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Matt Barkley and Chanelle Price Named Gatorade High School Athletes of the Year

LOS ANGELES, July 16 PRNewswire — The biggest names in high school and professional sports convened in Hollywood today as Gatorade honored the top prep male and female athletes with the sixth annual Gatorade High School Athlete of the Year awards. Gatorade National Football Player of the Year Matt Barkley (Mater Dei HS/Santa Ana, Calif.) was named Gatorade High School Male Athlete of the Year, while Gatorade National Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year Chanelle Price (Easton Area HS/Easton, Pa.) received Gatorade High School Female Athlete of the Year honors.

Barkley and Price received their awards at a luncheon emceed by ESPN's Stuart Scott and attended by Matt Leinart of the Arizona Cardinals (2001 California Football Player of the Year), Greg Oden of the Portland Trailblazers (2005/2006 National Basketball Player of the Year & 2006 Gatorade Athlete of the Year), Candace Parker of the Los Angeles Sparks (2003/2004 National Basketball Player of the Year & 2004 Gatorade Athlete of the Year), Allyson Felix (2003 National Track & Field Athlete of the Year & 2003 Athlete of the Year) and soccer legend Mia Hamm.

Introduced in 1985, the Gatorade Player of the Year award was one of the first national awards to honor high school athletes for their athletic excellence, academic achievement and exceptional character. In 2003, the Gatorade High School Athlete of the Year awards were established to identify and honor the nation's top overall male and female high school athlete from among the 12 Gatorade National Players of the Year honored during the high school athletic season.

All Gatorade High School Athlete of the Year nominees will walk the ESPY red carpet and be featured as special guests during The ESPY Awards Show. The show will take place this evening and air on ESPN on Sunday, July 20, at 9:00 p.m. EDT.

"The Gatorade Athlete of the Year Awards stand apart in that they honor those who are not only the best on the field of play, but are also proven performers academically, and actively give back to their communities," said Jeff Urban, Gatorade senior vice president of sports marketing. "Matt and Chanelle are outstanding examples of what a leader and a student-athlete should be."

2008 GATORADE HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETE OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNERS

Matt Barkley: The 6-foot-3, 220-pound junior quarterback threw for 3,576 yards and 35 touchdowns, completing 63 percent of his passes (214-of-340) against just nine interceptions. The first junior captain in Mater Dei history, Barkley averaged 325 yards and 3.2 touchdown passes per game in leading the Monarchs (9-2) to the quarterfinals of PAC-5 Division Southern Section 2007 Football Championships, where they fell to Serra League top seed Crespi Carmelite High. Barkley has maintained a 3.77 GPA in the classroom and enthusiastically donates his time, spearheading the team's Monarchs for Marines initiative, lending tangible support and morale-boosting contributions to the Marines and Sailors of Camp Pendleton. As part of the effort, Barkley has helped raise more than $100,000 for a charity benefiting the families of wounded and fallen Marines.

— First-ever non-senior to be awarded Gatorade Male Athlete of the Year and Gatorade National Football Player of the Year honors — 2007 PARADE Magazine Player of the Year — Earned All-CIF honors, All-League honors and All-Metro honors — Rated the No. 1 recruit in the class of 2009 by Rivals.com

Chanelle Price: No stranger to international competition, the senior half-miler placed sixth in the 800-meter run against a world-class field at the Prefontaine Classic earlier this month with a time of 2:01.61, clocking the second-best time in scholastic history and eclipsing a milestone set by track legend Mary Decker. Shattering the state record and winning her third consecutive gold medal in the 800-meter with a time of 2:02.90 at the PIAA Class AAA state meet in May, Price helped the Red Rovers to a seventh-place finish as a team. Price has maintained a 99.28 average in the classroom, placing her in the top five percent of her class. Price donates her time as a Special Olympics volunteer and as a local Vacation Bible School counselor.

— 2008 National Scholastic Indoor Championships 800-meter run champion (2:05.93) — Ran 12th-fastest Open 800 preliminary-heat time (2:08.39) at USATF Indoor Championships in February 2008 (running vs. collegians and pros) — Three-time PIAA Class 3A 800-meter champion — 2007 Nike Outdoor (2:02.76) and Indoor (2:07.43) Nationals 800-meter champion — Set age 16 national record in July 2007, breaking Joetta Clark's 1979 mark of 2:03.54 2008 GATORADE HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETE OF THE YEAR AWARD NOMINEES The 2007-08 Gatorade National Players of the Year (see below) representing six male and six female sports were nominees for the Gatorade High School Athlete of the Year awards. SPORT NAME HIGH SCHOOL BOUND FOR... FEMALE Volleyball Kelly Murphy Joliet Catholic Academy University of Florida (Joliet, IL) Cross Ashley Brasovan Wellington High School Senior in High School Country (Wellington, FL) Basketball Nneka Ogwumike Cy-Fair High School Stanford University (Cypress, TX) Soccer Teresa Noyola Palo Alto High School Stanford University (Palo Alto, CA) Softball Kenzie Fowler Canyon del Oro High University of Arizona School (Oro Valley, AZ) Track & Chanelle Price Easton Area High School University of Field (Easton, PA) Tennessee MALE Football Matt Barkley Mater Dei High School Senior in High School (Santa Ana, CA) Cross Chris Derrick Neuqua Valley High Stanford University Country School (Naperville, IL) Basketball Jrue Holiday Campbell Hall UCLA (North Hollywood, CA) Soccer Chris Agorsor McDonogh School University of (Owings Mills, MD) Virginia Baseball Kyle Skipworth Patriot High School Florida Marlins (Riverside, CA) Organization Track & German Fernandez Riverbank High School Oklahoma State Field (Riverbank, CA) University PAST GATORADE HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETE OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNERS Former winners of Gatorade High School Male and Female Athlete of the Year honors include: 2003 Male: LeBron James / Basketball (Arkron, OH / Cleveland Cavaliers) Female: Allyson Felix / Track & Field (Los Angeles, CA / USA Track & Field) 2004 Male: Dwight Howard / Basketball (Atlanta, GA / Orlando Magic) Female: Candace Parker / Basketball (Naperville, IL / Los Angeles Sparks) 2005 Male: Greg Paulus / Football (Syracuse, NY / Duke University) Female: Cynthia Barboza / Volleyball (Long Beach, CA / Stanford University) 2006 Male: Greg Oden / Basketball (Indianapolis, IN / Portland Trailblazers) Female: Tina Charles / Basketball (New York, NY / University of Connecticut) 2007 Male: Kevin Love / Basketball (Lake Oswego, OR / Minnesota Timberwolves) Female: Maya Moore / Basketball (Suwanee, GA / University of Connecticut)

For more information on the Gatorade High School Athlete of the Year awards and the Gatorade Player of the Year program, visit http://www.gatorade.com/playeroftheyear.

SOURCE Gatorade

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