General | 1/23/2024 7:57:00 AM

In its 39th year of honoring the nation's most elite high school athletes, Gatorade has announced that Paige Sheppard of Union Catholic High School is the 2023-24 Gatorade New Jersey Girls Cross
Country Athlete of the Year.

Sheppard, a freshman, is the first Gatorade New Jersey Girls Cross Country Player of the Year to be chosen from Union Catholic 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 Sheppard as New Jersey's best high school girls cross-country runner.

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 Irene Riggs (2022-23, 2021-22 & 2020-21, Morgantown High School, Morgantown, W. Va.), Katelyn Tuohy (2019-20, 2018-19 & 2017-18, North Rockland High School, Thiels, N.Y.) and Jordan Hasay (2008-09, Mission College Preparatory Catholic High School, San Luis Obispo, Calif.)

Sheppard smashed the course record at Oak Ridge Park in Clark by running 17:41 at the Union County Conference Championships. Then she won the Non-Public A state title with a time of 18:09.0, leading the Vikings to the team title. She followed that up by running 17:54, No. 3 all-time for a freshman at Holmdel Park, when she placed second at the Meet of Champions to ignite UC to its second straight title and a course record average of 18:37. 

Two weeks later, Sheppard won the Nike Cross Northeast Regional individual championship, breaking the tape in 18:12,29 to help Union Catholic finish first and qualify for the Nike Cross Nationals Championships for the second year. At the Nike Nationals, the Vikings placed 10th and finished the season ranked No. 1 in N.J. for the second straight year and No. 6 in the nation. 

An accomplished artist whose work has been selected for display at various art shows, Sheppard has volunteered locally with the Student Movement Against Cancer at UC, which prepares holiday cards for cancer patients. She was also a recent recipient of the Paul Robeson Youth Achievement Award, which honors high-achieving African
American students in a variety of disciplines.

"Paige Sheppard emerged as one of the top ninth graders in the country in 2023, then catapulted to the top of the Northeast region by season's end," said Rich Gonzalez of
PrepCalTrack. "Her performances at the Nike regional and the NXN Final cemented her as a top gun to watch closely for the next three years."

Sheppard has maintained a 4.16 GPA in the classroom. She will begin her sophomore year of high school 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.

Sheppard joins recent Gatorade New Jersey Girls Cross Country Players of the Year Emma Zawatski (2022-23, Freehold Township High School), Angelina Perez (2021-22, Lakeland Regional High School) and Charlotte Bednar (2020-21 & 2019-20, The Lawrenceville School), among the state's list of recent 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.