Vote now: Bay Area News Group boys athlete of the week

Editor’s note: We prohibit the use of bots and any other artificial methods of voting. Suspicious activity could lead to the disqualification of candidates and a permanent suspension of the Athlete of the Week poll.

Welcome to the Bay Area News Group (Mercury News & East Bay Times) boys Athlete of the Week poll.

For the entire academic year, we will provide a list of candidates who stood out over the previous week and allow you, the reader, to vote for the winner.

This week, we consider performances from March 6-11.

Polls close at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Vote as many times as you’d like until then without using bots or any other artificial methods of voting.

Votes by email and after 5 p.m. Wednesday are not counted.

Scroll to the bottom for the poll.

Winners are announced each Friday online and, starting Sept. 30, in the print edition of the Mercury News and East Bay Times sports sections.

Candidates for future Athlete of the Week polls can be nominated at highschools@bayareanewsgroup.com.

We accept nominations until 11 a.m. each Monday.

We also review stats submitted to MaxPreps by coaches/team statisticians.

On to the nominees:

Michael Castaneda, Valley Christian baseball: Pitched five scoreless innings to pick up the win as Valley Christian defeated Elk Grove 7-1 in a non-game game. Also went 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI, raising his batting average to .429. The senior improved to 3-0 this season with a 0.00 ERA over 16 innings.

Sebastian Diligent, Amador Valley lacrosse: In rain-soaked conditions, Diligent scored a program-record 10 goals and assisted on five others as Amador Valley defeated Las Lomas 18-7 in a non-league game. The victory improved the Pleasanton school’s record to 2-1.

Luke Foster, Northgate lacrosse: A defensive anchor, Foster helped lead the Walnut Creek school to a 13-3 victory over Dougherty Valley and a 10-3 win over Granada. Was often assigned to the top offensive player, finishing the week with five forced turnovers and 12 ground balls as Northgate improved to 5-0.

Connor Grant, Menlo School swimming: The junior helped Menlo post a Central Coast Section qualifying time in the 200 medley relay, finishing with a time of 1:45.17 at the Small Schools Invitational. Sam Warman, Andrew Tung and Ben Kossow also contributed to that mark. Grant also finished with a CCS qualifying time in the 100 butterfly, winning in 53.72.

Paul Montgomery, Bellarmine baseball: Pitched a complete game to lead the Bells to a 3-1 victory over Pioneer in a non-league game. The senior allowed one hit, struck out six and walked one as the San Jose school improved its record to 4-1-1.

Christian Preciado, Westmont baseball: Went 2 for 3 and knocked in the only run as Westmont defeated Moreau Catholic 1-0 in a non-league game. Also went 2 for 3 and scored the only run as the Campbell school edged Scotts Valley 1-0 in non-league play to improve to 4-1 this season.

Nathan Shie, Fremont-Sunnyvale volleyball: Now in his fourth season as a starter on varsity, Shie helped Fremont win four of its seven matches during the week from the libero position. He’s the only player in coach Russell Davis’ eight seasons to be moved up to varsity as a freshman. “Two opposing coaches said to me, ‘I wish he was on our team,'” Davis noted, adding that one had just beaten Fremont 3-1.

Henry Souza, Acalanes baseball: Pitched five scoreless innings to help lead Acalanes beat Foothill 3-0 in a non-league game. Souza struck out three, walked two and did not allow a hit as the Lafayette school won its third in a row to improve to 4-2.

Mason Wendler, Northgate swimming: Broke Northgate’s pool record in the 200 individual medley by almost a second, touching the wall in 1:55.02. Also helped two relay teams shatter pool records at the school. In the 200 free relay, Northgate finished in 1:25.13 to top the previous mark of 1:26.83. In the 400 free relay, the Walnut Creek school hit the wall in 3:08.75, breaking the previous record of 3:10.40.

Money Williams, Oakland basketball: The Montana-bound senior scored 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting, grabbed nine rebounds and had four steals as Oakland defeated Buena-Ventura 59-43 in the Division III state championship game at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. The state title was Oakland’s first.