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 Viraj Deokar of Middlesex School
as its 2015-16 Gatorade Massachusetts Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year. Deokar is the first Gatorade
Massachusetts Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year to be chosen from Middlesex 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 Deokar as
Massachusetts'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, Deokar 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-8, 127-pound senior raced to a New England Preparatory School Track Association Division III Cross
Country state championship this past season with a time of 15:54. A 2015 Boston Globe Boys' Cross Country AllScholastic
Team selection, Deokar also took sixth at the Foot Locker Northeast Regional championships, crossing the
line in 16:03.1. He went on to compete at the national Foot Locker Cross Country Championships, finishing 20th in
15:40.
Deokar has maintained an A average in the classroom. A talented saxophonist and a staff writer for his school
newspaper, he is a member of the chess club and the robotics club. He has also volunteered locally on behalf of Open
Table.
"Viraj Deokar's accomplishments are extremely impressive," said Jon Waldron, head coach at Concord Academy. "He
has also always impressed me as a good person who is humble about his own abilities and encouraging to others."
Deokar will attend Princeton University this fall, where he will compete in cross country and track and field.
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.
Deokar joins Gatorade Massachusetts Boys Cross Country Runners of the Year Quinn Cooney (2014-15, Chelmsford
High School), Mohamed Hussein (2013-14, Northfield Mount Hermon School), Jonathan Green (2012-13, St. John's
High School), Wesley Gallagher (2011-12, Pembroke High School), John Murray (2010-11, Shrewsbury High School),
Patrick McGowan (2009-10, Mansfield High School), Mike Moverman (2008-09, Oliver Ames High School), and Robert
Gibson (2007-08, Brookline High School) as athletes who have won the cross country award since its inception in 2007.