Boy Athlete
Zach Kirby
Winters Mill, wrestling
For a second straight weekend, the junior standout pinned his way to a tournament title. On Saturday, he claimed the 126-pound crown in leading Winters Mill to the team title in its own Falcon invitational. Kirby went 3-0 in the tournament, closing with a second-period pin over Patterson Mill’s Tony Athanasiou to improve to 23-0 with 18 pins. The weekend before, Kirby beat seven opponents at Easton’s New Year’s Brawl Tournament to capture the title at 126. Last season, Kirby was the Class 2A-1A state runner-up in the 126-pound class, finishing with a 37-5 mark that included county and region titles.
Girl Athlete
Ashlyn Bender
Glenelg Country, basketball
The Dragons started the 2020 portion of their schedule by going 4-0 last week, and Bender was in the middle of all the success. The junior guard, in her third varsity season, had bookend performances against Atholton on Monday and Reservoir on Saturday to highlight her week. In the Dragons’ 48-46 win over the Raiders, she finished with 21 points, seven rebounds and five blocks. In a 66-45 win over Reservoir on Saturday, she hit four of seven 3-point attempts to finish with 22 points while adding five rebounds, three steals and three blocks. In wins against Garrison Forest (46-25 on Wednesday) and Chapelgate (46-25 on Friday), she combined to total 17 points and 11 rebounds in limited minutes. For the season, Bender is averaging 13.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.4 blocks per game with the Dragons (8-5).
Athlete of the Week nominations can be emailed to ggraham@baltsun.com by Monday at noon.