In its 33rd year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, announced Aubrey Frentheway of Cheyenne Central High School as its 2017-18 Gatorade Wyoming Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year.

Frentheway is the first Gatorade Wyoming Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year to be chosen from Cheyenne Central 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 Frentheway as Wyoming’s best high school girls track & field athlete.

Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year award to be announced in June, Frentheway 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 5-foot-1 senior swept the 1600-meter run and the 3200-meter run and took second in the 800 as the Indians won a Class 4A state title this past season.

Frentheway’s times of 2:16.22 in the 800 and 4:57.81 in the 1600 marked personal bests.

At the Brooks Mt. San Antonio College Relays in April, Frentheway clocked a state-record 10:27.49 in the 3200, which also ranked No. 42 in the nation this spring at the time of her selection.

Frentheway also qualified for the New Balance Outdoor Nationals, running an 11:07.20 in the 2-mile and a 5:06.44 mile.

She won both the 1600 and 3200 at the Great Southwest Classic.

A cross country standout as well as an accomplished pianist, Frentheway has donated her time to the Cheyenne Youth Day of Giving and has volunteered locally at youth track events.

“We raced against Aubrey a lot, and she’s really a phenomenal runner,” said Greg Schabron, head coach at Laramie High. “From my observation, she’s humble, a positive person. And she’s right up there with the best distance runners we’ve had. And she’s running those times at elevation, in the wind, sometimes by herself with nobody even close.”

Frentheway has maintained a 3.96 GPA in the classroom.

She has signed a national letter of intent to compete on an athletic scholarship at Brigham Young University 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 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.

Frentheway joins recent Gatorade Wyoming Girls Track & Field Athletes of the Year Anna Gibson (2016-17, Jackson Hole High School), Lauren Taubert (2015-16, Natrona County High School), Ann Wingeleth (2014-15, Lyman High School), Jerayah Davis (2013-14, 2012-13 & 2011-12, Kelly Walsh High School), Paula Andrie (2010–11, Campbell County High School), Baillie Gibson (2009-10, Natrona County), Emily Moore (2008–09 & 2007-08, Campbell County), and Amber Henry (2006-07, Mountain View) among the state’s list of former award winners.

As a Gatorade Player of the Year, Frentheway will be able to select a national or local youth sports organization to receive a grant as part of the Gatorade Play It Forward program.

Every Gatorade Player of the Year state winner receives a $1,000 grant to donate and will have the opportunity to enter for an additional $10,000 spotlight grant by writing a brief essay explaining why their selected organization deserves additional support. 12 spotlight grants – one for each sport – will be announced throughout the year.

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