Athlete of the Week Logo

For the 2023-24 high school sports year, The Bulletin introduced an Athletes of the Week feature that was voted on by our readers.

Now we are taking it a step further by selecting Athletes of the Year. These selections — two athletes per sport, one from the Class 5A schools and one from the 4A/3A/2A/1A schools in Central Oregon — where not voted on, but rather chosen by The Bulletin sports staff.

Here are The Bulletin’s 2023-24 Athletes of the Year, who were honored with medals and certificates in a ceremony at Bend’s Summit High School on Wednesday:

5A football: Connor Crum, Mountain View

In Mountain View’s season that included an Intermountain Conference title and a berth in the Class 5A state title game, the senior quarterback was named the conference’s Offensive Player of the Year after passing for 21 touchdowns and 1,406 yards, while rushing for five more scores on the ground. He was also a first-team all-state punter.

4A/3A/2A/1A football: Justin deSmet, Sisters

The senior defensive back was the Defensive Player of the Year and second-team all-state selection for the Mountain Valley Conference-champion Outlaws. As a running back, deSmet ran for nearly 500 yards and scored three touchdowns, helping the Outlaws reach the Class 3A state playoffs.

5A boys soccer: Bowen Teuber, Summit

The senior midfielder was voted Player of the Year in the Intermountain Conference and was named first-team all-state. Teuber leaves Summit as a two-time state champion, helping the Storm to their third state title with a win over Hood River Valley in which he was named Player of the Match.

4A/3A/2A/1A boys soccer: Steve Gonzalez, Madras

The junior forward finished with 17 goals and four assists, earning first-team all-league honors for the second year in a row. Gonzalez also landed on the all-state second team while helping the White Buffaloes win their second consecutive Tri-Valley Conference title.

5A girls soccer: Hadley Williams, Caldera

Williams was a two-time first-team all-state defender for the Wolfpack. Williams also scored a crucial goal in Caldera’s 2-1 win over Summit to help the program win its first ever conference title and reach the Class 5A state semifinals.

4A/3A/2A/1A girls soccer: Marley Holden, Sisters

Holden scored 20 goals and had 10 assists for the Outlaws this season, earning her the Mountain Valley Conference’s Player of the Year. The senior midfielder was a first-team all-state selection, helping the Outlaws to a Mountain Valley Conference championship and a berth in the 3A state semifinals.

5A volleyball: Chloe LeLuge, Bend

For the second year in a row, LeLuge was named IMC and 5A Player of the Year, helping the Lava Bears to back-to-back conference titles and consecutive berths in the state championship match. LeLuge was a three-time first-team all-conference selection and two-time first-team all-state selection over the past three seasons.

4A/3A/2A/1A volleyball: Gracie Vohs, Sisters

For the past two years, Vohs was named 3A Player of the Year and Mountain Valley Conference Player of the Year. Last fall, Sisters claimed the 3A state title and Vohs was named Player of the Match.

5A boys cross-country: Noah Laughlin-Hall, Summit

In all six of his races this season, Laughlin-Hall finished in the top five. The senior was the IMC champion, finished third at the state championships and finished seventh in the NXR Northwest Regional Championships.

4A/3A/2A/1A boys cross country: Gavin Humphreys, Crook County

Humphreys finished second at the Tri-Valley Conference Championships to help the Cowboys claim the team title, then had a seventh-place finish at the Class 4A state championships in which the Cowboys brought home a second-place trophy.

5A girls cross country: Eva Dicharry, Summit

Dicharry was first to cross the finish line at the Intermountain Conference cross-country championships. Finishing seventh at the 5A state championships, the sophomore was the highest-placing Summit runner, helping the Storm claim their 15th consecutive state title.

4A/3A/2A/1A girls cross country: Ruby Snider, Crook County

Snider was the highest-placing Central Oregon runner at the Class 4A cross-country state championships with an eighth-place finish, helping the Cowgirls place fifth.

