Press release
NATALIE COOK NAMED 2021-22 GATORADE NATIONAL GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY PLAYER OF THE YEAR
FLOWER MOUND, Texas, Feb. 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In its 37th year of honoring the nation's most elite high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Natalie
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[{"type":"text","content":"FLOWER MOUND, Texas, Feb. 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In its 37th year of honoring the nation's most elite high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Natalie Cook of Flower Mound High School in Flower Mound, TX is the 2021-22 Gatorade National Girls Cross Country Player of the Year. Cook won the prestigious award for her accomplishments on and off the field, joining an impressive group of former Gatorade National Girls Cross Country Players of the Year who have combined for eight National Championships and five bronze medals.\nCook was surprised with the trophy by her 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 Cook as the nation's best high school girls cross country runner. The Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others to evaluate candidates, selected Cook from nearly 300,000 other student-athletes who compete in girls cross country nationwide.\nCompetition for the national award was fierce. Cook topped the list of state winners in girls cross country who collectively boast an incredible list of accomplishments, including 13 returning state Gatorade Players of the Year, 24 with signed National Letters of Intent to run at Division I colleges/universities and 28 with a GPA of 4.0 and above. \n\"At the season's start, Natalie Cook was a top-20 or so competitor nationally, and she finished third at the prestigious Woodbridge Invitational in California,\" says Doug Binder, Dyestat.com Editor-in-Chief. \"By December, she was the most dominant prep runner in the country. Her progress through the season propelled her to some amazing achievements, including becoming the first prep girl to win national titles in back-to-back weekends. She scorched the RunningLane championships course with the second-fastest 5K on record, then beat the strongest field of the year at the national Eastbay Cross Country Championships, which left no doubt about who was the top gun in 2021.\"\nThe 5-foot-5 senior won an unprecedented two national titles this past season, capturing the Garmin RunningLane Cross Country Championships with a time of 16:04 and b...