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Katelyn Tuohy wins 2018 Gatorade Girls Athlete of Year Award

By Dave Daniels

PASADENA, CA - JANUARY 01: Gatorade cooler before the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Rose Bowl Game between the Georgia Bulldogs and Oklahoma Sooners on January 1, 2018, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA. (Photo by Chris Williams/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
PASADENA, CA - JANUARY 01: Gatorade cooler before the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Rose Bowl Game between the Georgia Bulldogs and Oklahoma Sooners on January 1, 2018, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA. (Photo by Chris Williams/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Katelyn Tuohy joined a list tonight that includes Lisa Leslie, Alyson Felix and Breanna Stewart.

Today it was announced that Katelyn Tuohy is the 2017-18 Gatorade Girls Athlete of the Year. She will be honored along with the rest of the nominees at the ESPYs tomorrow. Here are the athletes of the year in their respective sports.

2017-18 Female Nominees (Hometown – Bound For)

· Volleyball – Thayer Hall (Roebuck, S.C. – UF)

· Cross Country – Katelyn Tuohy (Theills, N.Y. – Junior/North Rockland High School)

· Basketball – Christyn Williams (North Little Rock, Ark. – UConn)

· Softball – Megan Faraimo (San Diego, Calif. – UCLA)

· Soccer – Isabella D’Aquila (San Juan, Calif. – Santa Clara)

· Girls Track & Field – Katelyn Tuohy (Theills, N.Y. – Junior/North Rockland High School)

The award not only considers outstanding athletic excellence, but also has high standards for academic achievement and exemplary character. That is one of the reasons why all of the nominees are special each in their own unique ways.

Touhy is the first Gatorade New York Girls Athlete of the Year to be chosen from North Rockland High School. She joins a list that includes Lolo Jones (1997-98, Roosevelt High School, Iowa) and Allyson Felix (2002-03, Los Angeles Baptist High School, Calif.).

Touhy is the reigning Gatorade National Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year and won that award along with this year’s Track and Field Runner of the Year. She now adds Athlete of the Year to that list too. She broke the U.S. prep record in the mile with her time of 4:33.87 at this month’s New Balance Outdoor Nationals and won her second straight national title in the event. The 5-foot-4 runner also crushed the national high school record in the 3200-meter run with a time of 9:47.88 at the Loucks Games. She dominated the 1500 (4:14.45) and the 3000 (9:09.71) at New York’s state meet as well.

She now owns four national championships in track, including a time of 15:37.12 in the 5K indoors, which broke the previous national record by more than 18 seconds. She volunteers for youth soccer programs, running programs and the Rose Memorial Library all while maintaining high grades in the classroom.

“I’ve been her varsity track coach since seventh grade,” said North Rockland High coach Kyle Murphy. “I always knew she was very talented and would run very fast, but I had no idea she would do what she’s accomplished this year. She set some very high goals and she’s reached just about all of them.”

Tuohy has done all of this and hasn’t even started her junior year of high school. Incredible. Don’t be surprised if you see her in the Olympics one day.

Next: Best college basketball player from every state

All of these athletes were deserving nominees, but Katelyn Tuohy came home with the hardware on Tuesday. Here’s hoping that they all continue to excel as they continue their high school or college careers.

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