Press release
Colin Sahlman Named 2021-22 Gatorade National Boys Cross Country Player Of The Year
NEWBURY PARK, Calif., Feb. 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In its 37th year of honoring the nation's most elite high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Colin
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[{"type":"text","content":"NEWBURY PARK, Calif., Feb. 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In its 37th year of honoring the nation's most elite high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Colin Sahlman of Newbury Park High School in Newbury Park, Calif. is the 2021-22 Gatorade National Boys Cross Country Player of the Year. Sahlman won the prestigious award for his accomplishments on and off the field, joining an impressive group of former Gatorade National Boys Cross Country Players of the Year who have combined for 19 National Championships.\nSahlman was surprised with the trophy by his family, coaches and teammates at school. Check out a video of the announcement here.\nThe award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguishes Sahlman as the nation's best high school boys cross country player. The Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others to evaluate candidates, selected Sahlman from nearly 300,000 other student-athletes who compete in boys cross country nationwide.\nCompetition for the national award was fierce. Sahlman topped the list of state winners in boys cross country who collectively boast an incredible list of accomplishments, including 34 who joined two or more charitable organizations, 10 returning state Gatorade Players of the Year and 30 with a GPA of 4.0 and above.\n\"Colin Sahlman proved to be the best runner on the best cross country team in U.S. history, but there's a lot more to his season than that,\" says Doug Binder, Dyestat.com Editor-in-Chief. \"His near-record run at Woodward Park at the California state meet coupled with his victory at the RunningLane Championships against the best field of the year cemented him as the nation's best. Newbury Park's second and third guys were right there with him on that level, but Colin managed to hold them off.\"\nThe 5-foot-11, 125-pound senior raced to the individual national title at the Garmin RunningLane Cross Country Championships this past season with a time of 14:03.3, the fastest 5K time in US prep history, while also leading the Panthers to a national championship as a team. The state's returning Gatorade Player of the Year in boys cross country, Sahlman won the Division 1 state champions...