Mine. Both CIF SJS Division IV matches ended in sweeps.
Katherine Kaczorowski, girls cross country, Kimball
Never underestimate what a little belief can do. Kimball's Katherine Kaczorowski entered the TCAL Championships without a varsity victory, having finished sixth at both league meets and third at the Mt. SAC XC Invitational on Oct. 24. However, those were her only top-10 finishes this season. But on Oct. 28 at Lodi Lake, the junior ran a personal-best 19:26.7 to win the 5,000-meter TCAL championship by 11 seconds.
Gabby Leon, flag football, Manteca
Of all the times to have a career game, Gabby Leon picked the perfect one. Facing county-leading No. 6 Lodi on the road in the CIF SJS Division II first-round, the Manteca senior caught eight passes for 162 yards and two touchdowns, adding three flag pulls, two batted passes and a 10-yard interception return in a 25-20 Division II playoff upset Oct. 28. She entered with 903 receiving yards, 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
Alayna Sprinkle, girls volleyball, Ripon
Four straight section finals. Two championships. And now, a No. 1 seed with a chance to do it all again. Alayna Sprinkle is doing her part to get Ripon back, recording 30 assists, six digs and five aces in a CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division III first-round sweep of No. 16 Vanden on Oct. 27. Two days later, the senior added 28 assists, nine digs and 10 aces against No. 8 River Valley. The senior has 1,618 career assists and 221 aces.
Ayanna Turner, girls cross country, Edison
Everybody dreams of calling themselves a champion. Ayanna Turner can now officially say she is one. The Edison senior captured her first SJAA championship in 20:37.6 at Lodi Lake on Oct. 28, winning the 5,000-meter race by 17.1 seconds. After finishing sixth two years ago and fourth last year, Turner earned her fourth victory this season. Her personal-best 19:23.0 came Oct. 15 at SJAA No. 4 Senior Night against Franklin.
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This article originally appeared on The Record: VOTE: SJ County Martin Dentistry's Oct. 26-31 Athlete of the Week