The Post-Dispatch Athletes of the Week is compiled by Chris Gove based off stats reported to . Please send nominations to cgove@stltoday.com by noon each Monday.
Jaylen Ballard, Francis Howell football
A 5-foot-8 and 185-pound junior running back who was playing his only second game of the season after returning from an injury, Ballard set three single-game school records (346 yards, 32 points and 28.8 yards per carry) while helping the Vikings beat Francis Howell Central 42-7 in a GAC South Division game. Ballard scored touchdowns on five of his 12 carries, starting with an 86-yarder early in the first quarter followed by scoring runs of 49, 67, 80 and 36 yards as the Vikings won their fourth game in five tries. A second-year varsity player who also runs track and field, has rushed for 466 yards and six TDs in two games. He had 441 yards and two touchdowns on the ground as a sophomore.
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Addie Gagen, Belleville West volleyball
A 5-foot-4 senior setter, Gagen helped the Maroons to a 6-0 record last week, culminating with a victory over the host team to win the Bradley-Bourbonnais tournament. Gagen and teammate J’la Sparks were named to the all-tournament team for West, which finished the tournament with a 25-12, 19-25, 17-15 victory against the Boilermakers. Gagen had 23 assists in that victory and averaged 9.9 assists per set for the week. She was honored for eclipsing 1,000 assists for her career last month and thru last week’s matches had 1,326, including 584 this season, an average of 7.8 per set. Gagen also has 140 digs and 40 aces this year to help West to a 20-12 record.
Madden Irving, Chaminade football
The Red Devils record book was rewritten during a 62-35 nonconference victory against Hillsboro as Madden became the first player in program history to rush for seven touchdowns in a game. A 5-foot-9 and 200-pound running back, Irving rushed 35 times for 315 yards — just shy of his career-high 323 rushing yards last season against Lutheran St. Charles — including TDs of 1, 7, 20, 11, 8, 4 and 4 yards. He scored three times in the first quarter as the Red Devils took a 35-14 lead. A three-year starter, Irving twice has been a first team All-Metro Catholic Conference pick and was a second-team all-stater last season. He has rushed for 1,313 yards and 19 touchdowns this season and has 601 carries for 4,222 yards in his career.
Adam Kowalski, Mascoutah soccer
A senior central midfielder, Kowalski has helped Mascoutah close the regular season on a roll, including a two-assist performance in a 3-0 win over Civic Memorial. The Mississippi Valley Conference runner-up, Mascoutah (15-7) heads into the postseason as winners of six straight and eight of nine. For the season, Kowalski ranks among area leaders with 17 goals and 17 assists. He had one assist Oct. 8 in a 3-2 victory against Triad, which snapped Mascoutah’s 17-game losing streak in the series dating to 2017. Kowalski has 27 goals and 28 assists in his three seasons as a starter. He played as a freshman and sophomore and took his junior year off from high school soccer to play for the MLS Next Academy.
Gabby Moresi, Parkway Central cross country
A sophomore, Moresi continued her breakout season by winning the Suburban Conference Championships title with a personal-best time of 18 minutes and 41.87 seconds on the 5-kilometer course at McNair Park in St. Charles. Moresi’s performance was the fifth-fastest in meet history and ranks fourth all-time in program history, a list topped by an Olympian, Emily Sisson. Moresi earned the first victory of her career last month at Cape Central and has three strong finishes against top-notch fields — ninth at Forest Park, sixth at Gans Creek and fourth at the Dale Shepherd Invitational. Moresi finished 39th at the Class 4 state meet last season and was a state track qualifier on Central’s 3200-meter relay team.
Max Weber, Civic Memorial cross country
Weber became the fastest runner in program history when he won the Mississippi Valley Conference championship with a time of 14 minutes and 48.60 seconds on the 3-mile course at Principia College. A junior, Weber broke the previous Eagles record of 14:52 set in 1973 by Layne Law. Weber was a repeat conference champion with a significant time improvement after running 15:33.8 as a sophomore on the same course. Weber also has victories this season at the Freeburg Invitational and Madison County Championships. He was a first team All-Metro selection last season and was a third team All-Metro runner as a freshman when he ran at Metro-East Lutheran.
Lee White, St. Charles West football
A sophomore running back, the 5-foot-9 and 175-pound White rushed for a career-high 202 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries as West fought past Holt 38-35 in a GAC North Division game that was the first meeting between the teams since 2005. He also caught two passes for 42 yards, returned one punt for 7 yards and made one tackle. White’s three touchdowns helped West tie Holt each time — an 8-yarder to make it 7-7 and a 3-yarder to tie the game 14-14 in the second quarter before a 20-yarder for a 28-28 deadlock in the fourth. White also picked up a key first down with a 28-yard run in the fourth to help ice the game. He has 753 total yards this season (633 rushing, 120 receiving) and nine TDs.