By Andy Walter

Polytech High runner Matt Gatune was voted the State News Athlete of the Week. The senior swept the boys’ individual distance events at the Henlopen Conference track & field championships last weekend.

Gatune won the 800, 1,600 and 3,2000 meters at the two-day meet. His time of 4:19.92 in the 1,600 broke the meet record that stood since 1984 while his clocking of 9:17 in the 3,200 was 12 seconds faster than the meet record he set last year. Also, Gatune’s time of 1:51.9 in the 800 was second all-time at the Henlopen meet.

“This past weekend at the Henlopen Conference Championship, it was really special for Matt to go out with his best performances ever, especially after winning all three events a year ago,” said Panthers coach Czar Bloom. “It’s tough to go out there and reach a top level and then return a season later and raise the bar even higher, especially with a talented cast of competitors from rival Henlopen teams who returned even better as well.

“Yet, true to form, Matt came into the meet, calm, cool, collected and well-prepared and humbly went out with incredible performances. In each race, he began with a confident approach from the first step and trusted in all his training that he could finish with his best ... and he sure did.”

This weekend, Gatune will compete in the 800 and 1,600 as well as two relays at the DIAA state championships at Dover. He is going to continue his running career at Columbia University.

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 and online each Friday.

Here's the link to nominate someone for next week.

https://delawarestatenews.secondstreetapp.com/Athlete-of-the-Week-5-27-22/gallery/