Madison Area Memorial High School STANDOUT NAMED
GATORADE Maine BOYS CROSS COUNTRY RUNNER OF THE YEAR
CHICAGO (January 20, 2011) — In its 26th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with ESPN RISE, today announced Matt McClintock of Madison Area Memorial High School as its 2010-11 Gatorade Maine Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year. McClintock is the first Gatorade Maine Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year to be chosen from Madison Area Memorial 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 racecourse, distinguishes McClintock as Maine’s best high school boys cross country runner. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year award to be announced in January, McClintock joins an elite alumni association of past state award-winners in 12 sports, including Ryan Hall (1999-00, 2000-01, Big Bear HS, Calif.), Derek Jeter (1991-92, Kalamazoo HS, Mich.), Candace Parker (2001-02, Naperville Central HS, Ill.), Kevin Garnett (1992-93, Maudlin HS, S.C.), Abby Wambach (1997-98, Our Lady of Mercy, N.Y.) and Mark Sanchez (2004-05, Mission Viejo HS, Calif.).
The 5-foot-10 junior raced to a second consecutive Class C individual state championship this past season with a time of 16:00.91. McClintock placed 42nd at the Foot Locker Northeast Regional championships in 16:37.40 in addition to finishing 57th at the New England Cross Country Championships in 17:54.50. He captured first place at five Mountain Valley Conference meets, the Maine Festival of Champions and the Western Maine Class C Regional this past fall. He placed second at the 2008 Class C state meet as a freshman.
McClintock has maintained an A average in the classroom and ranks No. 1 in his graduating class. A member of the National Honor Society, he has volunteered on behalf of the Athens Craft Fair, the Madison Food Pantry and his school’s Thanksgiving dinner for senior citizens, in addition to donating his time as a youth athletic instructor.
“Matt entered high school with the goal to be Madison’s best cross country runner of all time,” said Madison Area Memorial High head coach Bob Hagopian. “His junior year, Matt was the fastest 5K runner in the state. He won by hard work and dedication. Matt’s next goals are to set some state records in track and field this spring—and next fall to be the fastest cross country runner that this state has ever seen. Watching Matt put in the long running hours and doing his workouts without complaining, I truly believe he can reach these goals as well.”
McClintock will begin his senior 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 ESPN RISE and the Gatorade high school sports leadership team, which work with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.
McClintock joins Gatorade Maine Boys Cross Country Runners of the Year two-time winner Will Geoghegan (2009-10 & 2008-09, Brunswick), and Nick Williams (2007-08, Poland Regional) as athletes who have won the cross country award since its inception in 2007.
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