For her efforts last week, Altenburg was named the Dayton Daily News Athlete of the Week for Sept. 22 through Sept. 27, earning the honor through reader voting at DaytonDailyNews.com.
“I’m excited,” Altenburg said. “It feels like I put in a lot of hard work and it’s nice to be recognized.”
Altenburg and her teammates earned two 1-0 wins last week against Waynesville on Sept. 25 and Butler on Sept. 27.
“We were really excited about that,” Altenburg said. “We beat Waynesville, which is the first time we’ve beat them since I’ve been in high school. That was really fun for us.”
Last season, the Jills went 14-5, winning a Division IV district title before falling to eventual state champion Cincinnati Summit Country Day in a regional semifinal.
This year, they’re 13-1-1, winning nine straight matches to open the season.
“It’s pretty surprising to us that we’re doing really well,” Altenburg said. “I just think that this year we’ve been doing a really good job of playing as a team with each other, rather than focusing on individual skill and that’s been a big part of it.”
They graduated five players from last year’s team, but returned a strong roster that included seven seniors.
“I think it helps that this year we have so many seniors,” Altenburg said. “I think that’s contributed a lot because overall, we’re a lot more confident, and we trust each other more playing together, especially because we’ve played together since we were in grade school. So I feel like we’re more confident and able to play with each other better.”
A four-year starter, Altenburg said she’s much more confident than she was as a freshman.
“As a freshman, you’re a lot smaller than everyone, but now I’ve gotten used to everything,” Altenburg said. “I feel like I’m a leader now and that just translates to the field as well because I feel more confident in myself to do more than I would have in the years before.”
With the victory over Waynesville, Oakwood clinched its first Southwestern Buckeye League Buckeye Division title since 2011.
Credit: Erik Steckel
Credit: Erik Steckel
Altenburg has tallied seven goals and two assists this season. But she’s most proud of a defensive back line that’s shut out their opponents 13 times in 15 games. She’s joined by junior Mia Allard, sophomores Claire Duwel and Madeline Montgomery, as well as junior goalkeeper Camryn ‘Shady’ Camacho.
“I think we’re doing a really good job of working together this year,” Altenburg said.
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