Sun Athletes of the Week: Robert Grana and Emily Eskin

Thursday, May 3, 2001 | 10:23 a.m.

Male Athlete of the Week: ROBERT GRANA

School: Cimarron-Memorial

Class: Senior

Sport: Baseball

Last week: Grana, the Spartans' starting catcher, went 6-for-10 with three doubles, a home run and 12 RBIs to lead his club to Northwest Division victories over Cheyenne, Centennial and Mojave. His grand slam and six RBIs keyed a 14-5 win over the Bulldogs on Thursday, and he followed that up by knocking in five more runs in Friday's 14-0 shutout of the Rattlers. "I had a talk with him and our other two seniors and said, 'Hey, if you guys don't put everything into these last three weeks, we're not even going to make the playoffs," Cimarron coach Calvin Valvo said. "And they've all responded. (Grana) isn't doing anything different. He's just got a little extra determination."

Female Athlete of the Week: EMILY ESKIN

School: Green Valley

Class: Sophomore

Sport: Track

Last week: Eskin captured one individual event, placed second in another and was part of a winning relay team in a third to help the Gators capture this year's Sunrise Region freshman/sophomore meet on Tuesday. Eskin won the 3,200 meters in 11:55.1, breaking her own meet record, and finished behind teammate Staci DeGagne in the 1,600 meters with another record-breaking time (5:26.9). She also ran a leg of the 4x800 meter relay, as Green Valley easily won the team event, besting second-place Moapa Valley by 93 points. "That may have been the meet where she realized the mental aspect of being an elite high school athlete," Gators coach Blaine Thompson said.