Top Performers: Metro-east high school athletes of the week

MEGAN BROWN

Brown continues to keep up a torrid pace at the plate, completing a two-game week by going 3-for-5 with a run scored, a double and two runs driven in. The sophomore headed to Southern Illinois University Carbondale also clubbed a clutch home run to help the Tigers to a 5-4 win over Columbia Thursday. Brown is the top hitter in the metro-east, carrying a .627 average with six homers and 36 RBIs.

KERI BURMESTER

A two-time Belleville News-Democrat Class A cross country runner of the year, Burmester tuned up for the Class A State Track Meet on Friday by winning both the 1,600 and 3,200 meter events at the Nashville Sectional. Burmester finished with a time of 5:21 in the 1,600 meters and 11:21 in the 3,200 meters. Both times are among the top 10 in the state.

MEGAN DEIMEKE and FAYE MEISNER

This pair of Clinton County standouts earned trips to the Class 2A Track Meet by winning titles at the Springfield Southeast Sectional on Friday. Deimeke, a sophomore at Mater Dei, won the shot put with a throw of 36 feet, while Meisner, a freshman from Central, won the 100 meters in 12.91 seconds.

MIYA DORSEY

Proving her double triumph in the Southwestern Conference Meet was no fluke, Dorsey won titles in the 100 and 300 meter hurdles at the O’Fallon Track Sectional to earn a berth in the Class 3A state finals, which begins on Friday in Charleston. Dorsey won the 100 meter hurdles in 15.07 seconds and the 300 meter hurdles in 43.21 seconds.

CHRIS HOLBA

The senior right-hander continued his impressive season last week, tossing a 5-0, six-hit shutout against Belleville West that included 10 strikeouts. The Division I East Carolina recruit has rung up 85 strikeouts in only 64 innings, compiling a 6-2 record and 0.66 ERA.

JORDAN HOVEY

The senior shortstop had back-to-back monster games last week to help Edwardsville nail down the Southwestern Conference title, going a combined 4-for-6 with three home runs and six RBIs in victories over Granite City on Tuesday and O’Fallon on Thursday. Hovey was 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs against Granite City, then crushed a pair of bombs and drove in four runs in an 8-5 win over O’Fallon. The Wabash Valley College recruit is hitting .386 with a team-leading seven homers along with 22 RBIs.

BRYAN HUDSON

Continued to be spoken of in terms of a high-round pick in the upcoming Major League Draft, Hudson continues to dominate local hitters. He limited Belleville West to two hits and struck out 13 last Thursday in a complete-game, 3-0 Southwestern Conference victory. The Missouri recruit is putting up historic numbers for the Redbirds this spring, both on the mound and at the plate. The 6-foot-8 left-hander is 9-1 with a 0.37 ERA and 132 strikeouts in 57 1/3 innings. He’s also hitting .459 with 11 doubles, six triples, four home runs and 47 RBIs.

MARIYA HUDSON

The dominant Class 2A track athlete in the state, Hudson won titles in the 100, 200 and 400 meters and also took home the top honor in the long jump as she led the Comanches to the Triad Sectional title on Thursday. Hudson is the top seed in both the long jump and 400 meters heading into the Class 2A State Track Meet. She is also ranked in the top three in the 200 meters and top five in the 100 meters.

LAUREN KAEMPFE

Kaempfe, a senior, scored two goals in the Eagles’ 3-1 victory over Wesclin on Tuesday in the Class 1A Columbia Regional semifinals, then had another goal in a 4-0 win over Althoff in the title game Friday.

KELLY METTER

Metter came up big during a busy stretch for the Eagles last week. In three games, she went 5-for-10 with a pair of doubles, five runs scored and four driven in. Her fifth-inning, three-run home run in a big conference game with Freeburg gave Columbia its first lead of the game and, eventually, an 8-4 Cahokia Conference win.

DEMONTEZ MCCRAY

A 6-foot-5 sprinter, McCray went where few southwestern Illinois area athletes have gone before when he won the 100, 200 and 400 meter titles at the Southwestern Conference Boys Track Meet last week. McCray won the 100 meters in 10.6 seconds, 400 meters in 49.6 seconds and the 200 meters in 21.4 seconds.

EMELIA MODGLIN

Carrying the top batting average for 31-0 Waterloo is Modglin, currently at .527 with three homers and 35 RBIs. A 7-for-13 stretch in the Bulldogs’ last four games for the talented senior included a 3-for-4 performance against Valmeyer on Tuesday with two doubles and five RBIs.

CARLEY OLSEN

The junior forward scored two goals Saturday as the Hawks drubbed Anna-Jonesboro 4-0 to win the Class 1A Gibault Regional championship at Oerter Park in Columbia.

WYATT PARKER

Picking up the lone victory last week for Belleville West was junior pitcher Wyatt Parker (2-1), who limited the hard-hitting Freeburg lineup to only four hits Wednesday in a 3-1 Maroons’ victory.

ALLIYAH ST. JOHN

The senior was electric in a 7-5 win over O’Fallon. She doubled, tripled and scored a pair of runs in addition to making two nice catches and gunning down a runner at home. But the brightest moment of the swift outfielder’s game was her fifth-inning steal of home — from second base. It tied the game at 3-3 and sparked the rally that cinched the Maroons’ win.

ANDREW WINNING

Helping fuel the recent Highland hot streak has been junior Andrew Winning, who went 7-for-9 with a double and two RBIs last week in consecutive wins over Jerseyville, Waterloo and Salem. Also a talented football player, Winning has pushed his average to .453 with eight doubles and 17 RBIs.

This story was originally published May 18, 2015 at 12:36 PM with the headline "Top Performers: Metro-east high school athletes of the week."