FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Lauren Rollins (312-729-3607)
The Tatnall School STANDOUT NAMED
GATORADE Delaware GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY RUNNER OF THE YEAR
CHICAGO (January 13, 2011) — In its 26th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with ESPN RISE, today announced Haley Pierce of The Tatnall School as its 2010-11 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.), Kevin Garnett (1992-93, Maudlin HS, S.C.), Abby Wambach (1997-98, Our Lady of Mercy, N.Y.) and Mark Sanchez (2004-05, Mission Viejo HS, Calif.).
The 5-foot-7 junior raced to a second consecutive Division II individual state championship this past season with a course-record time of 18:35.83, leading the Hornets to first place as a team. The state’s returning Gatorade Runner of the Year and the two-time William L. Gerow Award recipient as the state’s top runner, Pierce won the Nike Cross Nationals Southeast Regional championships in 17:14.20 in addition to finishing fifth at the Nike Cross Nationals Final in 18:50.40. She captured first place at the New Castle County Championships, the DISC Tournament and the Joe O’Neill Invitational this past fall. Pierce finished second at the 2008 Division II state meet as a freshman.
Pierce has maintained a 3.73 GPA in the classroom. A member of her school’s environmental club, she has volunteered on behalf of her church’s youth group as well as the Sunday Breakfast Mission for the homeless.
“Haley got off to a modest start, by her standards, but by the middle of the season—starting with a 3rd in the ultra-competitive Eastern States race—she was super,” said ESPN RISE/Dyestat Senior Editor Steve Underwood. “With her state title, Nike Cross Nationals Southeast regional win, and fifth-place finish at NXN Final, she compiled one of the best cross country seasons ever by a Delaware runner.”
Pierce will begin her senior year of high school 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 RISE 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.
Pierce joins Gatorade Delaware Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year Juliet Bottorff (2009-10, 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.
