Sam Nishi, a Harwood Union senior from Waitsfield, has been named the 2014-2015 Gatorade Vermont Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year.
Nishi is the first Gatorade Vermont Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year to be chosen from Harwood Union High School, an honor he earned last year as well.
The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the racecourse, distinguishes Nishi as Vermont's best high school boys' cross-country runner. Now a finalist for the Gatorade National Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year award to be announced in January, Nishi joins an alumni association of past state award-winners in 12 sports.
The 5-foot-7-inch, 125-pound senior raced to his second consecutive Division 2 individual state championship this past season with a time of 16:58.3, leading the Harwood Union Highlanders to the state title as a team. The state's returning Gatorade Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year, Nishi also won the NVAC Mountain championships, the Essex Invitational, the U-32 Invitational and the Maine Festival of Champions.
He was the top Vermont finisher at the New England Cross Country Championships, 11th overall, and finished 33rd at the Foot Locker Northeast Regional championships.
Nishi has maintained a 4.15 GPA in the classroom. He has volunteered locally on behalf of blood-donation drives and youth running programs.
"Sam was a measuring stick all season, for runners, parents and coaches from all over the state and New England," said Harwood coach John Kerrigan. "He's made me want to work harder as a coach and his leadership has had a huge impact on the performance of our team. We lost 27 seniors from the boys' and girls' teams of 2013, but with close to 80 percent of the team made up of freshmen and sophomores, we were able to repeat as state champions."
Nishi remains undecided upon a collegiate destination.
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 and field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport.
The selection process is administered by the Gatorade high school sports leadership team in partnership with USA TODAY High School Sports, which work with sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.
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