State by State Winners
Maine Girls Gatorade XC History
CHICAGO (January 23, 2023) - In its 38th year of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Ruth White of Orono High School is the 2022-23 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 January, White joins an elite alumni association of state awardwinners, including Natalie Cook (2021-22, Flower Mound High School, Flower Mound, Texas), Katelyn Tuohy (2019-20, North Rockland High School, Thiels, N.Y.), Megan Goethals (2009-10, Rochester High School, Rochester Hills, Mich.) and Jordan Hasay (2008-09, Mission College Preparatory Catholic High School, San Luis Obispo, Calif.).
The state's returning Gatorade Player of the Year, the 4-foot-8 junior won the Class C state title for a second straight time this past season, clocking an 18:02.52 and leading the Riots to back-to-back championships as a team. White won nine races, including repeat victories at the Maine Festival of Champions and the New England Cross Country Championships. She also finished fourth at the Champs Sports Northeast Regional Championships and took 17th in her debut at the Champs Sports National Championships.
A member of the National Honor Society and Spanish National Honor Society, White is the president of the Orono High School Key Club. She has volunteered locally as a coach with the Orono Track Club USATF Youth Program and the Orono Youth Ski Farm Program, relying on her extensive experience as a competitive Nordic skier. "Ruth White continued to showcase why she is one of the elite competitors in Maine prep history, securing another Class C state title and repeating as the New England Championships winner," said Erik Boal, an editor for DyeStat.com. "She qualified for her first national final and placed in the top 20 at the Champs Sports Championships in San Diego."
White has maintained an A average in the classroom. She will begin her senior year of high school this fall.
