DOS PUEBLOS HIGH SCHOOL STANDOUT NAMED GATORADE CALIFORNIA BOYS CROSS COUNTRY RUNNER OF THE YEAR
(Photo left by Nicole Stastny; Photo right by Margot Kelly)
CHICAGO (January 17, 2013) — In its 28th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with USA TODAY High School Sports, today announced Bryan Fernandez of Dos Pueblos High School as its 2012-13 Gatorade California Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year. Fernandez is the first Gatorade California Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year to be chosen from Dos Pueblos 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 Fernandez as California’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, Fernandez 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-9 senior raced to the Division 2 individual state championship this past season with a time of 15:03, leading the Chargers to fourth place as a team. Fernandez also won the Mt. Sac Invitational, the Woodbridge Classic and the Clovis Invitational.
Fernandez has maintained a 3.97 GPA in the classroom. He has volunteered locally on behalf of youth sports programs. “Bryan is mentally tough, confident and absolutely a team player,” said Dos Pueblos head coach Leslie Roth. “He does all the little things right, which allows him the opportunity to do his best in each workout.”
Fernandez remains undecided upon a collegiate destination.
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 high school sports leadership team in partnership with USA TODAY High School Sports, 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.
Fernandez joins Gatorade California Boys Cross Country Runners of the Year Darren Fahy (2011-12, La Costa Canyon High School), Ammar Moussa (2010-11 & 2009-10, Arcadia High School), Chris Schwartz (2008-09, Foothill), and German Fernandez (2007-08, Riverbank) as athletes who have won the cross country award since its inception in 2007.
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