CHICAGO (June 24, 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 Jordan Geist of Knoch High School as its 2015-16 Gatorade Pennsylvania Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year. Geist is the first Gatorade Pennsylvania Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year to be chosen from Knoch 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 Geist as Pennsylvania’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, Geist joins an elite alumni association of state award-winners in 12 sports, including Ryan Hall (1999-01, Big Bear HS, Calif.), Meb Keflezighi (1993-94, San Diego HS, Calif.), Derek Jeter (1991- 92, Kalamazoo HS, Mich.), Candace Parker (2001-02, Naperville Central HS, Ill.), Mark Sanchez (2004-05, Mission Viejo HS, Calif.) and Lolo Jones (1997-98, Roosevelt HS, Ia.). The 6-foot-2, 248-pound junior hurled the shot put 74 feet, 3.5 inches at the Class AAA state meet this past season to shatter the state record. Geist also won the discus with a throw of 183 feet, and his season-best effort of 74-4.5 in the shot put ranked as the nation’s No. 1 performance among prep competitors in 2016 at the time of his selection. It also placed him sixth in U.S. high school history. He won silver in the shot put at the New Balance Nationals Outdoor (73- 2.75). Geist has maintained a 3.59 GPA in the classroom. He has volunteered locally as a Sunday school teacher and as a youth track instructor. “Jordan does all the little things necessary to be successful,” said Knoch coach Wes Brahler. “He’s in the weight room year-round, he’s constantly working on technique. He doesn’t leave anything to chance.” Geist 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. Geist joins recent Gatorade Pennsylvania Boys Track & Field Athletes of the Year John Lewis (2014-15, Cheltenham High School), Max Adams (2013-14, Hempfield Area Senior High School), Jon Yohman (2012-13, Wilmington Area High School), Billy Stanley (2011-12, South Park High School), Eric Futch (2010–11, Penn Wood High School), Tom Mallon (2009-10, Central Bucks South High School), Justin Shirk (2008–09 & 2007-08, Central Dauphin High School), and Paul Spinger (2006-07, Unionville High School) among the state’s list of former award winners.
The post Knoch High School Standout Named Gatorade Pennsylvania Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year appeared first on Inside Butler County – Butler, PA.