In its 35th year of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, The Gatorade
Company today announced Madison Schmidt of Blaine High School as its 2019-20 Gatorade Minnesota Girls Track &
Field Athlete of the Year. Schmidt is the second Gatorade Minnesota Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year to be
chosen from Blaine 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 field, distinguishes Schmidt as Minnesota's best
high school girls track & field athlete.
The state's returning Gatorade Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year, the 5-foot-11 senior concluded her prep track
career with the state record in the high jump with a clearance of 6 feet. Schmidt is a two-time state champion in the
high jump as well as a two-time All-Conference selection in the 800-meter run. A captain of her school's track,
volleyball and basketball teams, Schmidt's best leap during the spring of 2019 ranked as the nation's No. 5 mark in the
nation.
A member of the Business Professionals of America, Schmidt earned first place in the state association's Fundamentals
of Web Design contest. She has volunteered locally at a firearms safety camp and has donated her time with multiple
community service initiatives through her church youth group. "Madison is the type of student-athlete that comes to
mind when you think 'Coach's dream,'" said Ann Stalboerger, head coach of Blaine High. "She is truly a student first
and wants to do things correctly. She works hard to perfect small details that can connect to a larger strategy."
Schmidt has maintained a weighted 4.27 GPA in the classroom. She has signed a national letter of intent to compete on
an athletic scholarship at the University of Notre Dame.
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.
Two-time winner Schmidt joins recent Gatorade Minnesota Girls Track & Field Athletes of the Year Emily Kompelien
(2017-18, Edina High School), Anna Keefer (2016-17, St. Michael-Albertville High School), Jedah Caldwell (2015-16,
Chanhassen High School), Ruby Stauber (2014-15, Wayzata High School), and Shaina Burns (2013-14, Lakeville South
High School) among the state's list of former award winners.