Sun Athletes of the Week: Kellen Marshall and Christa Avena

Male Athlete of the Week: KELLEN MARSHALL

School: Cimarron-Memorial

Class: Senior

Sport: Football

Last week: Despite nursing injuries to both ankles, Marshall rushed 32 times for 171 yards and three touchdowns to lead the fourth-seeded Spartans to a 27-14 win over top-seeded Clark in the first round of the 4A Sunset Region Tournament Friday night. With his squad trailing 14-0, the 5-11, 175-pound Marshall knotted the score with touchdown runs of 50 and 65 yards, then gave Cimarron the lead for good with a 19-yard score. "He's banged up, but he sucked it up and I think that inspired the other guys," Spartans coach Gary Maki said. "We're a different team with him out there."

Female Athlete of the Week: CHRISTA AVENA

School: Bishop Gorman

Classes: Sophomore

Sport: Cross Country

Last week: Avena finished the 3.1-mile course at Reno's Rancho San Rafael Park in 19:58, the fastest girls time of the day, to capture the 4A individual state championship Saturday. Avena, who placed second the previous week at the Sunset Region meet, took the lead about a half mile into the race, lost it briefly to Reno's Collier Lawrence, before regaining first place with 1,000 meters remaining and holding off Lawrence to win by six seconds. "It was the right strategy. The question was, did she have enough left in the tank to pull it off," Gaels coach Larry LaHodny said. "But the later it got in the race, the more confident she became. It was her career race."

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