Boys Cross Country | 1/26/2024 7:40:00 AM

In its 39th year of honoring the nation's most elite high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Jimmy Wischusen of Union Catholic is the 2023-24 Gatorade New Jersey Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year.

Wischusen, the first Gatorade New Jersey Boys Cross Country of the Year to be chosen from Union Catholic, gives the Vikings a very rare sweep of the awards. Earlier this week, UC freshman Paige Sheppard was named Gatorade's New Jersey Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year. 
 
The Gatorade award, which celebrates the nation's top high school athletes for excellence on the field, in the classroom and in the community, distinguishes Wischusen as New Jersey's best high school boys 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 Lukas Verzbicas (2010-11 & 2009-10, Carl Sandburg High School, Ill.) and Edward Cheserek (2012-13, St. Benedict's Preparatory School, N.J.).

The University of Virginia-bound Wischusen, who overcame injuries and adversity during the season, delivered a remarkable performance when he earned All-American honors by placing seventh at the Nike Cross-Country Nationals Championships in December in 15:25.5, the third fastest time ever run by a NJ runner on the Glendoveer Golf Course in Portland, Oregon..   

Wischusen finished in the top two in every race he completed, including the Nike Northeast Regional Championships where he finished second in 15:49.9, the seventh fastest time ever run by a NJ athlete at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls, N.Y. Wischusen also destroyed the course record at Warinanco Park in Elizabeth when he won the Union County Championship in a sizzling15:12!

Off the course, Wischusen has volunteered locally at Theater To All, which conducts summertime shows and A Christmas Carol each year to raise funds for a chosen charity. He has also served as a volunteer youth coach for the Speed Skills Track Club, and he has maintained a B average in the classroom. 

"Despite repeated adversity from injury, Jimmy Wischusen's relentless perseverance culminated his prep cross country career in storybook fashion," said Rich Gonzalez of PrepCalTrack. "Even when a hamstring issue derailed his final pair of in-state races, his resilience on the national stage is something very few saw coming."

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. Wischusen joins recent Gatorade New Jersey Boys Cross Country Runners of the Year Micah Lawson (2022-23, Rahway High School), Marco Langon (2021-22, Bridgewater-Raritan High School), Vidhur Polam (2020-21, South Brunswick High School) and Liam Murphy (2019-20, Allentown High School), among the state's list of former award winners.