Smyrna High runner Demitri Carter was voted this week’s Athlete of the Week. The junior won both 55 (6.66 seconds) and the 200 meters (22.48 seconds) at the DIAA winter track & field state championships last week. Carter also ran a leg on the Eagles’ winning 1,600-meter relay team.

Eagles’ coach Maura Schafer said Carter is a “quiet worker but is a tough-as-nails competitor.”

“When he steps on that line, he wants to win,” she said. “When we had to move him from the 400 to the 55 due to the shorter schedule, he was excited to prove that he could win that event, too. Coming away from a state meet with three gold medals is impressive anytime, but I especially felt proud of him because he was a kid who never stopped training.

“When spring got taken away (last year) and into winter track, not knowing if we’d compete ... he never stopped training. It feels good to know all that paid off.”

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.

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 each Friday.