BROPHY COLLEGE PREPARATORY STANDOUT NAMED
GATORADE ARIZONA BOYS TRACK & FIELD ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
CHICAGO (June 20, 2014) — In its 29th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in
collaboration with USA TODAY High School Sports, today announced Robert Grant of Brophy College Preparatory as its 2013-14
Gatorade Arizona Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year. Grant is the third Gatorade Arizona Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year
to be chosen from Brophy College Preparatory.
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 Grant as Arizona’s best high school boys track & field athlete.
Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year award to be announced in June, Grant
joins an elite alumni association of state award-winners in 12 sports, including Ryan Hall (1999-01, Big Bear HS, Calif.), Meb
Keflezighi (1993-94, San Diego HS, Calif.), Derek Jeter (1991-92, Kalamazoo HS, Mich.), Candace Parker (2001-02, Naperville
Central HS, Ill.), Mark Sanchez (2004-05, Mission Viejo HS, Calif.) and Lolo Jones (1997-98, Roosevelt HS, Ia.).
The 5-foot-11, 167-pound senior won the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.44 seconds and the 300-meter hurdles in 36.33 at the
Division I state meet this season, leading the Broncos to third place as a team. Also the Boys’ Track Athlete of the Year as named by
AZtrackXC.com and The Arizona Republic, Grant also captured third in the 110-meter hurdles in 14.11 at states and anchored the
winning 4x400-meter relay that broke the tape in 3:20.47. His 300-meter hurdles time of 36.24 at the Northeast Valley Championships
broke the state record and ranked as the nation’s No. 1 performance among prep competitors in 2014 at the time of his selection.
Also a football standout, Grant has maintained a 3.59 weighted GPA in the classroom. An active member of his school’s student council
and intramural program, he has also volunteered on behalf of Homeward Bound, the Ryan House hospice facility for terminally ill
children and Guatemala’s Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos orphanage.
“Robert Grant has earned his success in track and field through hard work with a competitive spirit and natural leadership,” said
Brophy head coach Bill Kalkman. “Most impressive, however, is his strongest recognizable trait of diligently working hard in track
practice. The consistency, the intensity and the volume of running and hurdling work that Robert puts in every week have been
unmatched in my 26 years of coaching high school track and field.”
Grant has signed a National Letter of Intent to compete in track and field on scholarship at the University of Miami 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.
Grant joins recent Gatorade Arizona Boys Track & Field Athletes of the Year Bernie Montoya (2012-13, Cibola High School), Devon
Allen (2011-12, Brophy College Preparatory), Billy Orman (2010 – 11, Tuba City High School), Brian Shrader (2009-10, Sinagua SH),
Bryce Lamb (2008–09 & 2006-07, Chandler), Allante Battle (2007-08, Desert Vista) among the state’s list of former award winners.
To keep up to date on the latest happenings, become a fan of Gatorade Player of the Year on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. For
more on the Gatorade Player of the Year program, including nomination information, a complete list of past winners and the
announcement of the Gatorade National Player of the Year, visit www.gatorade.com/poy.
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