5A boys basketball: Pearson Carmichael, Summit

For the second straight year, Carmichael was named 5A Player of the Year. He was named Oregon’s Max Preps Player of the Year, The Oregonian’s Player of the Year, the Oregon Basketball Coaches Association Player of the Year and the Oregon Sports Awards Player of the Year. Carmichael was the Player of the Game in Summit’s win over Wilsonville to secure the school’s first basketball state title. Carmichael averaged 27.3 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists, and had three 40-point games and a 50-point game.

4A/3A/2A/1A boys basketball: Seneca Ball, Madras

The senior guard was selected as the Tri-Valley Conference Player of the Year, was named to the all-state first team, and was named to the 4A tournament first-team after helping the White Buffaloes to a fourth-place finish — the program’s best since 1997. Ball averaged 26.2 points per game and became the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,421 career points.

5A girls basketball: Kasey Booster, Mountain View

Booster, the two-time IMC Player of the Year, ended her high school career as Mountain View’s all-time leading scorer and was first-team all-state after helping the Cougars place at the state tournament for the first time in program history.

4A/3A/2A/1A girls basketball: Rylan Davis, Madras

Davis is a three-time first-team Tri-Valley Conference player, twice being named Player of the Year, and helped lead the White Buffaloes to three consecutive state tournament appearances.

5A boys swimming: Campbell McKean, Caldera

McKean broke two state-meet records at the 5A state swimming championships. His time of 1 minute, 44.54 seconds in the 200-yard individual medley beat the previous record by two seconds to repeat as state champion in the event. He then followed it up with a time of 53.36 seconds in the 100 breaststroke. McKean is currently in Indianapolis to compete in the U.S. Swimming Olympic Trials.

4A/3A/2A/1A boys swimming: Ted Stolasz, Sisters

Stolasz had a pair of top-three finishes in the freestyle sprints at the 4A/3A/2A/1A Special District 4 championships, taking third in both the 50 and 100-yard freestyles. The senior then followed it up with fifth-place finishes in both events at the state championships.

5A girls swimming: Maddie Thornton, Bend

Thornton won a gold medal in all four of her events at the state championships. She was named Athlete of the Meet after winning the 200-yard individual medley and 100 backstroke, while being part of the first-place 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay to help the Lava Bears win the team title in record-breaking fashion.

4A/3A/2A/1A girls swimming: Ella Bartlett, Sisters

Bartlett won the 200-yard individual medley and finished second in the 100 breaststroke at the 4A/3A/2A/1A Special District 4 championships. At the state championships, she finished fourth in the 200 IM and fifth in the 100 breaststroke.

5A boys wrestling: Jackson Potts, Mountain View

This year was a year of repeats for Potts in his final high school wrestling season. The 175-pounder not only repeated as a state champion, but was the repeat champion at the Reser’s Tournament of Champions.

4A/3A/2A/1A boys wrestling: Landyn Philpott, La Pine

Philpott picked up his third state title in as many years when he won the 138-pound title. The junior was also the only Oregon wrestler to win his weight class at the 91-team Sierra Nevada Classic in Reno, where he was named the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler.

5A girls wrestling: Mia Pedersen, Redmond

The sophomore 120-pounder won the Girls 6A/5A Special District 3 title and finished second at the state wrestling championships. Over the course of the season, Pedersen won her weight class in four tournaments.

4A/3A/2A/1A girls wrestling: Makenna Duran, Crook County

In 2023, Duran became the first Crook County girls wrestler to win a state title. This past season she raised the bar by becoming the first ever two-time champion when she pinned all three of her opponents in the first round.

5A baseball: Alex Via, Summit

The junior was a first-team all-conference selection as both a pitcher and an outfielder for Summit, while being a first-team all-state pitcher.

Perhaps Via’s finest performance came in the state quarterfinals when he threw a complete game, allowing just two earned runs while striking out nine in the Storm’s upset win over No. 1 Canby.

