Kalaheo’s Emily Naylor is the Gatorade Hawaii Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year, the Gatorade Company announced recently
The award recognizes outstanding athletic excellence, high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character on and off the field.
A 5-foot sophomore, Naylor won the state meet in the fall in 19 minutes, 37.87 seconds in the three-mile race. The next closest competitor was 20.43 seconds behind. Her performance also helped the Mustangs to a sixth-place finish as a team.
It was a remarkable improvement for Naylor, who finished 99th at the state meet as a freshman. She won eight of the 10 races she ran in throughout the fall season. Naylor was also the top Hawaii girls finisher at the Foot Locker West Regional Championships.
A long-time member of the Girl Scouts, Naylor has a 4.0 GPA, has volunteered in a blood donation drive with the Navy Jr. ROTC and has been inolved in many community service projects with her church youth group, according to a Gatorade news release.
“Emily was the strongest runner in our league,” Dennis Swart, the coach of rival Kaiser, said. “Her state championship victory showed that she was very strong and determined, reveailing a very competitive nature.”
Gatorade Hawaii Girls Cross Country Runners of the Year
>> 2019: Emily Naylor, Kalaheo
>> 2018: Chloe Gangnath, Seabury Hall
>> 2017: Veronica Winham, Seabury Hall
>> 2016: Veronica Winham, Seabury Hall
>> 2015: Amanda Beaman, ‘Iolani
>> 2014: Lisa Tashiro, Kaiser
>> 2013: Dakota Grossman, Seabury Hall
>> 2012: Dakota Grossman, Seabury Hall
>> 2011: Dakota Grossman, Seabury Hall
>> 2010: Dakota Grossman, Seabury Hall
>> 2009: Elli Brady, Punahou
>> 2008: Bailey Massenburg, King Kekaulike
>> 2007: Kristin Ali Keith, Mililani
The list is incorrect. Dakota Grossman could not have been the Girls Gatorade Rummer of the Year for FIVE years