Star Valley’s Jase Burton is the Gatorade Wyoming Boys Cross Country Player of the Year 2024-25

Star Valley senior Jase Burton was chosen as the Gatorade Wyoming Boys Cross Country Player of the Year on Thursday in a release from The Gatorade Company. Burton earned the honor for the first time in his prep career. He became the fourth winner of this award from Star Valley High School, joining Habtamu Wetzel, Peter Visser, and Shane Henderson in that distinction.

Burton was the Class 4A state champion last fall and crossed the finish line at the state championships with a time of 15:46.6. He won by nearly 32 seconds over a teammate and led the Braves to their third consecutive Class 4A team title. The 5-10 senior took second at the NXN Northwest Regional in a 5K personal-best time of 14:55.30. Burton finished 17th place at the NXN Championships in December. Jase was a three-time all-state runner. He was the top finisher from Wyoming at the Bob Firman Invitational in Idaho (sixth) and Washington’s Hole In The Wall Invitational (seventh).

Burton has been the class president each year of high school and is a leader in his church youth group. He has also donated his time on behalf of an elementary school program promoting friendly competition and a healthy lifestyle. Burton maintains a 4.0 PGA in the classroom and is ranked No. 1 in his Senior class. He remains undecided on a college destination.

Rich Gonzales of PrepCalTrack spoke highly of Burton in the media release from Gatorade.

“Burton was essentially unchallenged as Wyoming’s best last fall. When you’re among the top two dozen high school distance runners in the country, you’re worthy of any award you get.”

This is the 40th year The Gatorade Company is honoring the nation’s best high school athletes. This award celebrates the nation’s top high school athletes for excellence on the field, in the classroom, and in the community. It distinguishes Burton as Wyoming’s best high school boys’ cross-country runner. He is now a finalist for Gatorade National Boys Cross Country Player of the Year. That will be announced later this month.

Get our free mobile app

Wetzel joins Star Valley teammate Habtamu Wetzel (2023-24), Owen Burnett from Mountain View (2022-23), and Jackson’s Mason Wheeler (2021-22), among the state’s list of former award winners.

As part of Gatorade’s commitment to breaking down barriers in sport, every Player of the Year also receives a grant to donate to a social impact partner. To date, Gatorade Player of the Year winners’ grants have totaled more than $5.6 million across more than 2,000 organizations.

Information from a press release issued by The Gatorade Company was used in this story.