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First-Ever Gatorade National Boys Cross Country
Runner of the Year: Chris Derrick CHICAGO - (January 15, 2008) - In its third decade of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in partnership with RISE Magazine, has announced Chris Derrick of Neuqua Valley High School (Naperville, Ill.) as its 2007-08 Gatorade National Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year. Derrick becomes the first student-athlete to win the award, since The Gatorade Company announced the addition of boys cross country to the Player of the Year program this past October. The award, which recognizes not only athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the racecourse, distinguishes Derrick as the nation's best high school boys cross country runner. A national advisory board comprised of sportswriters and sport-specific experts from around the country helped select Derrick from more than 210,000 high school boys cross country runners nationwide. Derrick is now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade Male High School Athlete of the Year Award, to be presented at a special ceremony the afternoon prior to The ESPY Awards in July. Derrick, a senior distance runner, captured first place at the Nike Team Nationals Final with a time of 15:39.8, outracing the next-best finisher by three seconds and leading Naperville to the team national title. In December 2007, Derrick finished second at the national Foot Locker Cross Country Championships in 15:03. He also placed first and second at the Nike Team Nationals and Foot Locker Midwest Regionals, respectively. Derrick set nine course records this past fall and won the Class 3A individual state title, helping the Wildcats capture the state team crown. Derrick has maintained a 4.57 GPA in the classroom and volunteers on behalf of multiple community-service initiatives, including the DuPage Public Action to Deliver Shelter for the homeless, Saint Thomas the Apostle Church food drives, the Naperville Congregations Acting in Response to Economic Stress and the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. He also donates his time to raising funds for Gigi's Playhouse, an organization that provides support to families who have a child with Down syndrome. "He doesn't have great leg speed, but he has incredible stamina," said Neuqua Valley Head Coach Paul Vandersteen. "He holds back and runs his race, which helps him achieve some things against runners who are overzealous, but when he knows he has to lead things, he'll take charge. He's a coach's dream, and he's been an amazing leader for this team." Derrick has verbally committed to an athletic scholarship at Stanford University this fall. "Without question, Chris is deserving of recognition as the nation's best high school boys cross country runner based on his accomplishments on the racecourse and the impact his running had on Neuqua Valley High School's success," said Gatorade Senior Vice President of Sports Marketing Jeff Urban. "But he is also a shining example to peers and aspiring young runners of what a leader and a student-athlete should be. He represents everything we hope for in a Gatorade Player of the Year recipient." 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 RISE Magazine, which works with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport. Past notable Gatorade National Players of the
Year include: For more on the Gatorade Player of the Year program, including nomination information and lists of past winners and future announcement dates, visit: gatorade.com/playeroftheyear |
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Return to top / Return to main page NYRR Turns 50 in 2008 On June 4, 1958, a group of 40-odd runners met at Macombs Dam Park in the Bronx and founded New York Road Runners. At the start of its 50th anniversary year, NYRR is one of the world's premier running organizations, with more than 45,000 members, a year-round calendar of races including the famed ING New York City Marathon, fitness offerings for all members of the community and a running program serving 30,000 children in New York City and around the world. NYRR will once again stage more than 60 events in 2008. BY THE NUMBERS Three largest races: Month with most racers: On Top of the World America's Best Return
to Central Park For updates on its 50th anniversary celebrations and also check out "This Week in NYRR History", the most interesting, inspiring and just plain unusual facts about the first 50 years of the world's premier running organization, visit: NYRR.org Return to top / Return to main page Runner's World Chooses Wirefly National Marathon
for Half-Marathon Challenge Feature WASHINGTON, D.C. - (January 15, 2008) - A Runner's World team of experts - a coach, a physical therapist and a nutritionist - will examine three runners' preparations for the National Half Marathon and help them to create a 10-week training plan to reach their targets. The Runners: Valdi Sapira, 45, is an emergency room physician and former marathoner who's fallen behind and gained some weight over the last few years. He is determined to get back into running and to use the exercise to drop those extra pounds. Kate Hoof, 38, is a high school teacher and veteran racer pushing for a personal record. She has never worked with a coach and anticipates that the training team may help to reduce her half-marathon time. Official training with coach Toby Tanser, physical therapist David Balsley and nutritionist Leslie Bonci (MPH, RD, LDN, CSSD) starts Saturday, January 19 and ends Saturday, March 29, 2008, race day of the Wirefly National Marathon in Washington, DC. For more information on the Runner's World Half-Marathon Challenge, watch for updates at: RunnersWorld.com For information regarding the race and how to register, please visit: NationalMarathon.com Return to top / Return to main page Lance Armstrong to Run 112th Boston Marathon BOSTON - (January 17, 2008) - Lance Armstrong, the seven-time Tour de France champion, has entered the 2008 Boston Marathon, the Boston Athletic Association has announced. Armstrong qualified for the Boston Marathon with a 2:46:43 finish at the 2007 ING New York City Marathon. The Boston Marathon qualifying time for Armstrong's 35-39-year-old age group is 3 hours, 15 minutes. Armstrong won the 1993 World Cycling Championship as well as multiple stages of the Tour de France before being diagnosed with an aggressive form of testicular cancer in 1996. Though the cancer spread to his lungs and brain, Armstrong recovered to win an unprecedented seven consecutive Tour de France titles (1999-2005). Following his retirement from professional cycling, Armstrong competed in the 2006 ING New York City Marathon, completing the race in 2:59:36. He returned to New York City a year later, improving his time to 2:46:43. In Boston, Armstrong will be raising money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation, which pursues an agenda focused on cancer prevention, access to screening and care, the improvement of the quality of life for cancer survivors and an investment in research. The 112th Boston Marathon will be held on Monday, April 21, 2008, Patriots' Day in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The race follows a 26.2-mile point-to-point route from the town of Hopkinton, Mass., to Boston's Back Bay. The race begins at 10:00am. Established in 1887, the Boston Athletic Association is a non-profit organization with a mission of managing athletic events and promoting a healthy lifestyle through sports, especially running. The B.A.A.'s Boston Marathon is the world's oldest annual marathon, and the organization manages other local events and supports comprehensive charity, youth, and year-round running programs. Since 1986, the principal sponsor of the Boston Marathon has been John Hancock Financial Services. Visit the race website at: BostonMarathon.org Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Director |
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