CHEVERUS HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT-ATHLETE NAMED
GATORADE MAINE GIRLS TRACK & FIELD PLAYER OF THE YEAR
CHICAGO
(June 20, 2019) - In its 34th year of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company today
announced Victoria Bossong of Cheverus High School as its 2018-19 Gatorade Maine Girls Track & Field Athlete of
the Year. Bossong is the second Gatorade Maine Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year to be chosen from Cheverus 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 track, distinguishes Bossong as Maine's best high school girls track & field
athlete. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year award to be announced in
June, Bossong joins an elite alumni association of state track & field award-winners, including Lolo Jones (1997-98,
Roosevelt High School, Iowa), Allyson Felix (2002-03, Los Angeles Baptist High School, Calif.), Robert Griffin III (2006-07,
Copperas Cove High School, Texas), Grant Fisher (2013-14 & 2014-15, Grand Blanc High School, Mich.) and Candace Hill
(2014-15, Rockdale County High School, Ga.).
The 5-foot-6 sophomore won three individual races at the Class A state meet this past season, leading the Stags to the state
championship as a team. Bossong won the 100-meter dash in 12.37 seconds, captured the 200 in 24.80 and took the 400 in
55.54. She placed eighth in the 400 at the New Balance Nationals Outdoor in a state-record time of 53.81.
Also a talented musician, Bossong has participated in a service-mission trip to the Philippines in addition to serving as a
Eucharistic minister at her church. She has also volunteered locally on behalf of a soup kitchen. "Throughout the past four
months, Victoria has broken 23 separate records and won six individual state titles, ranging from the 55-meter dash all the
way up to the 400-meter dash," said Cheverus assistant coach Andrew Rose. "Many of the records that she hasn't broken are
held by the legendary (two-time NCAA champion and three-time collegiate All-American) Kate Hall-but she hopes to
someday reach those same heights."
Bossong has maintained a 4.15 GPA in the classroom. She will begin her 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, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. From the 12
national winners, one male and one female athlete are each named Gatorade High School Athlete of the Year. In all, 607
athletes are honored each year.
Bossong joins recent Gatorade Maine Girls Track & Field Athletes of the Year Nyagoa Bayak (2017-18, Westbrook High
School), Emma Gallant (2016-17, Cheverus High School), Adelaide Cooke (2015-16, Falmouth High School), and Kate Hall
(2014-15 & 2013-14, Lake Region High School) among the state's list of former award winners.
As a part of Gatorade's cause marketing platform "Play it Forward," Bossong also has the opportunity to award a $1,000 grant
to a local or national youth sports organization of her choosing. She is also eligible to submit an essay to win one of twelve
$10,000 spotlight grants for the organization of choice, which will be announced throughout the year.
Since the program's inception in 1985, Gatorade Player of the Year award recipients have won hundreds of professional and
college championships, and many have also turned into pillars in their communities, becoming coaches, business owners and
educators.
To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, check out past winners or to nominate student-athletes, visit
www.Gatorade.com/POY, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GatoradePOY or follow us on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/Gatorade.
