CHICAGO (January 15, 2009) — In its third decade of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in partnership with ESPN RISE Magazine, today announced its 2008-09 Gatorade State Girls Cross Country Runners of the Year.
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.
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. The selection process is administered by ESPN RISE Magazine, which works with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.
For more on the Gatorade Player of the Year program, including nomination information, a list of past winners, and the announcement of the Gatorade National Player of the Year, visit gatorade.com/playeroftheyear.
Front page photos by MileSplit's Fran McLaughlin, Margot Kelly and Pat Montferrat
| State | Player | School | City | State |
| ALABAMA | Madeline Morgan | Mountain Brook HS | Mountain Brook | AL |
| ALASKA | Leah Francis | Juneau-Douglas HS | Juneau | AK |
| ARIZONA | Jessica Tonn | Xavier College Prep. | Phoenix | AZ |
| ARKANSAS | Grace Heymsfield | Elkins HS | Elkins | AR |
| CALIFORNIA | Jordan Hasay | Mission College Prep. | San Luis Obispo | CA |
| COLORADO | Allie McLaughlin | Air Academy HS | USAFA | CO |
| CONNECTICUT | Moira Kenny | Immaculate HS | Danbury | CT |
| DELAWARE | Juliet Bottorff | The Tatnall School | Wilmington | DE |
| DOC | Moira Ryan | Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School | Washington | DC |
| FLORIDA | Ashley Brasovan | Wellington HS | Wellington | FL |
| GEORGIA | Amanda Winslow | Collins Hill HS | Suwanee | GA |
| HAWAII | Bailey Massenburg | King Kekaulike HS | Pukalani | HI |
| IDAHO | Liz Brandon | Eagle HS | Eagle | ID |
| ILLINOIS | Lindsay Flanagan | Lake Park HS | Roselle | IL |
| INDIANA | Sarah Higgens | Center Grove HS | Greenwood | IN |
| IOWA | Ashlie Decker | Dowling Catholic HS | West Des Moines | IA |
| KANSAS | Avery Clifton | Washburn Rural HS | Topeka | KS |
| KENTUCKY | Kaitlin Snapp | Danville HS | Danville | KY |
| LOUISIANA | Malia Cali | St. Thomas Aquinas HS | Hammond | LA |
| MAINE | Abbey Leonardi | Kennebunk HS | Kennebunk | ME |
| MARYLAND | Anna Bosse | Walter Johnson HS | Bethesda | MD |
| MASSACHUSETTS | Emily Jones | The Bromfield School | Harvard | MA |
| MICHIGAN | Megan Goethals | Rochester HS | Rochester Hills | MI |
| MINNESOTA | Cassy Opitz | Eden Prairie HS | Eden Prairie | MN |
| MISSISSIPPI | Cory McGee | Pass Christian HS | Pass Christian | MS |
| MISSOURI | Emily Sisson | Parkway Central HS | Chesterfield | MO |
| MONTANA | Heidi Turner | Bozeman HS | Bozeman | MT |
| NEBRASKA | Kelli Budd | Marian HS | Omaha | NE |
| NEVADA | Kelsey Smith | South Tahoe HS | South Lake Tahoe | CA |
| NEW HAMPSHIRE | Heidi Caldwell | Hanover HS | Hanover | NH |
| NEW JERSEY | Melanie Thompson | Voorhees HS | Glen Gardner | NJ |
| NEW MEXICO | Clara Milne | Albuquerque Academy | Albuquerque | NM |
| NEW YORK | Emily Lipari | Roslyn HS | Roslyn Heights | NY |
| NORTH CAROLINA | Adrianne Soo | Durham Academy | Durham | NC |
| NORTH DAKOTA | Alissa Mears | West Fargo HS | West Fargo | ND |
| OHIO | Stephanie Morgan | Barnesville HS | Barnesville | OH |
| OKLAHOMA | Andrea Lewis | Bishop Kelley HS | Tulsa | OK |
| OREGON | Taylor Wallace | Henley HS | Klamath Falls | OR |
| PENNSYLVANIA | Sophia Ziemian | Lewisburg Area HS | Lewisburg | PA |
| RHODE ISLAND | Jenna Riley | Coventry HS | Coventry | RI |
| SOUTH CAROLINA | Tameka Jackson | Seneca HS | Seneca | SC |
| SOUTH DAKOTA | Seanna Kautz | Roosevelt HS | Sioux Falls | SD |
| TENNESSEE | Kathy Kroeger | Independence HS | Thompson's Station | TN |
| TEXAS | Chelsey Sveinsson | Greenhill School | Addison | TX |
| UTAH | Danielle Menlove | Jordan HS | Sandy | UT |
| VERMONT | Hannah Rowe | St. Johnsbury Academy | St. Johnsbury | VT |
| VIRGINIA | Megan Marsico | Glenvar HS | Salem | VA |
| WASHINGTON | Alyssa Andrews | Gig Harbor HS | Gig Harbor | WA |
| WEST VIRGINIA | Letitia Propst | Elkins HS | Elkins | WV |
| WISCONSIN | Morgan Sickels | Catholic Memorial HS | Waukesha | WI |
| WYOMING | Nicole Peterson | Rock Springs HS | Rock Springs | WY |