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 Verfasst am: 17.08.2018, 09:39 Titel:
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JT Daniels Taron Johnson Jersey Bills , a quarterback recruit for Southern California in 2019, and Katelyn Tuohy, dominant in cross country and track and field, have been honored as national prep athletes of the year. Tuohy is the first athlete to be a finalist in two different sports.
Daniels received his trophy from retired NFL great Peyton Manning, a former winner.
Daniels, a senior-to-be at Mater Dei High in nearby Santa Ana, led his team to a 15-0 record and a state title last year. The 6-foot-1, 205-pounder threw for 52 touchdowns and four interceptions. In three years as a starter, he has thrown for a school-record 12,014 yards and 152 TDs.
"It's honestly pretty difficult for me to put into words what this award really means to me and just how honored I am to receive it. Wow," Daniels said before finishing with a plug for the Trojans. "Fight on!"
Daniels is the top-rated QB prospect in the nation by four different outlets. He has a 3.89 GPA and volunteers as a youth football coach and with Marine families at Camp Pendleton.
Retired soccer player Abby Wambach presented the girls' trophy to Tuohy, a junior-to-be at North Rockland High in Thiells, New York. She was competing against herself and four others for the female athlete award. No other athlete has been nominated in different sports in the 16-year history of the Gatorade national program.
"I can hear my heart beating in my chest," Tuohy said, holding the trophy on stage. "This award is the most prestigious honor. Not only does it exemplify your athletic performance, but your academic performance and your character. I'm just so thankful to receive this award."
Tuohy set a record for the fastest 5,000-meters by a high school girl Authentic Danny Shelton Jersey , indoors or outdoors, with a time of 15 minutes, 37.12 seconds. She broke a 36-year-old national prep record in the mile with a time of 4:33.87.
She volunteers with youth soccer and running programs and at the library while carrying a 4.59 GPA.
The winners will appear together on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
Daniels and Tuohy were applauded by 2014 boys' winner Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Todd Gurley of the LA Rams, Sam Darnold of the New York Jets, Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs and Olympic sprinter Sydney McLaughlin, a two-time winner of the girls' award during the dinner at a hotel in Marina del Rey.
All the nominees will walk The ESPYS red carpet and the winners shown on the ABC telecast Wednesday night.
The other boys' nominees were: Aidan Troutner, cross country, Provo, Utah; R.J. Barrett, basketball, Montverde, Florida; Ryan Weathers, baseball, Loretto, Tennessee; Ousseni Bouda, soccer Ravens Hayden Hurst Jersey , Millbrook, New York; and Anthony Schwartz, track and field, Plantation, Florida.
The other girls' nominees were: Thayer Hall, volleyball, Roebuck, South Carolina; Christyn Williams, basketball, North Little Rock, Arkansas; Megan Faraimo, softball, San Diego; and Isabella D'Aquila, soccer, San Juan Capistrano, California.
Among the previous winners are LeBron James, Dwight Howard Marquis Haynes Color Rush Jersey , Kevin Love, Allyson Felix and Candace Parker.
Well, it turns out that maybe Panthers four-time All-Pro middle linebacker Luke Kuechly may have a minor flaw in his game.
Who knew?
The 27-year-old Kuechly, considered one of the best players in the league at his position, said after Sunday's practice his pass rushing ability needs to improve "by leaps and bounds."
And Panthers coach Ron Rivera was quick to agree.
"Yes, he does" need to improve, Rivera said. "Like Cam (Newton) likes to tell you, 'Superman has his Kryptonite.'"
Kuechly has been akin to Superman for the Panthers defense over the past six seasons.
He has 818 tackles and 15 interceptions during that span, and has staked his claim as the most productive middle linebacker ever to play for the Panthers 鈥攚ith a realistic chance to go down as one of the NFL's all-time bests along with Ray Lewis, Jack Lambert, Dick Butkus and Mike Singletary.
Rivera has repeatedly said Kuechly is like having a coach on the field with his ability to call out an opponent's play call to teammates before the ball is ever snapped. He's seemingly always around the ball and his mistakes are few and far between.
Getting to the quarterback has rarely been one of Kuechly's strengths.
He has 10陆 career sacks, including just one last season. By comparison, Seattle middle linebacker Bobby Wagner 鈥?whom Kuechly is often compared to in the NFC 鈥?has 15陆 sacks during that same span.
Kuechly is working with new linebackers coach Steve Russ to improve his explosiveness and ability to penetrate the line of scrimmage, a skillset that could potentially elevate the 2013 NFL Defensive Player of the Year to a whole new level.
"Coach Russ has a planned attack for (improving) that and hopefully it will translate into a game," Kuechly said.
Kuechly joked that he has to get better at pressuring the quarterback because his longtime buddy Thomas Davis, the team's outside linebacker, "beats me in that (category) every year 鈥?and I have to try to get him back."
This may be Kuechly's year to get the best of Davis Authentic Will Hernandez Jersey , who will start the season serving a four-game suspension for testing positive for a banned substance.
It's not anything new for Kuechly to target an area to improve. For the past couple of years Kuechly spent extra energy working on his pass coverage skills, an area in which he has shown noticeable improvement.
Of course, the biggest concern for Kuechly will be avoiding another concussion. He has sustained a concussion in each of the past three seasons, causing him to miss 10 games.
The Panthers simply can't afford to lose him.
His speed and ability to chase down ball carriers from sideline to sideline still amazes Rivera, who played linebacker for nine seasons for the Chicago Bears and won a Super Bowl in the 1985 season.
Rivera said he's "seen everything" from Kuechly, but pointed to a play he made last week in practice that caused the coach to pause the game film and replay it in slow motion several times. As Rivera describes it, Kuechly was chasing down a ball carrier to the outside when a blocker stepped in his way to cut him off.
But that didn't keep Kuechly from making the play though.
"The position he was in, he should have been cut off," Rivera said. "But he made a step in and the blocker came down with him and he jumped around him and accelerated to the outside and made the play. It's one of those where you just sit there and go, 'Wow.'"
While the focus this summer will be on improving as a pass rusher, Rivera said Kuechly remains a special player.
"He has that kind of ability and I think a big part of it is just how smart he is as a football player," Rivera said.
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