Gatorade Nebraska Girls Cross Country Player of the Year

FREMONT HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT-ATHLETE NAMED GATORADE NEBRASKA GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY PLAYER OF THE YEAR

CHICAGO (January 24, 2022) — In its 37th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Elli Dahl of Fremont High School is the 2021-22 Gatorade Nebraska Girls Cross Country Player of the Year. Dahl is the first Gatorade Nebraska Girls Cross Country Player of the Year to be chosen from Fremont 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 Dahl as Nebraska’s best high school girls cross country player. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Girls Cross Country Player of the Year award to be announced in February, Dahl joins an elite alumni association of state award- winners 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-1 senior won the Division A state meet this past season with a time of 17:58.0, breaking the tape 29.5 seconds ahead of her next-closest competitor and leading the Tigers to a second-place finish as a team. Dahl’s championship clocking set a state record as she became the first Nebraska girl to break 18 minutes in a five- kilometer race. She also crossed the line in 20th at the Eastbay Midwest Regional Championships and finished 36th at the Nike Cross Heartland Regional Championships.

Dahl has volunteered locally with the Salvation Army and as a youth track instructor. “Elli is a fantastic runner,” said Theresa Gosnell, head coach of Westside High School. “Her traits that stand out to me are her amazing speed and great strategy when running and winning her races.”

Dahl has maintained a weighted 4.29 GPA in the classroom. She has signed a National Letter of Intent to run on scholarship at the University of Nebraska this fall.

“Elli’s impact on our team and culture has been undeniable-in her four years of cross country, she is one of the hardest workers and most dependable kids on our team, and in our school,” stated Jake Smrcina, FHS girls cross country head coach.

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.

Dahl joins recent Gatorade Nebraska Girls Cross Country Players of the Year Stella Miner (2020-21, Marian High School), Berlyn Schutz (2019-20, Lincoln East High School), Kaylie Crews (2018-19, Papillion-La Vista South High School) and Gabby McGinn (2017-18, Millard West High School), among the state’s list of former award winners.

Gatorade has a long-standing history of serving athlete communities and understands how sports instill valuable lifelong skills on and off the field. Through Gatorade’s “Play it Forward” platform, Dahl has the opportunity to award a $1,000 grant to a local or national organization of their choosing that helps young athletes realize the benefits of playing sports. Dahl is also eligible to submit a short video explaining why the organization they chose is deserving of one of twelve $10,000 spotlight grants, which will be announced throughout the year. To date, Gatorade Player of the Year winners’ grants have totaled more than $3.5 million across more than 1,300 organizations.

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 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.

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