Who is the Centre Daily Times’ high school athlete of the spring sports season? Vote here

Editor’s note: This Athlete of the Season poll will be the Centre Daily Times’ last weekly poll story until high school sports resume in the fall. Please go to CentreDaily.com and click on this story to cast your vote.

Here are the nominees for the Centre Daily Times’ high school athlete of the spring sports season, presented in alphabetical order. They were selected by the CDT sports staff via stats compiled by the CDT or sent to cdtscores@centredaily.com, and by readers’ votes in the weekly polls. Vote for your favorite.

If you’d like to nominate a player’s performance for future weeks, or believe a deserving nominee is missing from this week’s poll, please contact the CDT via email at cdtscores@centredaily.com.

The poll closes at noon Friday, and a short profile of the winner will appear in Sunday’s paper.

Brady Bigger, State College track & field

Bigger showed why he’s one of the best distance runners in the state this spring with his performance for State High track and field. He was a key piece of the team’s run to district and state titles this season. At districts, Bigger won the 800m in 1:55.75, the 1600m in 4:19.27 and was part of the 4x800 relay team that won in 7:50.99. He carried that performance to states, where he earned a silver as part of the relay team (7:55.69), bronze in the 1,600m (4:18.23) and two more medal finishes in the 800m — sixth place — and the 4x400m — eighth place.

Kendra Bumgardner, Penns Valley softball

Bumgardner performed valiantly in Penns Valley’s 3-2 loss in the District 6 title matchup, striking out eight batters over the course of seven innings, allowing seven hits and three runs. It was reminiscent of the rest of her season, as the senior pitcher finished with a 3.70 earned run average over 58.2 innings pitched with 87 strikeouts. Opponents batted just .200 against the senior pitcher. On the offensive side, Bumgardner batted .410 in 80 plate appearances with 35 runs batted in and five home runs with an on-base plus slugging percentage of 1.279. Bumgardner also made the first-team Mountain League All-Stars as a shortstop.

Clare Marsh, Saint Joseph’s Catholic Academy track & field

Marsh was at the top of her game for most of the spring for Saint Joseph’s Catholic Academy track and field, earning three district gold medals and a state silver medal. She first won three gold medals at the PIAA District 6 Class 2A Track & Field Championships in the 100m hurdles (15.19), the 300m hurdles (45.75) and as part of the 4x400m relay team. She then went on to earn the state silver medal in the 100m hurdles with a time of 14.86.

Madison Melius, Bellefonte softball

Melius had a breakout year with a slash line of .345/.426/.586 and an on-base plus slugging of 1.013. Although Melius hit just one regular season home run, she had two more in the postseason. Her three-run blast against Chartiers Valley was key in helping the Raiders advance to the PIAA quarterfinals. She had her most hits with 3-for-3 batting line against Holidaysburg on May 1. Melius drove in 12 runs and had five doubles.

Eniayo Ogunranti, State College track & field

Ogunranti won three Mid Penn Conference titles during his senior season. He took home victories in the 100-meter dash (10.99 seconds), a team victory in the 4x100 relay (42.61) and a gold medal in the 200-meter race (21.95). He also won the District 6 Class 3A 100-meter dash with a time of 10.91, 200-meter dash (22.28) and the 4x100m relay with a time of 42.19. He also helped his 4x100m relay team to PIAA silver, an important piece of State High’s overall gold.

Lizzie Paterno, State College lacrosse

Paterno had a prolific career for Tara Hohenshelt’s State College girls lacrosse program and will be headed to Robert Morris next season. During her senior season, she continued on with 37 goals on 70 shots and 22 assists. She added 60 draw controls on the year, scooping 33 ground balls and had 20 caused turnovers. For her efforts, Paterno was named to the Mid Penn Commonwealth Division’s first team. She was an important piece of State College’s PIAA berth this season.

Madison Peters, Bald Eagle Area softball

Peters again showed why she’s one of the area’s best pitchers this season. Peters came out on top in each of the four battles she had against two of the Mountain League’s other top pitchers — Bellefonte’s Lexi Rogers and Clearfield’s Emma Hipps. She struck out nine in the Eagles’ 1-0 win over rival Bellefonte, and nine in the 4-3 win over the Raiders to secure the Mountain League title. Peters earned her 300th career strikeout in a 6-1 win over Clearfield. Peters was a major factor in the Eagle’s two-loss regular season.

Lexi Rogers, Bellefonte softball

Rogers was dominant in the circle and at the plate for Bellefonte softball this season. She batted .527 for the Raiders with a 1.018 slugging percentage to go with six home runs. Rogers was even better from the circle where she racked up 114.2 innings and had a minuscule 1.16 ERA. She also recorded 197 strikeouts, good for 42.2% of the batters she faced as the Raiders’ best pitcher. Rogers also made the first-team Mountain League All-Stars as the pitcher and D.P./Off. pitcher, and surpassed 300 career strikeouts this season.

Colton Sands, Penns Valley track & field

Sands was a star this spring for Penns Valley track and field as a long distance runner. He won two gold medals from the District 6 Class 2A Track & Field Championships to begin the postseason. He earned gold in both the 800m — with a time of 1:59.66 — and in the 1600m — with a time of 4:21.81. He then went on to the PIAA Class 2A State Track & Field Championships where he earned a bronze medal in the 1600m with a time of 4:17.28.

Ryan Whitehead, Philipsburg-Osceola baseball

Whitehead closed out his career with a high-level spring on the mound and at the plate for Philipsburg-Osceola baseball. He pitched 43.2 innings this year with an ERA of 1.28, according to MaxPreps. The senior pitcher struck out 68 of the 193 batters he faced for the Mountaineers and earned five shutouts. He also got on base at a .439 clip for the team this year, consistently getting on for the team’s offense.