IndyStar is recognizing its first eight American Family high school athletes of the week as part of our new Indiana Sports Awards. Athletes are nominated by their athletic department and IndyStar staff will choose the winner. All weekly winners will be part of our Athlete of the Month contest and eligible for our Athlete of the Year award.

For more information about our the Indiana Sports Awards, contact Jennifer Brugh at jennifer.brugh@indystar.com or Nat Newell at nat.newell@indystar.com. These athletes were chosen for the week ending Sept. 5:

BOYS CROSS COUNTRY

Name: David Coffey

School: Brebeuf Jesuit

Coffey continued a strong season by winning the Marion Invitational on Saturday, beating two All-State runners from last year’s state meet. His time of 15:24 is the best in Indiana so far this season, according to coach Karl Knerr.

GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY

Name: Allie Dalton

School: Greenwood Christian Academy

Dalton is one of the top girls runners in the state, finishing fourth in the state meet at Greenwood last season. She transferred to Greenwood Christian and has adjusted well on and off the course, according to her coach. Allie is currently undefeated for the Cougars thus far with a personal best time of 18:01.

FOOTBALL

Name: Hunter Johnson

School: Brownsburg

Johnson completed 25-of-38 for 445 yards and 6 touchdowns in the game against Lawrence North. The completions, yards and touchdowns are all school records. The junior is one of the country’s top quarterback recruits, recently committing to Tennessee.

GIRLS SOCCER

Name: Kealy Ester-Bode

School: Covenant Christian

Ester-Bode led her team last week with six goals in four games. In the match against Plainfield, she scored two “world class” goals, according to her coach.

VOLLEYBALL

Name: Devynn Merriman

School: Center Grove

Merriman has stepped into a setting role for her team. She led the offense with 31 assists and 5 aces in a sweep of Carmel. While this hasn’t been her primary role, she executed the offense flawlessly to give Center Grove a 2-0 record in the MIC.

BOYS SOCCER

Name: Bailey Carter

School: Twin Lakes

Carter, a team captain the last two seasons and one of the school’s all-time leading goal scorers, has the team off to a 2-1 start with 6 goals and 3 assists

GIRLS GOLF

Name: Emma Purcell

School: North Central

Purcell was recently named All-MIC golfer and All-County golfer for Marion county.

BOYS TENNIS

Name: Zach Hennessey

School: Carmel

As senior captain of the boys varsity tennis team, Hennessey helped lead his doubles team to win the John Shirley Invite on Aug. 29, beating out Guerin Catholic and splitting sets with North Central. He is a true leader and helping his teammates get better, according to his coach.