DESERT VISTA HIGH SCHOOL STANDOUT NAMED GATORADE ARIZONA GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY RUNNER OF THE YEAR
CHICAGO (January 8, 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 Dani Jones of Desert Vista High School as its 2013-14 Gatorade Arizona Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year. Jones is the first Gatorade Arizona Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year to be chosen from Desert Vista 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 racecourse, distinguishes Jones as Arizona’s best high school girls cross country runner. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year award to be announced in January, Jones 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.), Abby Wambach (1997-98, Our Lady of Mercy, N.Y.) and Mark Sanchez (2004-05, Mission Viejo HS, Calif.).
The 5-foot-5 junior raced to the Division I individual state championship this past season with a time of 18:00.8, leading the Thunder to the state title as a team. Jones also earned individual titles at the Sole Sports Running Zone Cross Country Festival and the Desert Twilight Cross Country Festival. She finished fourth at the Nike Cross Nationals Southwest Regional championships and 15th at the NXN Final, crossing the line in 17:55.6.
Jones has maintained a 3.85 GPA in the classroom. She has volunteered locally on behalf of the Special Olympics and the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life.
“Dani is an absolutely amazing young lady,” said Jeff Messer, Desert Vista head coach. “She’s a ferocious competitor and is relentlessly excellent in all her training and preparation.”
Jones will begin her senior year of high school 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.
Jones joins Gatorade Arizona Girls Cross Country Runners of the Year Sarah Fakler (2012-13, 2011-12 & 2010-11, Xavier College Prep.), Jessica Tonn (2009-10 & 2008-09, Xavier College Prep.), and Nadya Bishton (2007-08, Mountain Ridge) as athletes who have won the cross country award since its inception in 2007.
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