Zach Wills Named Gatorade Ohio Cross Country Runner of the Year
CHICAGO (January 23, 2009) — In its third decade of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in partnership with ESPN RISE MAGAZINE, has announced Zach Wills of Mason High School as its 
2008-09 Gatorade Ohio Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year. Wills is the first Gatorade Ohio Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year to be chosen from Mason High 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 Wills as Ohio's best high school boys cross country runner. Wills is now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year award to be announced in February. The 5-foot-6 sophomore won the Division I state title with a time of 15:15.66 this past season, outracing his closest competitor by 14 seconds and leading the Comets to their first-ever state championship as a team. Wills finished eighth at the Nike Cross Nationals Midwest Regional in 15:43.1 and was named the 2008 Cincinnati Enquirer Runner of the Year.
Wills has maintained a 3.48 GPA in the classroom. An active member of his church community, he has volunteered as a congregational youth leader.
"He's extremely gifted physically and he has a humble confidence that really sets him apart," said Mason Head Coach Tom Rapp. "He knows he has to work hard and approach the sport seriously but he also has amazing God-given talent."
Wills will begin his junior 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. 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.
Wills joins recent Gatorade Ohio Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year Donny Roys (2007-08, Medina HS) among the state's list of former award winners.
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.
Barnesville High School STANDOUT NAMED GATORADE Ohio
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 Stephanie Morgan of Barnesville High School as its 2008-09 Gatorade Ohio Girls Cross Country 
Runner of the Year. Morgan is the first Gatorade Ohio Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year to be chosen from
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 Morgan as
The 5-foot-10 senior outraced her next-closest competitor by 38 seconds and won her second straight Division III state title with a time of 17:57.13 this past season. Morgan, also the state’s 2007-08 Gatorade Track & Field Athlete of the Year, took first and set a course record at the 2008 Nike Cross Nationals Midwest Regional with a time of 18:00.9. She finished 14th at the Nike Cross Nationals Final with a time of 18:11 and captured fourth place at the Great American Cross Country Festival in Alabama with a time of 17:55.
Morgan has maintained a 3.2 GPA in the classroom. She is an active member of her church youth group and has volunteered on behalf of her school’s blood drive.
“She’s obsessed with the sport of running,” said Barnesville Head Coach Mark Brown, “She’s a student of the sport and she’s always on the Internet looking for ways to train better. Running is something that’s been big in her family and she may be the best of all of them. There’s something to be said about bloodline and natural abilty and she’s definitely got both.”
Morgan has verbally committed to an athletic scholarship at
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the
Morgan joins recent Gatorade Ohio Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year Claire Durkin (2007-08, Worthington Kilbourne HS) among the state’s list of former award winners.
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.