PROVO, Utah (News4Utah) – A Utah teenager was selected as the National Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year.
Timpview’s Aidan Troutner was chosen for the honor presented by Gatorade. Tuesday afternoon, he thought he was walking home from school for lunch. His friends, family and teammates surprised him with the trophy at his home in Provo.
Troutner raced to the national championship this past season with a time of 15:03.9 at the Nike Cross Nationals Final. He won the Class 5A individual state championship in 14:48.8 and broke the tape at the NXN Southwest Regional championships in 14:50.
He also finished first at the Highland Invitational, the BYU Autumn Classic, the Nebo Invitational and the Region 7 championships.
Troutner is also recognized as a youth leader with his church and an Eagle Scout with the Boy Scouts of America all while maintaining a 3.89 GPA in the classroom.
He has signed a National Letter of Intent to compete in cross country and track and field on scholarship at Brigham Young University after completing a two-year mission with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in each of the 50 states in 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 and field; and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. In addition to athletic excellence, the award recognizes academic achievement and exemplary character on and off the field.
