High school athletes of the week

By Ted Allen

Published: September 5, 2008

Jayme Barksdale

— SCHOOL: Gretna

— SPORT: Football

— POSITION: Quarterback

— YEAR:  Senior

— THE SCOOP:  Starting in place of last year’s AP Group A player of the year Nick Miller, who’s sidelined by injury, Barksdale, a converted running back, thrived in the Hawks’ spread formation, rushing 20 times for 130 yards and four touchdowns and completing 9 of 11 passes for 126 yards and two more scores in Gretna’s 44-21 come-from-behind win at Martinsville.

FridayFootball.com

Mike Rocco

—SCHOOL: LCA

—SPORT: Football

—POSITION:  Quarterback

—YEAR: Junior

—THE SCOOP:  Rocco completed 14 of 18 passes for 264 yards and three touchdowns in the Bulldogs’ 47-23 victory over Dan River, which, combined with Desmond Rice’s 14 carries for 185 yards and three TDs accounted for the majority of LCA’s scoring.

Zach Scharf

—SCHOOL: E.C. Glass

—SPORT: Golf

— YEAR: Senior

— THE SCOOP: Scharf shared medalist honors by shooting a 71 at GW-Danville’s home course, helping the first-place Hilltoppers gain five strokes on Franklin County in the Western Valley District standings with a team score of 305 in the second district match. 

Tori Blanks

—SCHOOL: Jefferson Forest

—SPORT: Volleyball

—POSITION:  Libero

—YEAR: Senior

—THE SCOOP:  Blanks made a career-high 43 digs to help the Cavaliers sweep Northside 27-25, 25-19, 27-25 in a non-district match. She then totaled 56 digs in four matches and was named to the all-tournament team in boosting JF to a 3-1 record and a second-place showing in the Blue Division of the Ukrops Virginia Volleyball Showcase in Richmond.

Brittany McCormick

—SCHOOL: VES

—SPORT: Volleyball

—POSITION: Middle hitter

—YEAR: Sophomore

— THE SCOOP: McCormick was named tournament MVP in pacing the Bishops to a 3-0 record and first-place finish in their four-team Friendship Tournament with Holy Cross, Timberlake Christian and New Covenant last weekend.

Meg Kenny

— SCHOOL: E.C. Glass

— SPORT: Volleyball

— POSITION:  Middle hitter

— YEAR: Junior

— THE SCOOP: Kenny spiked 17 kills and stuffed eight blocks in a 21-25, 25-18, 25-18, 25-21 victory over Jefferson Forest.