CHICAGO - Matt Tetzlaff of Pierre T.F. Riggs High School was named the 2007-08 Gatorade South Dakota Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year. Tetzlaff is the first Gatorade South Dakota Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year to be chosen from T.F. Riggs High School.

"He's phenomenal," said Dave Dolan, head coach of rival Rapid City Central High. "In South Dakota, Tetzlaff is the best boys track athlete I've seen. He's an absolute technician in the hurdles. He's just in a league of his own and I really think he's good for track and field as a sport."

The award recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the track. Tetzlaff is now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year award to be announced later this month.

The state's returning 2006-07 Gatorade Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year, Tetzlaff swept the hurdles events at the Class AA state meet, leading the Governors to their third straight state championship.

The Class AA state meet most valuable performer and two-time outstanding AA male athlete at the Dakota Elite Championships, the junior hurdler won the 110-meter hurdles race with a time of 14.29 seconds and captured the 300-meter hurdles event in 43.72 seconds. He also helped T.F. Riggs' 4-by-100-meter relay quartet to a winning time of 43.72.

Tetzlaff has maintained a 3.88 GPA in the classroom and donates his time as a mentor and instructor for youth athletes at multiple area track, football and basketball camps and clinics in addition to volunteering at the Hershey's Track & Field Games.

Tetzlaff will begin his senior year of high school this fall and remains undecided upon a collegiate destination.