Legacy's Calob Larson named Gatorade N.D. Boys Track & Field Player of the Year

In it s 34th year of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company today announced Calob Larson of Legacy High School as its 2018-19 Gatorade North Dakota Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year. Larson is the first Gatorade North Dakota Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year to be chosen from Legacy 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 Larson as North Dakota's best high school boys track & field athlete.

Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year award to be announced in June, Larson joins an elite alumni association of state track & field award-winners, including Lolo Jones (1997-98, Roosevelt High School, Iowa), Allyson Felix (2002-03, Los Angeles Baptist High School, Calif.), Robert Griffin III (2006-07, Copperas Cove High School, Texas), Grant Fisher (2013-14 & 2014-15, Grand Blanc High School, Mich.) and Candace Hill (2014-15, Rockdale County High School, Ga.).

The 6-foot-1, 165-pound sophomore swept the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dash events at the Class A state meet for a second straight year, leading the Sabers to a first-place finish as a team. A seven-time state champion, Larson also ran the anchor leg on Legacy's winning 4x100-meter relay quartet.

Larson has volunteered locally with Open Your Heart, which collects food for families in need. "In the state of North Dakota, to win the 100, 200 and 400 back-to-back and as an underclassman is special," said Chris Clements, head coach of Legacy High.

Larson has maintained a 3.32 GPA in the classroom. He will begin his junior 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 count ry, 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. From the 12 national winners, one male and one female athlete are each named Gatorade High School

Athlete of the Year. In all, 607 athletes are honored each year.

Larson joins recent Gatorade North Dakota Boys Track & Field Athletes of the Year Levi Rockey (2017-18, Century High School), Hunter Lucas (2016-17, Davies High School), Zach Sweep (2015-16, Century High School), Jon Tharaldsen (2014-15, Bismarck High School) and Landon Jochim (2013-14, Century High School) among the st ate's list of former award winners.

As a part of Gatorade's cause marketing platform "Play it Forward," Larson also has the opportunity to award a $1,000 grant to a local or national youth sports organization of his choosing. He is also eligible to submit an essay to win one of twelve $10,000 spotlight grants for the organization of choice, which will be announced throughout the year.

Since the program's inception in 1985, Gatorade Player of the Year award recipients have won hundreds of professional and college championships, and many have also turned into pillars in their communities, becoming coaches, business owners and educators.