Katie Marchand of Trumbull High School is the 2022-23 Gatorade Connecticut Girls Cross Country Player of the Year

In its 38th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Katie Marchand of Trumbull High School is the 2022-23 Gatorade Connecticut Girls Cross Country Player of the Year.

Marchand is the first Gatorade Connecticut Girls Cross Country Player of the Year to be chosen from Trumbull High School. The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguishes Marchand as Connecticut’s best high school girls cross country player. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Girls Cross Country Player of the Year award to be announced in January, Marchand joins an elite alumni association of state award-winners, including Natalie Cook (2021-22, Flower Mound High School, Flower Mound, Texas), Katelyn Tuohy (2019-20, North Rockland High School, Thiels, N.Y.), Megan Goethals (2009-10, Rochester High School, Rochester Hills, Mich.) and Jordan Hasay (2008-09, Mission College Preparatory Catholic High School, San Luis Obispo, Calif.).

The 4-foot-11 junior raced to a second-place finish at the State Open individual championships this past season with a time of 19:11, leading the Eagles to fifth place as a team. Marchand won the Division LL Championships, helping Trumbull take third, and finished fourth at the New England Championships, making her the top Connecticut competitor at the event. She also took 15th at the Champs Sports Northeast Regional Championships.

A secretary in her school’s chapter of Future Farmers of America, Marchand has served as an officer in the Interact Club. She has volunteered locally with Trumbull Sustainable Youth, at Bridgeport Hospital, on behalf of the Rotary Club and for TopsSoccer, a program that supports children with disabilities. She also worked as a counselor at a local youth running camp.

“Katie Marchand learned valuable lessons from challenging early season races to ascend to a higher level in the postseason, especially in her resounding victory at the Division LL Championships and runner-up showing at the State Open Championships,” said Erik Boal, an editor for DyeStat.com. “She followed those strong efforts with an impressive fourth-place performance at the New England Championships before finishing 15th at the Champs Sports Northeast Regional Championships.”

Marchand has maintained a weighted 4.81 GPA in the classroom. She will begin her senior 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.

Marchand joins recent Gatorade Connecticut Girls Cross Country Players of the Year Rachel St. Germain (2021-22, Somers High School), Kate Wiser (2020-21, Pomperaug High School), and Sydney Masciarelli (2019-20 & 2018-19, Marianapolis Preparatory School), among the state’s list of former award winners. Being a Gatorade Player of the Year means paying it forward for the next generation. Through Gatorade’s Play it Forward initiative, every Player of the Year receives a grant to give to one of Gatorade’s social impact partners, supporting Gatorade’s ambition to fuel the future of sport.

To date, Gatorade Player of the Year winners’ grants have totaled more than $3.5 million across more than 1,300 organizations. For nearly 40 years, Gatorade has honored high school athletes at the top of their game as teammates, supporting their communities and achieving academic success. From CEOs and coaches to star athletes and community leaders, Gatorade Player of the Year winners showcase the power of sport.

To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, check out past winners or to nominate studentathletes, visit playeroftheyear.gatorade.com or follow us on social media on Facebook at facebook.com/GatoradePOY, Instagram at instagram.com/Gatorade and Twitter at twitter.com/Gatorade

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Submitted by Milford, CT

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