Sydney Thorvaldson Receives Gatorade Track Award For Wyoming

Rawlins High School standout distance runner Sydney Thorvaldson was chosen Thursday as the 2019 Gatorade Wyoming Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year.

Thorvaldson becomes the first Outlaw chosen for this particular honor, though the sophomore is no stranger to winning Gatorade Awards. She is already a two-time winner of the Gatorade Wyoming Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year.

During last month’s Wyoming Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Thorvaldson won the 800-meters, 1600-meters, and 3200-meters individually. She was also part of a state-record-setting sprint medley relay. Her 32.5 individual points helped Rawlins finish sixth in Class 3A. Thorvaldson’s time in the 1600-meters of 5:00.52 set a state meet record.

In the release from Gatorade, her head coach at RHS, Nancy Steinberg, spoke about how Thorvaldson’s one of a kind.

“Sydney continues to amaze and awe us. She is one of the most talented athletes to come along in the history of both Rawlins and the state of Wyoming.”

Thorvaldson maintains a 4.0-grade point average in the classroom. Away from it, the sophomore is a member of the Rawlins High School student council. She has also volunteered for community-beautification projects and donated time as a teacher’s aide at her church.

All of this and Thorvaldson will only be going into her junior year this fall.

Now a finalist for the Gatorade National Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year award, Thorvaldson joins recent state winners for Wyoming in Aubrey Frentheway (2018, Cheyenne Central), Anna Gibson (2017, Jackson), Lauren Taubert (2016, Natrona County), Ann Wingleth (2015, Lyman), and Jerayah Davis (2012-2014, Kelly Walsh), who received this honor.

Thorvaldson gets to choose a local or national youth sports organization that would receive a $1,000 grant from Gatorade’s “Player it Forward” campaign. She will also have a chance to win one of 12 spotlight grants of $10,000 toward an organization of her choice if she chooses to submit an essay.

The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, softball, baseball, and boys and girls track and field. There is one National Player of the Year winner in each sport. From the 12 national winners, one female and one male are chosen as the Gatorade High School Athlete of the Year. A total of 607 athletes are honored each year.