This week's Blue Federal Credit Union Girls Athlete of the Week award is heading right back to the basketball court.
Poudre basketball's Matea Burdick took top honors in the Fort Collins area for the week of Feb. 2-7 after some terrific all-around performances in a winning week.
Burdick combined for 46 points, 15 rebounds and four steals against Loveland, Vista Peak Prep and Rock Canyon.
Most importantly, it all helped the Impalas go 3-0 on the week.
Burdick also made six 3-pointers across those three victories and shot over 70% from the free-throw line to give Poudre offense from everywhere.
The Impalas junior has come on strong after the team's slow start to the season, compiling six games in double figures scoring.
Poudre (9-11, 6-3 league) is up to No. 26 in CHSAA's latest 6A seeding index rankings, firmly in the playoff field as of Feb. 12.
Burdick is the fifth basketball player to earn Blue FCU Girls Athlete of the Week honors this winter, along with Fort Collins' Annika VanDalen and Lydia Childs, Fossil Ridge's Lauren Smith and Wellington's Ava Essay.
She's also the second Impala athlete to win the Athlete of the Week award this school year, joining Poudre tennis player Owen Addington.
Poudre hoops fans hit the polls hard, elevating Burdick in a hotly contested four-person race with 29.7% of the vote.
Burdick finished ahead of these four other outstanding girls Athlete of the Week nominees:
- Mia Thomas, Rocky Mountain basketball (runner-up with 29.2%)
- Nola Greenwald, Windsor basketball
- Ella Gaca Thiele, Fossil Ridge swimming
- Mireille Gazdaru, Liberty Common swimming
The Blue Federal Credit Union Athlete of the Week series features five nominees on Mondays, with voting at Coloradoan.com until 11:59 a.m. every Thursday.
Fans can nominate their favorite athletes (deadline: 11:59 p.m. every Sunday), and the Coloradoan Sports staff will ultimately select the nominees each week.
If you have nominations for a future Athlete of the Week, please send them via email to [email protected] for consideration.
View the full results:
Chris Abshire covers high school and community sports for the Coloradoan.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Poudre basketball's Matea Burdick named Blue FCU Girls Athlete of Week