Union County High School sophomore, Caitlin Mays, was nominated by the Knoxville News Sentinel as the Prepxtra female athlete of the week. This is a poll sponsored by the New Sentinel that allows people to vote for the nominees.

Caitlin has been playing girls softball most of her life. The first team she played on was with the Gibbs Youth Athletic Association. She played on a coed team when she was 5 years old. She played on this team for 2 years before she moved on to coach pitch girls softball at Willow Creek Youth Park. At Willow Creek, Caitlin played on teams that won many tournaments and awards. She mainly played middle infield during her years at Willow Creek. At 9 years of age, she began to play on traveling teams and also on Luttrell’s Elementary School baseball team. Her dad, Bryan Mays, coached her for most of these years.

Caitlin then went on and made the Horace Maynard Middle School softball team as the only 6th grader. She continued to play middle infield all 3 years at Horace Maynard. The 7th and 8th grade teams went undefeated in the district during these years. She also played volleyball and basketball for the school. She received the Iron-Lady award for volleyball her 8th grade year.

When Caitlin graduated to Union County High School, she tried out and made the Lady Patriots softball team, coached by Lance Lay. She has played at 3rd base for the past 2 seasons. During her freshman year, she hit her first homerun, which was a grand slam. This year she has a .443 batting average and has added 6 more homeruns, one being a grand slam. She has received player of the game recognition twice this year. Mays is taking courses in the medical field. She is interested in making sports medicine her major at the college level.

When Mays was nominated for female Prepxtra athlete of the week, she received 11,423 votes. Although she fell short in the voting and took 2nd place, Mays is sure to help the Lady Patriots for the next 2 years.