{
  "id": 12722206,
  "title": "It's time to vote for The Desert Sun Athlete of the Week",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/07/its-time-to-vote-for-the-desert-sun-athlete-of-the-week",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-07T21:53:03.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Sports",
    "slug": "yahoo-sports",
    "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/time-vote-desert-sun-athlete-215303575.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "This week, The Desert Sun invites readers to cast their vote for the Athlete of the Week among a list of outstanding high school athletes from various sports. The voting process is simple; choose your favorite player in the attached poll, and the one with the most votes at noon on Saturday will be crowned the weekly winner.\n\nTo provide some context, last week's winner was Xavier Prep's Janelle Herling, a volleyball star who set a school record for assists in a single match with 60 during her team's 3-2 victory over Palm Desert.\n\nThis week, readers can vote for one of the following athletes:\n\n1. Sasha Gomez from La Quinta, who excelled in golf by earning co-medalist honors with an impressive round of even-par 36, which secured her team's first win over Palm Desert in 32 years.\n2. Micaela Mendoza-Cuevas from Shadow Hills, a volleyball player who consistently sets up her team with an impressive 29 assists this season, contributing to their 3-0 win over Banning.\n3. Morgan Sanders from Rancho Mirage, a volleyball setter who, like Mendoza-Cuevas, has been a standout performer in the Desert Valley League, racking up 29 assists in a crucial 3-1 win over La Quinta.\n4. Julia Sargent from La Quinta, another golfer who, along with Sargent's teammate, shot even-par 36s, helping her team break a 32-year winless streak against Palm Desert.\n5. Grace Thompson from Palm Desert, a flag football player who showcased her skills with an excellent game in a 19-6 win over Desert Hot Springs, completing 21 of 28 passes for 141 yards and three touchdowns.",
  "summary": "Last week you voted and you chose Janelle Sterling of Xavier Prep volleyball. Who will you vote for this week?",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}