Athletes of the Week for 10-26-2026

The Citizen continues its mission to highlight the best and brightest athletes in our community with our Athletes of the Week feature. Each week, we celebrate the hard work, dedication, and achievements of student-athletes across local high schools.

East Coweta High

Kennady Duncan

Volleyball

Kennady is one of our most consistent players and a true team player. She leads the team in blocks and is hitting 0.108 this season.

Fayette County High

Cadet Major Maleah Stephens

Drill Team

I am proud to nominate Cadet Major Maleah Stephens for Athlete of the Week in recognition of her exceptional leadership, dedication, and commitment to supporting the Fayette County High School Fighting Tigers football program.

Throughout the football season, Cadet Stephens was entrusted with the challenging responsibility of recruiting and coordinating 10 or more JROTC cadets to support each home football game. She independently coordinated with the Assistant Athletic Director and Booster Club to ensure participating cadets received meals and were properly supported throughout each event. Additionally, she managed personnel assignments, ensuring every cadet was positioned at the appropriate location and time to accomplish their assigned duties.

This responsibility required extensive logistical planning, organization, communication, and accountability. Despite the complexity of coordinating multiple students and responsibilities, Cadet Stephens consistently demonstrated maturity, initiative, and professionalism beyond her years.

Her outstanding leadership, selfless service, and unwavering commitment to the success of the Fighting Tigers make her highly deserving of recognition as Athlete of the Week.

McIntosh High

Lillian Hodge

Chiefettes Dance Team

“Lillian is one of the most hard working and dedicated athletes. The amount of growth she has shown since her freshman year is admirable. She is always positive and never gives less than 100%.” – Coach Yarbrough

Trinity Christian

Zoe Joyner

Volleyball

A key contributor all season, Zoe in recent weeks led in kill percentage (0.303), recording 40 kills, 33 digs, and 2.0 passing across 45 attempts.

Sandy Creek High

Halo Sanders

Volleyball

Halo Sanders is a junior right-side hitter for Sandy Creek High School. A strong and versatile presence on the court, Halo brings energy, athleticism, and a competitive mindset to the Patriots. She continues to develop her game while contributing both offensively and defensively to the success of Sandy Creek Volleyball.

Starr’s Mill High

Alexa Kalen

Flag Football

Alexa has done a great job at quarterback this season. In her last three games she has thrown for 712 yards with 13 TD’s.

Whitewater High

Aeva Lee Owen

Cheerleading

Aeva Lee has been on the Varsity Competition, Sideline and Gameday teams since her freshman year. She is an extremely hard worker and is great at teaching and helping her teammates. She also works hard in the classroom and is able to maintain a high gpa while also devoting her time to cheer practice and other clubs on campus.