VOTE on who earns Rockford-area Athlete of the Week for May 4-9

Q: How can I vote for the Rockford-area Athlete of the Week?

You can vote by visiting the Rockford Register Star's Athlete of the Week poll online.

Q: What is the deadline to nominate an athlete for the Athlete of the Week poll?

Nominations for the Athlete of the Week poll must be submitted by 10 a.m. on Monday mornings.

Q: How often can I vote in the Athlete of the Week poll?

You can vote once per day in the Athlete of the Week poll to keep it fair.

Q: Where can I find the nominees for the Athlete of the Week?

Nominees for the Athlete of the Week can be found at rrstar.com in the sports section.

As the school year winds down with the backstretch for spring sports, here is another strong batch of stars for you to choose from on the Rockford Register Star high school Athlete of the Week poll for the week of May 4-9.

Go to our poll and vote now. We ask that you vote only once per day, to keep the polls fair.

More Rockford-area sports: Girls soccer storylines: Belvidere North's 1 win away from NIC-10 title

To nominate an athlete for our AOTW poll, send an email to jtaft@rrstar.com by 10 a.m. Monday mornings, with information and stats on why you think they deserve to be nominated.

Almost every week for the rest of the school year, we will compile a list of athletes from the Rockford area who had standout weeks and let you, the reader, vote on who you think deserves the AOTW award. Every week you will be able to find the nominees as well as the poll at rrstar.com.

The AOTW poll will stay open until noon on Friday.

This week's nominees are:

Caroline Barker, Boylan track and field

Barker narrowly lost in the 100-meter hurdles race, which was her only loss during her busy day at last week's NIC-10 Girls Conference Track and Field Meet. Barker won the 300 hurdles and the triple jump, and she was part of Boylan's winning 4X400 relay champs.

Addie Culvey, Belvidere North softball

Culvey went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs as Belvidere North earned a walkoff win over Harlem with a 7-6 victory in eight innings last Wednesday.

Aubrie Dornink, North Boone softball

This freshman hit .611 last week with four doubles, three homers and nine RBIs. She also pitched 19 2/3 innings, beating Stillman Valley and Oregon in big conference games.

Kendall Erdmann, Forreston baseball

Erdmann had a huge week for Forreston, which went 3-1 last week, going 10-for-14 with 12 runs scored, three doubles and three home runs. He's hitting .402 with 21 RBIs and 36 runs scored this season, and is on pace to break the school hits and runs scored records.

Ta'Niah McElroy, Freeport track and field

McElroy won three events that she participated in during last week's girls NIC-10 track and field meet, including the 100 and 200 dashes, in which her twin sister Ta'Leiah was favored to win. They also teamed up to win the 4X200 relay.

Rockford Register Star's Athlete of the Week poll.

Max Miller, Hononegah baseball

In three Hononegah wins last week, Miller went 7-for-12 with five runs, two walks and a homer from the leadoff spot. Headed into this week, Miller was hitting .465 with 39 runs scored and three home runs this season for Hononegah (21-5, 12-0 NIC-10).

Andrew Nuyen, Rochelle track and field

Nuyen cleared the bar at 17-foot last Tuesday to easily win the pole vault competition at the Ogle County Track and Field Meet, but that was still only the second best in the state, and the second best in Class 2A, behind Bloomington Central's Isiah Whitaker.

Alec Schlichting, Lena-Winslow track and field

Schlichting really got on track at just the right time, posting his best time of the year, a 10.74 in the 100 dash, at last Friday's Mike Mowen Invitational in Winnebago. That's the sixth fastest 100-dash time in 1A this year. Three days earlier he ran a 21.97 for the fifth fastest time in the 200 dash.

Kylie Simpson, Hononegah track and field

Simpson rattled off three wins at last week's NIC-10 conference track and field meet, winning the 400, 800 and 1,600 titles.

Sage Sweet, Stillman Valley softball

Sweet went 2-for-3 as Stillman Valley hung on to a 1-0 win over Hononegah on Saturday. Sweet helped lead the way as Stillman Valley (23-4, 11-2 BNC) went 5-1 last week with a 4-3 loss to North Boone as its lone setback.

Deryk Withers, Oregon baseball

The Oregon junior who started the season on the sidelines after a shoulder injury, threw a solid complete game on Friday against Rockford Christian, allowing three runs on five hits with five strikeouts.

Jay Taftis a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him atjtaft@rrstar.comand sign up for the Rockford High School Sports Newsletter here atrrstar.com.Jay has covered a variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears and Blackhawks to local youth sports, since the turn of the century at the Register Star.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Come and choose who deserves Rockford-area Athlete of the Week