Ethan Edgeworth of Cold Springs High School was named the 2023-24 Gatorade Alabama Boys Cross Country Player of the Year, according to a news release from the company. He is the second athlete from Cold Springs to earn the award, following Nathan Lewis in 2009-10.

The award, in its 39th year, honors the nation’s most elite high school athletes for their performances on the field, in the classroom and in the community.

A 5-foot-11, 130-pound senior, Edgeworth became the first four-time Alabama High School Athletic Association state champion this past season with a personal best time of 14:34.29 and led his team to the state title. He also finished fifth in the Nike Cross Country Southeast Regional Championships to become the first runner from Alabama to qualify for the Nike Cross Nationals. He finished 47th in that event.

Edgeworth is unbeaten against in-state rivals and was the silver medal winner in the interstate Jesse Owens Classic.

A member of the National Honor Society and his school’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter, Edgeworth has volunteered locally on behalf of Future Farmers of America and is a member of the school’s math team. “Ethan Edgeworth turned in an all-class best performance at the state meet, winning by a staggering 86 seconds,” said Rich Gonzalez of PrepCalTrack. “Still, his best showing came at Nike Cross Nationals against a loaded field.”

Edgeworth has maintained a 3.82 GPA in the classroom. He has signed a National Letter of Intent to run on scholarship at the University of Tennessee 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 Player of the Year Selection Committee, which leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others as sources to help evaluate and determine the state winners in each sport.

Edgeworth joins recent Gatorade Alabama Boys Cross Country Players of the Year Maxwell Hardin (2022-23, Auburn High School), Miles Brush (2021-22, Chelsea High School) and Ethan Strand (2020-21 & 2019-20, Vestavia Hills High School), among the state’s list of former award winners.

As part of Gatorade’s commitment to breaking down barriers in sport, every Player of the Year also receives a grant to donate to a social impact partner. To date, Gatorade Player of the Year winners’ grants have totaled more than $4.9 million across more than 1,600 organizations.

To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, check out past winners or to nominate student-athletes, visit playeroftheyear.gatorade.com.