Second Gatorade State Player of the Year Honor Caps Stellar Year, High School Career for Chase Gilbert

LYME/OLD LYME, CT – Lyme-Old Lyme High School’s Chase Gilbert has added the title of 2025-26 Gatorade Connecticut Girls Track & Field Player of the Year to a roster of accomplishments spanning her four years as the school’s top distance runner.

Gilbert was previously named Connecticut’s 2025-26 Gatorade Girls Cross Country Player of the Year.

She will attend the University of Virginia this fall on a track and field scholarship.

The Gatorade organization in a Thursday news release said the Player of the Year honor recognizes athletes for excellence in their sport, academics and community service.

Gilbert won the 1600-meter run at the New England Championships this spring to claim All-New England honors. She also swept the 800-, 1600- and 3200-meter events at the Class S State Championships, helping lead the Wildcats to a fourth-place team finish.

Gilbert added another state title in the 1600 at the State Open Championships and concluded her high school career with a ninth-place finish in the mile at the New Balance Nationals Outdoor championships. Her time of 4:44.36 ranked No. 32 nationally.

Sweeping the distance triple at a state meet is “no easy feat,” according to PrepCalTrack.com editor Rich Gonzalez.

“Chase then backed that up with victories in the 1600 at the Open State Meet and New Englands, demonstrating her mastery of that event,” Gonzalez said in the news release.

Gilbert maintained an A average at school and served as president of her senior class. She has volunteered as a mentor with the Run Like a Girl program through the Lymes’ Youth Service Bureau (LYSB).

In February, Gilbert announced she had chosen LYSB as the recipient of a $1,000 grant from Gatorade’s “Play It Forward” community grant initiative to reduce barriers to kids’ participation in sports.

Now in its 41st year, the Gatorade Player of the Year program recognizes the nation’s top high school athletes across 12 sports in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. From those state winners, one national winner is selected in each sport.