Contact: Lauren Rollins (312-729-3607)
The Tatnall School STANDOUT NAMED
GATORADE Delaware GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY RUNNER OF THE YEAR
CHICAGO (January 12, 2012) — In its 27th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with ESPN HS, today announced Haley Pierce of The Tatnall School as its 2011-12 Gatorade Delaware Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year. Pierce is the second Gatorade Delaware Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year to be chosen from The Tatnall School.
The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the racecourse, distinguishes Pierce as Delaware’s best high school girls cross country runner. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year award to be announced in January, Pierce joins an elite alumni association of past state award-winners in 12 sports, including Ryan Hall (1999-00, 2000-01, Big Bear HS, Calif.), Derek Jeter (1991-92, Kalamazoo HS, Mich.), Candace Parker (2001-02, Naperville Central HS, Ill.), Abby Wambach (1997-98, Our Lady of Mercy, N.Y.) and Mark Sanchez (2004-05, Mission Viejo HS, Calif.).
The 5-foot-7 senior raced to a third consecutive Division II individual state championship this past season with a time of 17:28.19, leading the Hornets to first place as a team. The state’s two-time returning Gatorade Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year, Pierce placed second at the Nike Cross Nationals Southeast Regional championships in 17:11.10 in addition to finishing second at the Nike Cross Nationals Final in 17:42. A two-time William L. Gerow Award recipient as the state’s top runner, she also captured first place at the Great American Cross Country Festival this past fall.
Pierce has maintained a 3.73 GPA in the classroom. A member of her school's environmental club, she has volunteered on behalf of Amnesty International, the Jefferson Scholars Foundation and the Girls on the Run non-profit organization to promote healthy lifestyle choices among youth student-athletes.
“Pierce was really challenged this fall between a foot injury that delayed the start of her season and nagged at her all season long,” said Steve Underwood, ESPNHS DyeStat Senior Editor. “But she set a state meet record and when the stakes were highest at Nike Cross Nationals, Pierce came up with the best cross country race of her career—second in the nation to lead her Tatnall team to third place.”
Pierce has verbally committed to an athletic scholarship at Georgetown University beginning this fall.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. The selection process is administered by ESPN HS and the Gatorade high school sports leadership team, which work with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.
Piercejoins Gatorade Delaware Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year Juliet Bottorff (2008-09 & 2007-08, The Tatnall School) as athletes who have won the cross country award since its inception in 2007.
To keep up to date on the latest happenings, become a fan of Gatorade Player of the Year on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. For more on the Gatorade Player of the Year program, including nomination information, a complete list of past winners, and the announcement of the Gatorade National Player of the Year, visit playeroftheyear.gatorade.com.
