Princeville baseball player voted Journal Star boys athlete of the week, presented by CEFCU

Noah Geiger of the Princeville baseball team was voted the Journal Star high school boys athlete of the week for April 20-25, presented by CEFCU.

The senior threw a no-hitter last week. In the second game of a doubleheader, Geiger tossed a five-inning, no-hitter in a 9-0 win over Galva on April 20. He struck out five and walked two on 70 pitches. Geiger then helped his cause with a three-run home run as part of a seven-run fifth inning. He also scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning, giving the Princes a 3-2 victory and series sweep against Galva.

The poll closed at noon Friday. Information about the other nominees is below.

If you have a nominee for the honor, email us at sports@pjstar.com or tag us on X @pjstarsports. Last week, Patrick Peterson, of the Dunlap track & field team, was named JS boys athlete of the week.

Collin Burns, Morton baseball

The senior twirled a no-hitter last week. Burns shutdown Pekin in a 14-0, five-inning Mid-Illini Conference victory on April 20. He faced 18 batters, striking out eight and walking three on 71 pitches — 45 for strikes. Burns is now 4-1 on the season with 28 strikeouts and seven walks with a 0.58 ERA in 24 innings.

Melvin Jenkins, Peoria High track & field

The senior was a three-event winner last week. Jenkins secured victories in the 100 (11.33 seconds) and 200-meter (23.39 seconds) dashes at Tony Thorsen Invitational in Dwight on April 21. He also anchored the winning 4x100-meter relay (43.70 seconds) with teammates Frank Flowers, Titus Wyatt and Christian Hannah. Those three victories helped the Lions win the meet with 100 points, beating out runner-up Kankakee McNamara (87).

Zach Born, Metamora track & field

The junior set a new school record last week. Born ran the 800-meter in 1:52.48 to finish second at Distance Night in Palatine on Saturday, April 25. This time was 1.26 seconds faster than Metamora's top previous program mark (Jake Gillum, 1:53.74, 2017). It was also Born's first outdoor 800 of the season after running 1:55.84 last season.

MaKai Hill, Manual track & field

The senior turned in a personal-best jump last week. Hill won the triple jump at the Hickman Invitational in Springfield on April 21. His leap of 44 feet, 5.25 inches marked the farthest of Hill's career by nearly 14 inches. That distance is enough to put him at No. 2 in the Peoria-area track & field honor roll. It was also just his third time ever competing in the triple jump. Hill also took third in the long jump at a season-best 20-7.

Tommy Sopko, Metamora tennis

Sopko won three matches on Saturday, April 25 in helping Metamora win the Ottawa Invitational. He claimed a 6-1, 6-0 win over Ian Shin of Normal U-High in a No. 1 singles match. In a pair of No. 1 doubles matches, Sopko and partner Weston Lange battled to two victories. Their first win came over Ottawa's Ayden Sexton and Kaden Araujo 6-1, 6-3. The Metamora duo then defeated Thomas Stoiber and Nate Pangallo from Frankfort Lincoln-Way East, 7-5 , 5-7 , 10-4. Metamora is now 16-1 on the season.

Champs of the Ottawa Invite!

Birds 4, Ottawa 0
Birds 3, U-High 1
Birds 3, Lincoln-Way East 1

Gorgeous day with lots of big- time play. MTHS now 16-1 on the season. @hoijim@KurtPegler@AdamDuvall@jondog237@MTHSAthleticspic.twitter.com/PSza6a4L5Z— Metamora Boys Tennis (@MetamoraTennis) April 26, 2026

Dave Eminian is the Journal Star senior writer and sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on X.com @icetimecleve.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Princeville baseball player voted Journal Star boys athlete of the week