MMU's Drury named Vermont's XC runner of the year by Gatorade

Mount Mansfield Union High School senior Tess Drury has been named Vermont's girls cross-country runner of the year for the 2022 fall season, Gatorade announced Monday morning.

Drury is the first girls runner in program history to earn the Gatorade award, which recognizes outstanding athletic excellence, high academic achievement and exemplary character.

The 5-foot-4 Drury won the Woods Trail Run at Thetford Academy and the Metro Division league race before finishing third at the Division I state meet. Then at the New England championships, she powered to third place with a time of 18 minutes, 46.9 seconds and placed ninth at the Northeast Regional meet to qualify for the Nike Cross Nationals in Oregon.

"Tess Drury demonstrated her maturity and experience by rebounding from a narrow setback at the state final to produce her top two performances of the season against elite fields at the New England Championships and Nike Northeast Regionals," Erik Boal, an editor for DyeStat.com, said in a statement. "She showed substantial improvement at both events from last year in order to make her debut at a national final."

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An avid reader who finished more than 80 books this past year, Drury has volunteered locally at the Dorothy Alling Memorial Library. She has also donated her time coaching the Mount Mansfield middle school and elementary school summer cross country and track programs, the news release said.

Drury has maintained a 3.93 GPA in the classroom and has signed a National Letter of Intent to run at St. Michael’s College this fall, according to the news release said.

Through Gatorade's “Play it Forward” program, Drury has the opportunity to award a $1,000 grant to a local or national youth sports organization of her choosing.

To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, visit playeroftheyear.gatorade.com.

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This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Gatorade runner of the year: MMU's Tess Drury named Vermont's best