HomeTeam Hot Shots
A spotlight on the Times’ bay area players of the week
Female Hot Shot
Lee Nielsen, Palm Harbor University
Sport: Volleyball
Skinny: The senior outside hitter was a clear standout in the Hurricanes’ Pinellas County Athletic Conference win over East Lake on Wednesday night. Out for a week with an ankle injury, she came back to lead the Hurricanes with 16 kills, 29 digs and seven aces in a four-game win over the defending state champion. After the victory, Nielsen was confident her team could be around for a while in the postseason: “(Now) that we’re all together again, I don’t think anything can stop us.”
Male Hot Shot
Sam Chandler, St. Petersburg
Sport: Cross country
Skinny: At last week’s St. Petersburg City meet, Chandler broke away from the pack and took the lead after the first mile. He never relinquished it, widening the gap between his competitors to win in 16 minutes, 14 seconds, beating runnerup Ross Porter of Shorecrest by 21 seconds. Chandler’s time broke his personal record by 12 seconds and marked the first time he had won the meet, which he has run since eighth grade. “Prior to the meet we had three weeks off, and I was able to get in some good training,” Chandler said. “My coach had a game plan for me. I stuck to that and it paid off. My next goal is to break 16 minutes.”
Week 7 voting
Name, school Votes Pct.
Lee Nielsen, PHU volleyball 538 23.911%
Claire Snyder, Holy Names cross country 468 20.8%
Sam Chandler, St. Petersburg cross country 456 20.267%
Joseph Trim, Jesuit golf 203 9.022%
Emmy Martin, Holy Names golf 185 8.222%
Artavis Scott, East Lake football 139 6.178%
Janarion Grant, Pasco football 131 5.822%
Alison Armstrong, Northside Christian golf 56 2.489%
Jake Arnett, Nature Coast golf 48 2.133%
Abdin Fator, Sickles cross country 11 0.489%
Athena Cimino, Wiregrass Ranch swimming 10 0.444%
Stephanie Rodney, Central golf 5 0.222%
Total: 2250 votes
Have a standout performance we should know about? Email us at hometeam@tampabay.com.