FALMOUTH HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT-ATHLETE NAMED
GATORADE MAINE BOYS CROSS COUNTRY PLAYER OF THE YEAR
CHICAGO (April 15, 2021) - In its 36th year of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, The Gatorade
Company today announced Ben Greene of Falmouth High School as its 2020-21 Gatorade Maine Boys Cross Country
Player of the Year. Greene is the first Gatorade Maine Boys Cross Country Player of the Year to be chosen from
Falmouth 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 field, distinguishes Greene as Maine's best high
school boys cross country player. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Cross Country Player of
the Year award to be announced in April, Greene joins an elite alumni association of state award-winners in 12
sports, including Lukas Verzbicas (2010-11, 2009-10 Carl Sandburg High School, Orland Park, Ill.), Megan Goethals
(2009-10, Rochester High School, Rochester Hills, Mich.), Jordan Hasay (2008-09, Mission College Preparatory
Catholic High School, San Luis Obispo, Calif.) and Chris Derrick (2007-08, Neuqua Valley High School, Naperville,
Ill.).
The 5-foot-10, 145-pound senior won the Cumberland County State Qualifier meet this past season with a time of
16:01.74, breaking the tape 14 seconds ahead of his next-closest competitor. There was no state meet due to
pandemic-related concerns. Greene won all five of the races he entered this fall against in-state competition and set a
course record on his school's home course. A two-time All-State selection, he finished fourth at the 2019 Class A state
meet-his first year running cross country.
Greene has worked part-time at Fleet Feet Maine Running Company and has volunteered locally as a youth track
mentor. "Ben has a knack for racing, knowing when to begin his kick and use his speed to pull away from his
competitors," said Jorma Kurry, co-head coach of Falmouth High. "Ben is passionate and wears his heart on his sleeve.
He invests a lot of time and energy in his runs and cares deeply about the results."
Greene has maintained an A average in the classroom. He has signed a National Letter of Intent to run on scholarship
at the University of Colorado 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.The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, 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.
Greene joins recent Gatorade Maine Boys Cross Country Players of the Year Lisandro Berry-Gaviria (2019-20 & 2018-
19, Mount Ararat High School), and Luke Laverdiere (2017-18 & 2016-17, Yarmouth High School), among the state's list
of former award winners.
Through Gatorade's cause marketing platform "Play it Forward," Greene has the opportunity to award a $1,000 grant to
a local or national youth sports organization of their choosing. Greene is also eligible to submit a 30-second video
explaining why the organization they chose is deserving of one of twelve $10,000 spotlight grants, which will be
announced throughout the year. To date, Gatorade Player of the Year winners' grants have totaled more than $2.7
million across 1,117 organizations.
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.playeroftheyear.gatorade.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GatoradePOY or follow us on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/Gatorade.
