In its 39th year of honoring the nation's most elite high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Nolan McGinn of Fayetteville-Manlius High School is the 2023-24 Gatorade New York Boys Cross Country Player of the Year. McGinn is the fourth Gatorade New York Boys Cross Country Player of the Year to be chosen from Fayetteville-Manlius 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 McGinn as New York's best high school boys cross country 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 Lukas Verzbicas (2010-11 & 2009-10, Carl Sandburg High School, Ill.) and Edward Cheserek (2012-13, St. Benedict's Preparatory School, N.J.).
The 5-foot-10, 140-pound senior broke the tape at the Nike Cross New York Regional Championships this past season, winning by a commanding 23 seconds with a time of 15:57.78. McGinn also won the Class A state title by eight seconds. At the McQuaid Invitational, he clocked a 3-mile personal-best 14:36.4 to walk away with the meet championship.
McGinn has volunteered locally with the Fast Bees program, a youth children's running initiative at the school structured to inspire younger kids to become involved in physical fitness activities. "When it came to supremacy within the Empire State, Nolan McGinn was without peer," said Rich Gonzalez of PrepCalTrack. "Unbeaten against all New York rivals, he notched 10 straight race wins to earn a second straight bid to Nike Cross Nationals and First Team All-Region honors."
McGinn has maintained an A average in the classroom. He has signed a National Letter of Intent to run on scholarship at the University of Pittsburgh 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. McGinn joins recent Gatorade New York Boys Cross Country Players of the Year Collin Gilstrap (2022-23, MonroeWoodbury High School), Gitch Hayes (2021-22, La Salle Institute), Peyton Geehrer (2020-21, Fayetteville-Manlius High School) and Sam Lawler (2019-20, Mendon 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, Gatorade Player of the Year winners' grants have totaled more than $4.9 million across more than 1,600 organizations.
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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