By Andy Walter

Indian River High cross country runner Brynn Crandell was voted the State News Athlete of the Week.

The junior won her second straight DIAA Division II girls’ state title in a time of 18:49.5. Crandell finished 11 seconds ahead of the rest of the field.

She is the first downstate female runner to win multiple cross country state championships since Caesar Rodney’s Jill Hajec won Division I titles in 1999 and 2001.

“Brynn is an incredibly dedicated hard worker,” said Indian River coach Rick Hundley. “She had a tough start to the season working through an injury she suffered in track, but she never let off the pedal. Her work ethic and dedication to the sport is like none I’ve never seen. I could not be prouder of her.”

The Athlete of the Week is nominated and chosen by our readers. The nominating period starts at 2 p.m. on Friday and ends at noon on Monday. A voting period follows from 5 p.m. Monday through 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Here is the link to nominate someone for next week's award:

https://delawarestatenews.secondstreetapp.com/Athlete-of-the-Week-11-25-22/gallery/

This process is performed exclusively online. When nominating an athlete, please include name, school and sport as well as a photo and brief description of why he or she deserves that week’s honor.

All nominations must be high school varsity athletes and come from high schools within Kent or Sussex counties. The winner appears in print and online each Friday.

Andy Walter can be reached at walter@iniusa.org. Follow on Twitter at @DSNSports.