TIOGA COUNTY - Tioga's Gavin Albrecht went to States last year on the strength of a vault of 13-feet, 9-inches. This season, Albrecht set Tioga's school record at 14-feet, 7-inches, eventually winning state gold at 15-feet, earning him Tioga County Sports Report "Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year."

Albrecht was also a force in the 100-meter dash, and is closing in on the school record, and the long jump. He also ran on a successful 400-meter relay during the regular season.

Tioga's Andrew Earley and Owego's Gavin Heath are the "Co-Track Athletes of the Year," while Tioga's Dominic Palmer takes "Newcomer of the Year" honors and Newark Valley's Logan Rhodes is "Field Athlete of the Year."

Tioga's Eric Gutierrez takes the Tioga County Sports Report "Coach of the Year."

Earley won the 110 and 400-meter hurdles, and was second in the triple jump at the IAC Championships. He won the 400 hurdles, was second in the 110 hurdles, and was fifth in the triple jump at the Class D Championships. At the State Qualifier, Earley won the 400-meter hurdles, was third in the 110 hurdles, and eighth in the triple jump. Earley finished off his career with a fourth-place finish in the 400 hurdles at States.

Heath set the tone for the River Hawks in mid-distance events this year. Heath won the STAC Championship for the 400-meters, clocking 49.96 while also running a 50.5 second split to lead the 4x400-meter relay team to the STAC podium as well. Heath followed that up with a Section IV Class B Championship in the 800-meters with a time of 1:58.91 for a season best. Owego's Heath advanced to the State Qualifier where he won the 800m for Class B to propel him to the NYSPHSAA Track And Field Championships. At the state championships, Heath ran a 2:00.66.

Palmer spent the regular season running sprints, relays, and competing in the long jump and high jump, but when the postseason rolled around, he focused his attention on the pentathlon. In his first effort, Palmer won the event for Small School at the IAC Championships with 2,161 points. He followed that up with a second-place finish at the State Qualifier with a school-record 2,944 points, which easily topped the state standard of 2,901 points. Palmer finished 12th at the State meet with 2,521 points.

Logan Rhodes was a specialist for the Newark Valley Cardinals' track and field team this spring. Rhodes worked his way up through the season to clear 12-feet, eventually posting 12-6 to take second at the IAC Championships. The junior followed that performance with another runner-up finish in the Section IV Class C Championships. At the State Qualifier, Rhodes posted 12-6 again to take fourth place for Class C and sixth overall.

Gutierrez pulled all the right strings for the Tioga Tigers in 2025. He led Tioga to an IAC South Small School Division title, and an IAC Small School title. The Tigers finished fourth at the Section IV, Class D Championships.

Athlete of Year - Gavin Albrecht, junior, Tioga

Co-Track Athletes of Year - Andrew Earley, senior, Tioga, and Gavin Heath, junior, Owego

Field Athlete of Year - Logan Rhodes, junior, Newark Valley

Newcomer of the Year - Dominic Palmer, junior, Tioga

Coach of the Year - Eric Gutierrez, Tioga

Gavin Albrecht, junior, Tioga: See above.

Kenville, a do-it-all athlete for the Panthers in 2025, found plenty of success this season in the 110 hurdles, as well as the triple jump, grabbing multiple top three finishes in both events throughout the regular season. Kenville earned second in the 110-meter hurdles at IACs, while also placing third in the triple jump, as well as second for Small School in the pentathlon. S-VE's Kenville placed third at the Section IV Class D Championships in the 110 hurdles, before making the finals for the event at State Qualifiers.

Andrew Earley, senior, Tioga: See above.

Dominic Palmer, junior, Tioga: See above.

Newark Valley's King was a jack of all trades this spring for the boys' track and field team. King won the boys' IAC outdoor pentathlon for Large School. Zion King then went on to compete on back-to-back days at the IACs, finishing third in the 400-meters and fourth in the triple jump, before earning top-ten finishes in both the 400m and triple jump at the Section IV Class C Championships. King finished up his season by placing third overall in the pentathlon at the State Qualifier.

Gavin Heath, junior, Owego: See above.

Logan Rhodes, junior, Newark Valley: See above.