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Matt Boling wins Gatorade Track & Field Athlete of the Year

The Texas high school senior is one of the fastest sprinters in the world

Matt Boling, the 19-year-old who is emerging as one of the fastest sprinters in the world, was presented with the Gatorade Track and Field Athlete of the Year award at his high school, Strake Jesuit College Preparatory in Houston, yesterday.

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Matt Boling with his family after receiving the Gatorade Player of the Year award. Photo: Gatorade

Boling ran a 9.98 100 metres in April, and though not record-eligible, it was the fastest all-conditions time ever run by an American high schooler. Boling followed that up that with a wind-legal 10.13s 100m win at the UIL Outdoor Championships in Austin, Texas in May, which put him in the world’s top-25 fastest 100m times for the 2019 outdoor season to date.

(For even more context, Boling’s 10.13 also matches 2018 Canadian 100m champion Aaron Brown’s 2019 season’s best, and is the fastest time ever run by an American high school student during the regular season in a high school meet.)

Matt Boling receives Gatorade Player of the Year award from Amanda Turak, Manager of the Gatorade Player of the Year program. Photo: Gatorade

The runner finished his stellar championship weekend with a 44.47s 400m relay split to bring his team to victory. Though it doesn’t count as a personal best, the time put him in sixth spot in the 2019 IAAF world rankings at the time.

The Gatorade Player of the Year award is one of the most prestigious award in American high school sports, recognizing the nation’s most elite high school male and female student-athletes in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, choosing winners in track and field and 11 other sports (including cross-country), plus one National Player of the Year in each sport.

Student-athletes are selected for outstanding athletic excellence as well as academic achievement and good character. Boling has maintained a 4.23 GPA and is an active volunteer with various athletic organizations and has worked as a camp counselor with special-needs children.

RELATED: VIDEO: Katelyn Tuohy wins her fourth Gatorade Player of the Year title

Boling will be heading to Costa Rica for the Pan American U20 Championships in San José, Costa Rica, July 19-21. He will attend the University of Georgia on a track and field scholarship this fall.

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