PRESS RELEASE | In its 39th year of honoring the nation's most elite high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Scottie Vines of De Beque High School is the 2023-24 Gatorade Colorado Boys Track & Field Player of the Year. Vines is the first Gatorade Colorado Boys Track & Field Player of the Year to be chosen from De Beque 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 Vines as Colorado's best high school boys track & field player. 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 Alan Webb (2000-01, South Lakes High School, Va.), Kerron Clement (2002-03, Laporte High School, Texas) and Grant Fisher (2014-15 & 2013-14, Grand Blanc High School, Mich.).
The 6-foot-5, 165-pound senior jumper won a pair of national titles in the high jump-one at the USATF U20 Championships and a second at Nike Outdoor Nationals this past season, earning All-American status. Vines' clearance of seven feet, four and one-quarter inches at the Texas Relays set a state record and ranked No. 1 nationally among prep competitors and tied for No. 14 in U.S. prep history. He also won the event at the Class 1A state meet and took third in the 100-meter dash, clocking a personal-best time of 11.39 seconds.
A four-year member of student government at De Beque, he has served as a mentor for elementary students on campus. He has also donated his time as a classroom assistant and by reading to younger pupils.
Vines has maintained a B average in the classroom. He has signed a National Letter of Intent to compete on scholarship at the University of Colorado 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.
Vines joins recent Gatorade Colorado Boys Track & Field Players of the Year Tavon Underwood (2022-23, Mead High School), Connor McCormick (2021-22, Longmont High School), Harrison Witt (2020-21, Mountain Vista High School) and Cole Sprout (2019-20, Valor Christian High School), among the state's list of former 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, the Gatorade Player of the Year program has provided more than $4.9 million in grants to winners across more than 1,900 organizations
