MATTANAWCOOK ACADEMY STUDENT-ATHLETE NAMED
GATORADE MAINE BOYS TRACK & FIELD PLAYER OF THE YEAR
CHICAGO (June 24, 2019) - In its 34th year of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company today
announced Cayden Spencer-Thompson of Mattanawcook Academy as its 2018-19 Gatorade Maine Boys Track & Field
Athlete of the Year. Spencer-Thompson is the first Gatorade Maine Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year to be chosen from
Mattanawcook Academy.
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 Spencer-Thompson as Maine's best high school boys track
& field athlete. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year award to be announced
in June, Spencer-Thompson 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 6-foot-4, 165-pound senior set state-meet records in sweeping all three jumps at the Class C state meet this past season. The
state's returning Gatorade Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year, Spencer-Thompson soared 23 feet, 2.75 inches in the long jump
and 48-3.75 in the triple jump, while clearing 6-11 in the high jump. He also won the long jump and triple jump at the New England
Championships, and took bronze in the triple jump with a personal-best leap of 50-7 at the New Balance Nationals Outdoor, earning
All-American status. The triple jump distance at nationals ranked as the nation's No. 3 performance among prep competitors in 2019
at the time of his selection.
Spencer-Thompson has volunteered locally on behalf of youth sports programs. "Cayden has been a special athlete from day one,"
said Mattanawcook Academy coach Bernice Stockley. "When he competes, he turns things up to a different notch."
Spencer-Thompson has maintained a 3.27 GPA in the classroom. He has signed a National Letter of Intent to compete in track and
field on scholarship at the University of Louisville beginning 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.
Two-time winner Spencer-Thompson joins Gatorade Maine Boys Track & Field Athletes of the Year Jake Koffman (2016-17, Orono
High School), Sam Rusak (2015-16, Scarborough High School), Isaiah Harris (2014-15, Lewiston High School) and Daniel Curts (2013-
14, Ellsworth High School) among the state's list of former award winners.
As a part of Gatorade's cause marketing platform "Play it Forward," Spencer-Thompson also has the opportunity to award a $1,000
grant to a local or national youth sports organization of his choosing. He 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.
###
