GATORADE CA BOYS TRACK AND FIELD PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Newbury Park's Colin Sahlman completed a season sweep of Gatorade California Player of the Year awards being named the state's top boys track and field student-athlete today.
Newbury Park (SS) senior Colin Sahlman rewrote the California record books for the distance events setting three state records, and achieving top-5 in three other events. In recognition of his unprecedented outdoor season, Gatorade has recognized Sahlman as the winner of its California Boys Track and Field Player of the Year award.
This is the second Gatorade state award this season for Sahlman, who is also the reigning California Boys Cross-Country Player of the Year.
The award, which recognizes outstanding athletic excellence as well as academic achievement and exemplary character on and off the field, distinguishes Sahlman. He is now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Track and Field Player of the Year award, which will be announced in July.
After running a sub-4 mile indoors, the 5-foot-11, 125-pound student-athlete set his sights on rewriting the record books on the outdoor oval, breaking California all-time marks for 1500 meters (3:39.59), 1600 meters (3:54.87), 1 mile (3:56.24), running a No. 2 all-time 3200 meters (8:33.32), and No. 5 all-time clockings for 800 meters (1:48.07) and 3000 meters (8:06.99). He also ran the anchor 1600m leg on the Distance Medley Relay team that set the state record of 9:55.25.
Tim Danielson of Chula Vista (SD) had held the state record in the four-lap race since 1966 when he ran 3:59.4 for the mile converted to 3:58.1 for 1600m. Big Bear's Ryan Hall had held the 1500m record since 2001 when he clocked the distance in 3:42.70. The previous DMR record was held by Jesuit (SJ) at 9:56.3 set in 1986.
One record Sahlman just missed is the 3200m mark of 8:31.42 (converted from 8:34.40 for two miles) by Riverbank's German Fernandez in 2008.
Beyond his athletic accomplishments, Sahlman was also a standout in the classroom and in the community.
Sahlman, who will compete collegiately at Northern Arizona University, maintained a 3.56 GPA in the classroom. He also volunteered locally on behalf of a youth running camp and with a program that feeds the homeless.
"It's one thing to have the talent to be great, but another thing to have the mental ability to be great," said Newbury Park Coach Sean Brosnan. "Colin has both. It's been amazing to work with him."
Sahlman is the second Newbury Park student-athlete to win the Gatorade California Boys Track and Field Player of the Year award, joining 2019-20 recipient Nico Young.
By winning the award, Sahlman, through Gatorade's "Play it Forward" platform, can provide a financial boost of support in his community. He has the chance to award a $1,000 grant to a local or national organization of his choosing that helps young athletes realize the benefits of playing sports. He is also eligible to submit a short video explaining why his organization of choice is deserving of one of 12 $10,000 spotlight grants, which will be announced at a later date.
Gatorade Release
Ryan Blystone is a freelance writer and a regular contributor to MileSplit
MileSplitCA State Editor Jeffrey Parenti contributed to this report.
