The accolades keep coming for the Colorado four-time state champion. Photo by Alan Versaw.
CHICAGO (January 22, 2016) - In its 31st year of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with USA TODAY High School Sports, today announced Paul Roberts of Lyons High School as its 2015-16 Gatorade Colorado Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year. Roberts is the first Gatorade Colorado Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year to be chosen from Lyons 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 racecourse, distinguishes Roberts as Colorado's best high school boys cross country runner. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year award to be announced in January, Roberts joins an elite alumni association of past state award-winners in 12 sports, including Ryan Hall (1999-00, 2000-01, Big Bear HS, Calif.), Derek Jeter (1991-92, Kalamazoo HS, Mich.), Candace Parker (2001-02, Naperville Central HS, Ill.), Kevin Garnett (1992-93, Maudlin HS, S.C.), Abby Wambach (1997-98, Our Lady of Mercy, N.Y.) and Mark Sanchez (2004-05, Mission Viejo HS, Calif.).
The 5-foot-10, 140-pound senior raced to his fourth consecutive Class 2A individual state championship this past season with a course-record time of 15:33.7, leading the Lions to the state title as a team. One of only six runners in the country to compete in both national title races, Roberts placed fifth at the national Foot Locker Cross Country Championships in 15:15.6, and finished 11th at the Nike Cross Nationals Final. He also took second at the Foot Locker Midwest Regional championships and third at the NXN Midwest Regional championships.
Roberts has maintained an A average in the classroom. Also a talented musician and vice president of his class, he has served as a math tutor and has volunteered locally on behalf of a nursing home.
"Paul's accomplishments are really just the tip of the iceberg," said Lyons assistant coach Jeff Boele. "I consider myself fortunate to get to work with such a unique and gifted athlete. Even as a freshman, he responded brilliantly to the added pressures of being the top runner on the team, and he has continued to build on that foundation as a great role model the past three years."
Roberts has signed a National Letter of Intent to run on an athletic scholarship at Colorado State University-Pueblo beginning 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 high school sports leadership team in partnership with USA TODAY High School Sports, which work with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.
Roberts joins Gatorade Colorado Boys Cross Country Runners of the Year Eric Hamer (2014-15, Palmer Ridge High School), Zach Alhamra (2013-14, Pine Creek High School), Ashi Geberkidane (2012-13, Denver East High School), Ty Williams (2011-12, Telluride High School), Spencer Wenck (2010-11, Palmer Ridge High School), Scott Fauble (2009-10, Wheat Ridge High School), Evan Appel (2008-09, Dakota Ridge High School), and Kevin Williams (2007-08, D'Evelyn High School) as athletes who have won the cross country award since its inception in 2007.
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