CHICAGO (January 26, 2024) — In its 39th year of honoring the nation’s most elite high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Ethan Edgeworth of Cold Springs High School is the 2023-24 Gatorade Alabama Boys Cross Country Player of the Year. Edgeworth is the second Gatorade Alabama Boys Cross Country Player of the Year to be chosen from Cold Springs High School.
The award, which celebrates the nation’s top high school athletes for excellence on the field, in the classroom and in the community, distinguishes Edgeworth as Alabama’s best high school boys cross country player. From CEOs and coaches to star athletes, Gatorade Player of the Year winners showcase the power of sport, touting an all-star group of alumni that includes Lukas Verzbicas (2010-11 & 2009-10, Carl Sandburg High School, III.) and Edward Cheserek (2012-13, St. Benedict’s Preparatory School, N.J.).
The 5-foot-11, 130-pound senior broke the tape at the Class 1A-2A State Championships with a personal-best time of 14:34.29 this past season, becoming the first four-time state champion in history while also leading the Eagles to the team championship. Edgeworth also crossed the line in fifth place at the Nike Cross Southeast Regional Championships to become the first Alabama runner in history to qualify for Nike Cross Nationals, where he finished in 47th. Unbeaten against in-state rivals, he also earned the silver medal at the inter-state Jesse Owens Classic.
A member of the National Honor Society and his school’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter, Edgeworth has volunteered locally on behalf of Future Farmers of America and is a member of the school’s Math Team. “Ethan Edgeworth turned in an all-class best performance at the state meet, winning by a staggering 86 seconds,” said Rich Gonzalez of PrepCalTrack. “Still, his best showing came at Nike Cross Nationals against a loaded field.”
Edgeworth has maintained a 3.82 GPA in the classroom. He has signed a National Letter of Intent to run on scholarship at the University of Tennessee 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 the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others as sources to help evaluate and determine the state winners in each sport.
Edgeworth joins recent Gatorade Alabama Boys Cross Country Players of the Year Maxwell Hardin (2022-23, Auburn High School), Miles Brush (2021-22, Chelsea High School) and Ethan Strand (2020-21 & 2019-20, Vestavia Hills High School), among the state’s list of former award winners.
As part of Gatorade’s commitment to breaking down barriers in sport, every Player of the Year also receives a grant to donate to a social impact partner. To date, Gatorade Player of the Year winners’ grants have totaled more than $4.9 million across more than 1,600 organizations.
To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, check out past winners or to nominate student-athletes, visit playeroftheyear.gatorade.com or follow us on social media on Facebook at facebook.com/GatoradePOY, Instagram at instagram.com/Gatorade and Twitter at twitter.com/Gatorade.
