Edmond Santa Fe's Gunnar Nixon named Gatorade's National Boys Track Athlete of the Year

Thursday was quite a day for Edmond Santa Fe’s Gunnar Nixon.

He started by taking the lead in the decathlon through five events at the US Junior National Track Meet in Eugene, Ore., and he closed the night by being named the Gatorade National Boys Track Athlete of the Year.

Earlier in the day, it was announced that Nixon was the state award winner, but he received the national award as part of a surprise reception Thursday following the first day of events at the US Juniors.

“I don’t think we’ll see a high school decathlete like Gunnar Nixon come along for a long time,” said Ray Davis, one of Nixon’s private coaches and head coach of the Arizona Puma Track Club. “He’s not just an athlete excelling while doing decathlon. He’s a pure combined-events guy. I first saw him when he was 10 years old and you knew even then that he had a chance to be special.”