Junior Andres Arroyo has earned a distinction no other Colonial High School student has ever earned.
On Monday, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with ESPNHS, named Arroyo its 2011-12 Gatorade Florida Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year.
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 Arroyo as Florida’s best high school boys cross country runner.
The 5-foot-8 junior raced to the Class 4A individual state championship this past season with a time of 15:13.74, leading the Grenadiers to the state title as a team. Arroyo also won the Little Everglades Pre-State Meet, the Metro East Championships, the District 4 Championships and the Region 1 Championships.
Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year award to be announced in January, Arroyo joins an elite class of athletes once named best in their sport such as Mark Sanchez, Derek Jeter, and Candace Parker.
Arroyo will begin his senior year of high school this fall.
