FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Adam Woullard (312-729-3627)
ST. FRANCIS HIGH SCHOOL STANDOUT NAMED
GATORADE MINNESOTA GIRLS TRACK & FIELD ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
CHICAGO (June 20, 2012) — In its 27th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with ESPNHS, today announced Maggie Ewen of St. Francis High School as its 2011-12 Gatorade Minnesota Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year. Ewen is the first Gatorade Minnesota Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year to be chosen from St. Francis 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 track, distinguishes Ewen as Minnesota’s best high school girls track & field athlete. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year award to be announced in June, Ewen joins an elite alumni association of state award-winners in 12 sports, including Allyson Felix (2001-02, Los Angeles Baptist, Calif.), Derek Jeter (1991-92, Kalamazoo HS, Mich.), Candace Parker (2001-02, Naperville Central HS, Ill.), Abby Wambach (1997-98, Our Lady of Mercy, N.Y.), Mark Sanchez (2004-05, Mission Viejo HS, Calif.), Lolo Jones (1997-98, Roosevelt HS, Ia.) and Bianca Knight (2006-07, Ridgeland HS, Miss.).
The 5-foot-10 junior won the shot put with a throw of 46 feet, eight inches and set a meet record by launching the discus 171 feet, nine inches at the Class AA state meet this spring. A three-time First Team All-State selection, Ewen earned third place in the discus at this month’s USA Track & Field Junior National Championships with a mark of 171 feet. Her throw of 172 feet, seven inches at the North Suburban Conference Championships in May set a state record and ranked as the nation’s No. 2 throw by a prep competitor at the time of her selection.
Ewen has maintained a 3.9 GPA in the classroom. A member of the National Honor Society, she has volunteered locally on behalf of her school’s peer leadership team and as a youth track and field coach.
“Maggie Ewen is one of the finest competitors I have ever encountered,” said St. Francis High head coach Andy Forbort. “Despite all her amazing success and talents, she is the most humble and modest athlete I have ever met.”
Ewen will begin her senior year of high school this fall.
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 ESPNHS and the Gatorade high school sports leadership team, 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.
Ewen joins recent Gatorade Minnesota Girls Track & Field Athletes of the Year Analisa Huschle (2008-09 & 2010-11, Bagley High School), Jessica January (2009-10, Richfield), and Kylie Peterson (2007-08, Apple Valley) among the state’s list of former award winners.
To keep up to date on the latest happenings, become a fan of Gatorade Player of the Year on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. For more on the Gatorade Player of the Year program, including nomination information, a complete list of past winners, and the announcement of the Gatorade National Player of the Year, visit playeroftheyear.gatorade.com.
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