Vote: Who Should Be Iowa’s High School Athlete of the Week? (8/23/2026)

Here are the candidates for High School on SI’s Iowa high school athlete of the week for Aug. 17-22.

AOTW

Here are the candidates for High School On SI’s Iowa high school athlete of the week for Aug 17-22. Read through the nominees and cast your vote.

Voting closes at 11:59 p.m. PT on Sunday, Aug. 30. The winner will be announced in the following week’s poll. Here are this week’s nominees:

Jonathan Ward, Waukee boys golf

Ward, a junior, fired a 4-under 67 to capture gold at the Warrior Invitational by three shots. The meet featured 17 teams and was held at Glen Oaks Country Club in West Des Moines. He followed that performance up with a 5-under 66 to win the Jesse Peck Invitational.

Jay McCausland, Waterloo West boys golf

McCausland has a pair of runner-up finishes already this season, placing second at both the Warrior Invitational and the Mississippi Valley Conference Super Meet with scores under par.

Lisa Lu, Johnston girls tennis

Lu has taken advantage of the new rule allowing eighth-graders to play varsity sports, as she is 5-0 at the No. 1 position for the Dragons.

Madalynn Sertterh, Ottumwa girls tennis

A junior, Sertterh has picked up eight early-season victories at the No. 1 spot for her team.

Dylan Everitt, Pleasant Valley boys golf

Everitt’s 5-under 67 at the Lancer Invitational gave him gold by one shot.

Camden Cunningham, Colfax-Mingo football

Cunningham, a junior, did it on both sides of the ball, throwing a TD and running in two while recording seven tackles and an interception on defense. Two of his tackles were for loss.

Nolan Kriegel, Iowa Valley football

Kriegel started off his senior season with a bang, rushing 10 times for 232 yards with five touchdowns while completing 5 of 6 for 57 yards and another score.

Carson Crouch, North Union football

Crouch needed just six rush attempts to pile up 126 yards and three touchdowns.

Tanner Ray, Creston football

Ray completed 17 of 27 for 230 yards with three touchdowns while rushing 14 times for 114 yards and a TD in a thrilling come-from-behind win over Centerville.

Mack Murdock, Centerville football

Murdock matched Ray in the scorefest, completing 36 of 56 passes for 490 yards with four touchdowns, adding a fifth score on the ground.

About Our Athlete of the Week Voting

High School on SI voting polls are meant to be a fun, lighthearted way for fans to show support for their favorite athletes and teams. Our goal is to celebrate all of the players featured, regardless of the vote totals. Sometimes one athlete will receive a very large number of votes — even thousands — and that’s okay! The polls are open to everyone and are simply a way to build excitement and community around high school sports. Unless we specifically announce otherwise, there are no prizes or official awards for winning. The real purpose is to highlight the great performances of every athlete included in the poll.