Andrew Bosquez helped light up the course for a very successful Hobbs team. Photo by Alan Versaw.
CHICAGO (January 22, 2016) - In its 31st year of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with USA TODAY High School Sports, today announced Andrew Bosquez of Hobbs High School as its 2015-16 Gatorade New Mexico Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year. Bosquez is the first Gatorade New Mexico Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year to be chosen from Hobbs 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 Bosquez as New Mexico's best high school boys cross country runner. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year award to be announced in January, Bosquez 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.), Kevin Garnett (1992-93, Maudlin HS, S.C.), Abby Wambach (1997-98, Our Lady of Mercy, N.Y.) and Mark Sanchez (2004-05, Mission Viejo HS, Calif.).
The 5-foot-7, 140-pound junior raced to the Class 6A individual championship this past season with a time of 15:54.7, leading the Eagles to a state title as a team. A 2015 First Team All-State selection, Bosquez took 30th at the Nike Cross Nationals Southwest Regional championships, crossing the line in 15:32.
Bosquez has maintained a B average in the classroom. An accomplished pianist, he has volunteered locally as a youth track & field coach.
"Andrew Bosquez is a tremendous talent in cross country and track & field," said Hobbs High head coach Bob Jackson. "He is as humble in defeat as he is in victory."
Bosquez will begin his 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.
Bosquez joins Gatorade New Mexico Boys Cross Country Runners of the Year Niles Thomas (2014-15, Miyamura High School), Colin Hemez (2013-14, Los Alamos High School), Luis Martinez (2012-13 & 2011-12, Sue Cleveland High School), Neil Longenbaugh (2010-11, Albuquerque Academy), Kyle Pittman (2009-10, Los Alamos High School), Bryce Palmer (2008-09, Eldorado High School), and Ben Johnson (2007-08, Albuquerque Academy) as athletes who have won the cross country award since its inception in 2007.
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