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The 2022 track and field season has concluded, it's it time to look forward to postseason awards. One of the most prestigious and coveted awards for athletes is the Gatorade Player of the Year award.
Gatorade awards a state award for each sport and each gender. After Gatorade State Player of the Year awards are announced, a Gatorade National Player of the Year is selected. Each sport's pool of male and female state winners is evaluated further on the program's three pillars - athletic excellence, academic achievement and exemplary character. The twelve national winners selected represent the nation's best all-around high school student-athletes.
We don't have concrete evidence of what the Gatorade committee looks for, so we have selected 14 young men we think will be the top considered candidates based on their 2022 track and field resumes.
What we do know is that there isn't a distinctive distance runner who has separated themselves from the rest of the field and no distance runner has won the boys award since Sam Worley in 2017. With several different state champions across the events and leagues, they could cancel each other out for major consideration.
The same could be said for the hurdle events, sprints, and field events. However, we have made a case for some of the top performers. One thing we do know, is that the last two Texas boys winners Bryce Foster in 2021, Devon Achane in 2020 were both football players and that could come into play with this year's award winner.
Boys submission entries are due by 6/13 and will be announced on 7/06. Click the links to see who those 14 young men we think have legitimate chances of being considered as well as our thoughts on their chances of winning based solely on the athletic excellence.