5 athletes who could be the Daily Chronicle 2024-2025 Girls Athlete of the Year

The Daily Chronicle is looking ahead to the 2024-25 athletic season and five Chronicle Player of the Year competitions. Today, we look at five potential girls athletes of the year.

While there seemingly has been a pushback against specialization in high school athletics, the recent list of the Daily Chronicle Girls Athlete of the Year is peppered with one-sport stars.

From gymnast Aleah Leman in 2017 to volleyball standout Alayna Pierce in 2023, one-sport standouts winning the award have been more common on the girls side. Korima Gonzalez, the winner this year, qualified for state in two sports, but they both were running sports – track and cross country.

But the pendulum may be swinging the other way, with many up-and-coming multisport athletes on the girls side. Here are five players who could end up winning the award in 2025.

Cortni Kruizenga, Sycamore, jr., soccer/basketball

Kruizenga was an offensive spark plug for the Spartans’ soccer team, scoring 21 times. She was a first-team selection in both the Interstate 8 Conference and the Daily Chronicle All-Area team. And her scoring opportunities seem poised to increase, as the Spartans were a young team on offense.

But Kruizenga also will have the opportunity to have much more time on the court during basketball season. She was a role player in the winter, but with the Spartans losing most of their starting lineup to graduation, she’s got the opportunity to start, which means the potential to be a two-sport standout.

Natasha Bianchi, Genoa-Kingston, so., track and field/basketball

Bianchi exploded onto the scene in the spring, winning event after event during the track season. She ended up third in Class 2A in the long jump. Her career-best mark of 19 feet, 1 inch is a school record already by almost 3 inches. And she was on the school record-setting 4x100-meter team.

She’s also within half a second of setting the school record in the 100. Again, all that was accomplished as a freshman.

She also played lower-level basketball. But Genoa-Kingston has a new coach and is implementing a more up-tempo system, so a speedy player may find a role at the varsity level. But even without basketball stats, Bianchi seems like she’ll have a very impressive resume.

Anna Herrmann, Hinckley-Big Rock, jr., volleyball/basketball

Herrmann has put her name all over the H-BR basketball record book with her 3-point ability and is a two-time All-Area selection.

But she’s also a two-time All-Area selection for volleyball, including a first-team nod last season. She’s set the school record in assists two years in a row, racking up 386 of them last season while serving at a 95% clip.

Ally Poegel, Genoa-Kingston, sr., basketball/soccer

Genoa-Kingston has two potential athletes to watch in terms of this award. Poegel is a standout player for the Cogs, a 1,000-point scorer who is shifting back to point guard in a high-tempo offense this winter.

But she also was a second-team selection on the All-Big Northern Conference girls soccer team. She finished the year with four goals and five assists in earning an All-Area honorable mention.

Sydney Myles, DeKalb, jr., softball/track and field

Myles takes the whole multisport thing to the next level, competing in two spring sports at the same time. This year she made the Class 3A finals in the high jump, finishing 16th by clearing 1.55 meters. She took third in the event as a freshman.

Another spring of pulling double duty with even bigger numbers and times would give her a strong case for being named the athlete of the year.