4A/3A/2A/1A baseball: Tyis Yustat, Crook County

Yustat was the Tri-Valley Conference’s Player of the Year and was a first-team all-state catcher for the Cowboys, who won 19 games and reached the postseason.

5A softball: Addisen Fisher, Bend

Few, if any, Central Oregon athletes have had a high school career comparable to Fisher. This year alone, she was named the IMC pitcher and player of the year, 5A pitcher of the year, Gatorade Oregon Softball Player of the Year and Gatorade National Softball Player of the Year. In the pitcher’s circle she struck out 259 batters and threw five no-hitters and four perfect games, while hitting 17 home runs and driving in 40 runs in the batter’s box to help lead the Lava Bears to their first state title.

4A/3A/2A/1A softball: Raelynn Weaver, Crook County

Weaver was the Tri-Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year and was named a second-team all-state pitcher, helping the Cowgirls reach the state quarterfinals. In Crook County’s upset win in the first round over Cascade, Weaver struck out 10 batters while allowing only three hits.

5A boys track and field: Noah Goodrich, Summit

The senior had two top-three finishes at the 5A state track and field championships. He repeated as the state’s triple jump champion and finished third in the high jump. He was also the IMC champion in the long jump.

4A/3A/2A/1A boys track and field: Gabe Love, Crook County

To help Crook County win its first boys track and field state title, Love played a monumental role with two first-place and two second-place fishes. The junior won the javelin, was part of the winning 4×100-meter relay team, and finished second in the 100 and 200.

5A girls track and field: Kensey Gault, Ridgeview

The senior capped her final season with a state title in the 100-meter hurdles, a second-place finish in the 300 hurdles and a third-place finish in the 100. Gault also had a fourth-place finish in the heptathlon at the Nike Outdoor Nationals last week in Eugene.

4A/3A/2A/1A girls track and field: Audrey Corcoran, Sisters

Corcoran made a splash as a freshman on the track. She won district titles in the 200, the long jump, and the 4×400 relay. Then at the 3A state championships, she finished second in the 200, third in the 100 and second in the 4×400 relay.

5A boys golf: Bryce Grieb, Summit

After winning the IMC title, the sophomore Grieb followed up with a second-place finish at the 5A state championships to help the Storm win their third consecutive state team title. In 10 tournaments played during the season, Grieb finished in the top two in six of them.

4A/3A/2A/1A boys golf: Alex Iverson, Crook County

Iverson was the high-placer for the Cowboys at the 4A state championships, shooting a 168 over 36 holes to finish 12th and help Crook County place seventh.

5A girls golf: Saylor Gillet, Summit

Seven times in tournaments this spring, Gillet finished in the top three on the leaderboard. She had a dominating win at the IMC championships and a third-place finish at the 5A state championships.

4A/3A/2A/1A girls golf: Kylee Smith, La Pine

At the 4A/3A/2A/1A state championships, Smith finished fifth, and a week earlier she had a third-place finish at the Special District 2 championships. In eight tournaments this year, often times playing for the smallest school in the tournament, the senior finished in the top five on the leaderboard.

5A boys tennis: Aiden Cruz, Caldera

Cruz finished with a 20-2 record on the season, went undefeated against IMC opponents, won the singles title at the IMC championships and finished third at the 5A state championships.

4A/3A/2A/1A boys tennis: Marcos Munoz, Crook County

Munoz was the Special District 4 singles champion, helping the Cowboys win the district title. He finished the season with a 15-2 record.

5A girls tennis: Brynn Capps & Grace Stott, Redmond

The doubles team of Capps and Stott became the first state champions for the Redmond girls tennis program after being the last team standing at the 5A state championships. Capps and Stott were also the IMC doubles champions and finished the season with a 20-1 record.

4A/3A/2A/1A girls tennis: Juhree Kizziar, Sisters

Kizziar picked up her second consecutive Special District 4 singles title this season, finishing with a 17-3 record. She then advanced to the quarterfinals at the 4A/3A/2A/1A state championships.