CHICAGO (January 28, 2019) — In its 34th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, today announced Abi Archer of Chaparral High School as its 2018-19 Gatorade Arizona Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year. Archer is the first Gatorade Arizona Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year to be chosen from Chaparral 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 Archer as Arizona’s best high school girls cross country runner. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year award to be announced in February, Archer joins an elite alumni association of past state awardwinners 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 5-foot-6 senior raced to the Division 1 individual state championship this past season with a time of 17:56.3. Archer placed third at the Nike Cross Nationals Southwest Regional championships and finished 10th nationally at the NXN Final, earning All-American honors. She also broke the tape at the Peaks Invitational and the Sectional championships.

Archer has volunteered locally on behalf of Circle the City, providing assistance for the homeless. “Abi is a student of the sport who progressed into becoming a star athlete,” said Chaparral head coach Rob Reniewicki. “She excels in races no matter what conditions or race tactics arise, and she always gives her best.”

Archer has maintained a 4.39 GPA in the classroom. She 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 Player of the Year Selection Committee, 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.

Archer joins Gatorade Arizona Girls Cross Country Runners of the Year Maya Smith (2017-18, Northland Preparatory Academy), Allie Schadler (2016-17 & 2015-16, Rio Rico High School), and Dani Jones (2014-15 & 2013-14, Desert Vista High School) as athletes who have won the cross country award since its inception in 2007.

As a part of Gatorade’s cause marketing platform “Play it Forward,” Archer has the opportunity to award a $1,000 grant to a local or national youth sports organization of her choosing. She is also eligible to submit an essay to win one of twelve $10,000 spotlight grants for the organization of choice, which will be announced throughout the year.

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 www.Gatorade.com/POY, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GatoradePOY or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Gatorade.