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Emmanuel Sgouros (UT signee) is just the second private school boy to be awarded the Gatorade Cross Country Athlete of the Year for Texas, following Frank Lara of Strake Jesuit (UIL) in 2014. Sgouros capped off a stellar XC season by claiming the SPC individual title over U-Penn-bound Sahil Dodda of St. Mark's of Texas in a time of 15:06.8.
St. John's Mavericks Head Coach Richie Mercado says of Sgouros: "Emmanuel is the most disciplined, driven, hardest-working and focused athlete I have coached in 38 years." A dual citizen of Greece, the birthplace of the Olympics, Sgouros has long-term goals of one day competing in the World Championships or the Olympics for Greece.
As the outdoor season approaches, Sgouros has his sights set on setting personal bests in the 1600 (currently 4:12.28) and the 3200 (currently 9:01.71) while elevating his team to compete with the best the SPC has to offer.
