The results are in.
St. Johns Country Day sophomore distance runner Kate Staten is the new Florida Times-Union Girls Athlete of the Week for Northeast Florida high school sports for the 2026-27 season, covering the week of Sept. 28 to Oct. 3 in the Jacksonville area.
Running at the Indian Invite in Melrose, she ran 20:38 for the individual championship while also leading the Spartans to the girls team cross-country title.
She placed first in a vote of top Northeast Florida performers that included Makenna Biernacki (Ponte Vedra swimming), Lillie Eason (Fleming Island volleyball), Harper Hadden (Christ's Church volleyball), Braelyn Isbell (Middleburg golf), Rylie Lynch (Paxon swimming), Isabella Taveras Seda (Beachside volleyball) and Gianna Vasto
(Bolles diving).
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This week's Girls Athlete of the Week vote
![St. Johns Country Day cross-country runner Kate Staten is pictured at High School 9:12 Fall Sports Media Day on Sept. 17, 2026. [Clayton Freeman/Florida Times-Union]](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/authoring-images/2026/10/08/NFTU/92151924007-091726-md-k-staten.JPG)
It's time to vote for Florida Times-Union's Girls High School Athlete of the Week for the week of Oct. 5-10.
The Times-Union gathers nominees from scores, stats and nominations e-mailed to the sports desk during the week by coaches across Northeast Florida. Coaches can e-mail these stats and scores to preps@jacksonville.com. Deadline to receive nominations is 7 p.m. Saturdays.
Because of the Columbus Day federal holiday, this week's voting begins Tuesday morning and closes at 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 16. Votes are restricted to once per device per hour. Vote at jacksonville.com/sports.
We reserve the right to disqualify a candidate or declare a vote "no contest" if tampering such as bots or offering to pay for voting is evident. Please respect the integrity of the vote the way these athletes respect the integrity of the game.
Kailey Ausley, St. Augustine volleyball
The senior recorded 55 assists in victories over St. Joseph and Orange Park.
Riley Bridda, Fletcher volleyball
The junior had 29 kills, eight blocks and six aces as the Senators won the Gateway Conference tournament.
Jenna Hahnemann, Ponte Vedra volleyball
The junior supplied 59 assists as the Sharks defeated Ridgeview and Middleburg.
Avery Hartley, Bartram Trail cross-country
The sophomore ran 19:01 to win the individual title at the Half-Mile Timing Invitational in Gainesville.
Whitney Morgan, Episcopal cross-country and swimming
The senior won the 200-yard individual medley in a swimming tri-meet and placed third in the JAC Invitational (19:42) to help Episcopal to the team championship.
Hazel Peters, Nease golf
The sophomore shot a 69 to win medalist honors at the St. Augustine Invitational.
Izzy Riva, Wolfson swimming
The senior won the 200 (1:57.05) and 500-yard freestyle (5:06.23) in a five-team meet at Bolles.
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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: VOTE: Times-Union High School Girls Athlete of the Week, Oct. 12
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