ORONO HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT-ATHLETE NAMED GATORADE MAINE GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY PLAYER OF THE YEAR
CHICAGO (January 24, 2022) -- In its 37th year of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Ruth White of Orono High School is the 2021-22 Gatorade Maine Girls Cross Country Player of the Year. White is the second Gatorade Maine Girls Cross Country Player of the Year to be chosen from Orono 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 White as Maine's best high school girls cross country player. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Girls Cross Country Player of the Year award to be announced in February, White 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 4-foot-8 sophomore won the Class C state meet this past season with a time of 17:31.92, breaking the tape 49.43 seconds ahead of her next-closest competitor and leading the Riots to a first-place finish as a team. White won all five of her races, including a course-record-setting victory at the Festival of Champions and a 22.7-second win at the New England Cross Country Championships.
A competitive Nordic skier, White is a skilled woodworker who enjoys crafting special projects as gifts. The vice president of the Orono High Key Club, she has volunteered locally as a youth track and ski instructor. "I was able to watch Ruth run all season," said Cindy Rossi, head coach of Machias High School. "She is one of the most amazing athletes I have had the honor to coach against."
White has maintained an A average 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. The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others as sources to help evaluate and determine the state winners in each sport.
White joins recent Gatorade Maine Girls Cross Country Player of the Year Sofie Matson (2020-21, 2019-20, 2018-19, & 2017-18, Falmouth High School), among the state's list of former award winners.
Gatorade has a long-standing history of serving athlete communities and understands how sports instill valuable lifelong skills on and off the field. Through Gatorade's "Play it Forward" platform, White has the opportunity to award a $1,000 grant to a local or national organization of their choosing that helps young athletes realize the benefits of playing sports. White is also eligible to submit a short 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 $3.5 million across more than 1,300 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 playeroftheyear.gatorade.com or follow us on social media on Facebook at facebook.com/GatoradePOY, Instagram at instagram.com/Gatorade and Twitter at twitter.com/Gatorade.
