South Girls Soccer, Jirak, and Stafford Earn WyoPreps Athlete of the Week Awards 4-10-24 [VIDEO]

Two track standouts and a girls’ soccer team received the Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Wyoming WyoPreps Athlete of the Week honors for April 10, 2024. The girls’ award was shared between the Cheyenne South girls’ soccer team and Star Valley senior Valerie Jirak. The boys’ honor went to Big Horn senior Gavin Stafford. They were chosen for their terrific performances during the week of April 1 through April 6, 2024.

WYOPREPS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK AWARDS APRIL 10, 2024

The Cheyenne South girls’ soccer program hasn’t seen a lot of success through the years. Last Saturday saw a big change. The Bison defeated No. 4 Thunder Basin, 1-nil. It was South’s first win over TBHS in program history and marked just the second conference win in school history. Emma Cortez scored the winning goal in the 32nd minute of play off an assist by her sister and goalkeeper Gabby Cortez. The Bison made that goal stand up the rest of the way.

Senior Nevaeh Green and junior captain Lawsen Quist spoke with WyoPreps on Wednesday. They discussed what the victory meant to the team and themselves, how the goal played out from their vantage point, the emotions felt after the match finished, the momentum it created, and more.

The girls’ honor also went to Star Valley senior Valerie Jirak, who won the heptathlon at the Arcadia Invitational in California last weekend. Jirak scored 4,920 points through the seven events. She won or tied for first in three events (high jump, long jump, & 800 meters), set two school records (100 hurdles & high jump), and won by nearly 400 points. It was quite the performance on a national stage.

Jirak spoke with WyoPreps on Wednesday evening and reflected on her performance. She discussed her strategy, the school records she wanted to break, what this means for her future as a multi-event student-athlete at Duke, a little of her training, some future heptathlons, and more.

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Big Horn senior Gavin Stafford earned the boys’ honor with a terrific effort at the Trojan Invite track meet in Casper last Friday. Stafford ran 10.7 in the 100-meter dash, which is the fastest by a boy in Class 2A in state history. It broke a mark that went back to 1987. Officially, state records can only be broken at the state track championships in May, but Stafford’s time surpassed the old time of 10.83 seconds set in 1987 by Jose Wright from Kemmerer. Gavin went on to win the long jump at 21-6.50. He also ran a leg on Big Horn’s fourth-place 4x100 relay that ran 44.13 seconds and finished only behind three schools from Class 4A.

WyoPreps visited with Stafford on Wednesday night. He described the effort it took to run his 100-meter time, the key to his race, where he feels he can improve, how things went in the long jump and relay, the momentum this created for him, and more.

Congrats to the Cheyenne South girls’ soccer team, Valerie, and Gavin on our weekly award!

The WyoPreps Athlete of the Week nominations are open from Fridays at 5 p.m. until Mondays at 9 a.m. Coaches, family, friends, and student-athletes can nominate deserving student-athletes. Early and late nominations are not accepted.