MORGANTOWN, W.Va., Jan. 25,
2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In its 38th year of
honoring the nation's most elite high school athletes, Gatorade
today announced Irene Riggs of
Morgantown High School in Morgantown, W.
Va. is the 2022-23 Gatorade National Girls Cross Country
Player of the Year. Riggs 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 more than eight National Championships and
five bronze medals.
Riggs was surprised with the trophy by her family, coaches and
teammates at school. Check out a video of the announcement
here.
The Gatorade Player of the Year award recognizes athletes not
just for their excellence on the playing surface, but for their
commitment in the classroom and impact in their community. Riggs
beat out nearly 300,000 other student-athletes who compete in girls
cross country nationwide, topping the list of state winners in
cross country who collectively boast an incredible list of
accomplishments, including 23 with signed National Letters of
Intent to run cross country at Division I colleges/universities and
40 with a GPA of 4.0 and above.
"A three-time state champion and the first West Virginian in
history to win a national prep cross country title, Irene Riggs did so in remarkable fashion,
overcoming cold, windy conditions at Nike Cross Nationals to clock
a 16:40.90, which ranks as the No. 2 mark ever run at Glendoveer
Golf Course in Oregon," said
Erik Boal, editor for DyeStat.com.
"Strikingly, that national championship run wasn't even her most
memorable performance; she raced to the second-fastest girls high
school 5K time in history with her
16:02.10 at the Nike Southeast Regional, eclipsing the 2019 WakeMed
course record—previously held by three-time Gatorade National
Player of the Year Katelyn Tuohy—by
20 seconds."
In addition to her finishes at the Nike Cross Nationals and Nike
Southeast Regional, the 5-foot-8 senior also won the Group 3A
individual state championship this season, which sparked the
Mohigans to a state title as a team. The three-time Gatorade Player
of the Year in cross country was unbeaten during the 2022 campaign
and has picked up where she left off in the new year, breaking the
tape this past weekend to win the U-20 title at the 2023 USATF
Cross Country Championships, clocking a 19:44.3 over 6K to beat three other Gatorade Player of the
Year winners who placed in the top five.
The Vice President of the student body at Morgantown High
School, Riggs has served as social media coordinator for Mohigan
Idol, a Monongalia County talent competition that fundraises for
WVU Children's Hospital. Also a student council representative at
Morgantown High School, she has donated her time as a youth coach
for Club Mountaineer Aquatics and as part of the Strawberry
5K fundraiser supporting her high
school.
Riggs maintains a 4.22 unweighted GPA in the classroom. She has
signed a National Letter of Intent to run on scholarship at
Stanford University this fall.
In addition to excellence on and off the field of play, Gatorade
Players of the Year also pay it forward for the next generation. As
part of Gatorade's Play it Forward initiative, Riggs will receive a
grant to give to one of Gatorade's social impact partners – Athlete
Ally, Laureus USA, Move United,
Women's Sports Foundation and Up2Us Sports – supporting Gatorade's
ambition to fuel the future of sport.
"The Gatorade Player of the Year award recognizes those who are
on their journey to greatness both on and off the field of play,"
said Michael Del Pozzo, president
and general manager of Gatorade. "Irene's athleticism, paired with
her outstanding contributions in the community and success in the
classroom make her a natural choice for Gatorade National Girls
Cross Country Player of the Year."
Each year, a selection committee evaluates the nation's top
talent to choose one state winner from each of the 50 states as
well as Washington D.C., in 12
different sports: football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross
country, boys and girls basketball, baseball, softball, boys and
girls soccer, and boys and girls track & field. In all, 608
athletes are honored each year. From the pool of state winners, one
national winner is selected in each of the 12 sports.
To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program,
check out past winners or to nominate student-athletes, visit
playeroftheyear.gatorade.com or follow us on social media on
Facebook at facebook.com/GatoradePOY, Instagram at
instagram.com/Gatorade and Twitter at twitter.com/Gatorade.
About Gatorade
The Gatorade Company, a division of
PepsiCo (NASDAQ: PEP), meets the needs of consumers who participate
in sports and fitness, through brands that include Gatorade,
Propel, Muscle Milk, Evolve and Fast Twitch. The solutions they
provide are driven by a deep understanding of the unique occasions
and needs across athletic activity. Gatorade, their marquee brand,
is underpinned by a 57-year history of studying the best athletes
in the world, and sports nutrition research by the Gatorade Sport
Science Institute, allowing it to provide scientifically formulated
products that meet athletes' needs both on and off the field. For
more information and a full list of products, please visit
www.gatorade.com.
About PepsiCo
PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion
times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the
world. PepsiCo generated more than $79
billion in net revenue in 2021, driven by a complementary
beverage and convenient foods portfolio that includes Lay's,
Doritos, Cheetos, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Quaker, and
SodaStream. PepsiCo's product portfolio includes a wide range of
enjoyable foods and beverages, including many iconic brands that
generate more than $1 billion each in
estimated annual retail sales.
Guiding PepsiCo is our vision to Be the Global Leader in
Beverages and Convenient Foods by Winning with PepsiCo Positive
(pep+). pep+ is our strategic end-to-end transformation that puts
sustainability and human capital at the center of how we will
create value and growth by operating within planetary boundaries
and inspiring positive change for planet and people. For more
information, visit www.pepsico.com, and follow on Twitter,
Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn @PepsiCo.
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SOURCE The Gatorade Company