Miller Grove High School Standout Named 2008-2009 Gatorade Georgia Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year

CHICAGO (June 23, 2009) — In its third decade of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in partnership with ESPN RISE, today announced Ken Gilstrap of Miller Grove High School as its 2008-09 Gatorade Georgia Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year. Gilstrap is the first Gatorade Georgia Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year to be chosen from Miller Grove 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 track, distinguishes Gilstrap as Georgia’s best high school boys track & field athlete. Gilstrap is now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year award to be announced in June.

The 5-foot-10 senior sprinter swept the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes at the Class 4A State Championships, winning the 100 in 10.44 seconds and the 200 in 21.23, and running legs on the first place 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relay quartets as the Wolverines captured the state title as a team. Ranked second all-time in Georgia for his career-best time in the 100, Gilstrap also won the 100 at the Atlanta Dekalb International Prep Classic and swept both the 100 and 200 at the adidas Golden West Invitational.

Gilstrap has maintained a B average in the classroom. He has volunteered as a motivational speaker at area elementary and middle schools.

“Ken Gilstrap is just awesome,” said Isaac Seals, the head coach at Riverwood School. “He’s a phenomenal talent and the kid works hard too. The Atlanta area is a hotbed for sprinters, but he’s one of the best to ever come out of here.”

Gilstrap has signed a National Letter of Intent to play football and compete in track and field on scholarship at Middle Tennessee State University 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. The selection process is administered by ESPN RISE, which works with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.

Gilstrap joins recent Gatorade Georgia Boys Track & Field Athletes of the Year Christian Taylor (2007-08, Sandy Creek) and Ben Hubers (2006-07 & 2005-06, McEachern) among the state’s list of former award winners.

For more on the Gatorade Player of the Year program, including nomination information, a list of past winners, and the announcement of the Gatorade National Player of the Year, visit gatorade.com/playeroftheyear.