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THE TATNALL SCHOOL STANDOUT NAMED
GATORADE DELAWARE GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY RUNNER OF THE YEAR
CHICAGO (January 10, 2013) — In its 28th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company,
in collaboration with USA TODAY High School Sports, today announced Reagan Anderson of The Tatnall School as its 2012-
13 Gatorade Delaware Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year. Anderson 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 Anderson 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, Anderson 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 won the Division II individual state championship this past season with a time of 18:59.07, leading the Hornets to a ninth consecutive title as a team. Also the Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year as named by the New Castle County Coaches Cross Country & Track Association, Anderson captured 12th place at the Nike Cross Nationals Southeast Regional championships in 17:59.5 and finished 72nd at the NXN Final in 21:09. She won four regular-season meets by an average of 17.3 seconds in addition to clocking the state’s fastest time at the prestigious Great American Cross Country Festival.
Also a track standout, Anderson has maintained an A average in the classroom. In addition to donating her time as part of the stage crew on multiple school theater productions, she has volunteered on behalf of school community initiatives and the historic Hagley Museum Gardens.
“She had some issues with her leg late in the season, so she wasn’t able to train, and that’s what impressed me the most,” said Tatnall head coach Patrick Castagno. “Even through that, she carried us as a leader, got up every morning to work extra hard just so she could run on the weekends. She wasn’t able to race during the week, but she gutted it out, stayed humble, stayed positive, stayed focused and brought us to the national championships.”
Anderson has verbally committed to an athletic scholarship at Vanderbilt 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 the Gatorade high school sports leadership team in partnership with USA TODAY High School Sports, 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.
Anderson joins Gatorade Delaware Girls Cross Country Runners of the Year Haley Pierce (2011-12, 2010-11 & 2009-10, The Tatnall School), and 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.
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