FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Julie Mason (412-561-1014)
Josh Holland (312-932-2823)
NortHSIDE High School STANDOUT NAMED
GATORADE Tennessee GIRLS TRACK & FIELD ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
CHICAGO (June 17, 2009) — In its third decade of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in partnership with ESPN RISE, today announced Sharika Nelvis of Northside High School as its 2008-09 Gatorade Tennessee Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year. Nelvis is the first Gatorade Tennessee Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year to be chosen from Northside 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 track, distinguishes Nelvis as Tennessee’s best high school girls track & field athlete. Nelvis is now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year award to be announced in June.
The 5-foot-9 senior set a state record in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.06 seconds in the qualifying heats at the Class AAA state championship meet, shaving 0.08 seconds off a mark that had stood for 31 years. Nelvis went on to win four individual titles at this year’s state meet, winning the 100-meter high hurdles with a time of 14.03 seconds, the 300-meter low hurdles in 41.99 seconds, the 100-meter dash in 11.89 seconds and the 200 meters in 24.19 seconds. She also placed second in the pentathlon as the Cougars placed fourth as a team with 48 points. Nelvis, whose best times in each of her winning events ranked in the top-32 in the nation among prep competitors at the time of her selection, scored all 48 points for Northside.
Nelvis has maintained a B average in the classroom. She has volunteered for the Drop Everything and Read literacy-outreach program for elementary school students and has participated in annual Turkey Drives for needy families during the holidays.
“She’s a unique athlete; I’ve never met anyone like her,” said John Hamer, Nelvis’ coach with the Blues City Runners Track Club. “Of course she has natural talent, but there were a lot of things that she didn’t know. When it came to technical things on the track, she knew if she worked hard she would get better. She listened, she learned, she applied what she learned and she got better.”
Nelvis remains undecided upon a collegiate destination for 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. The selection process is administered by ESPN RISE, which works with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.
Nelvis joins recent Gatorade Tennessee Girls Track & Field Athletes of the Year Jackie Coward (2007-08 & 2006-07, Knoxville West) and Kathy Kroeger (2005-06, Independence) among the state’s list of former award winners.
For more on the Gatorade Player of the Year program, including nomination information, a list of past winners, and the announcement of the Gatorade National Player of the Year, visit gatorade.com/playeroftheyear.
###