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In its 39th year of honoring the nation’s most elite high school athletes, Gatorade announced Corbin Coombs of Organ Mountain High School and Kaselle Davis of Las Cruces High School as 2023-24 Track & Field Player of the Year.
A Las Cruces Digest Review
By Levi Gwaltney
ORGAN MOUNTAIN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT-ATHLETE NAMED GATORADE NEW MEXICO BOYS TRACK & FIELD PLAYER OF THE YEAR
CHICAGO (June 27, 2024) — In its 39th year of honoring the nation’s most elite high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Corbin Coombs of Organ Mountain High School is the 2023-24 Gatorade New Mexico Boys Track & Field Player of the Year. Coombs is the first Gatorade New Mexico Boys Track & Field Player of the Year to be chosen from Organ Mountain High School. (Photo: Courtesy NMAA)
Source: Gatorade
The award, which celebrates the nation’s top high school athletes for excellence on the field, in the classroom and in the community, distinguishes Coombs as New Mexico’s best high school boys track & field player. From CEOs and coaches to star athletes, Gatorade Player of the Year winners showcase the power of sport, touting an all-star group of alumni that includes Alan Webb (2000-01, South Lakes High School, Va.), Kerron Clement (2002-03, Laporte High School, Texas) and Grant Fisher (2014-15 & 2013-14, Grand Blanc High School, Mich.).
The 6-foot, 150-pound junior distance talent swept the 800- and 1600-meter events at the Class 5A state meet this past season, leading the Knights to third place as a team. Coombs also earned All-American honors with a second-place finish in the 2-mile at Nike Outdoor Nationals with a personal-best time of 8:53.44, which ranked No. 13 nationally among boys prep competitors this spring. He PR’d in the mile in May by taking eighth at the national HOKA Festival of Miles in 4:04.48. His 1600 clocking of 4:06.17 at states set a new class record and ranked No. 17 nationally. He also ran the anchor leg for Organ Mountain’s class-record-setting 4×800 relay (7:52.91) foursome at the state meet.
Coombs has performed extensive humanitarian efforts as part of multiple service expeditions to Uganda and Guatemala, helping to build schools in both countries and a medical clinic in the latter. He has also fundraised for clean water reforms in those nations. He has volunteered locally assisting with Senior Olympics road races and track events, and has donated his time as a student coach at a youth track and field camp. He also attends the LDS Seminary during the academic year. “I think if you were trying to create a Gatorade track winner in a laboratory, you’d probably synthesize someone like Corbin Coombs,” said Rich Gonzalez, editor of PrepCalTrack. “Unmatched on the athletic pillar, straight-As in the classroom and deeply devoted to serving others.”
Coombs has maintained a 4.10 weighted GPA in the classroom. He will begin his senior year of high school 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 leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others as sources to help evaluate and determine the state winners in each sport.
Coombs joins recent Gatorade New Mexico Boys Track & Field Players of the Year Tanner Montano (2022-23, La Cueva High School), Kayden Gonzalez (2021-22, Farmington High School), Luke Wysong (2020-21, Cleveland High School) and Teagun Glenn (2019-20, Albuquerque Academy), 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, the Gatorade Player of the Year program has provided more than $4.9 million in grants to winners across more than 1,900 organizations.
To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, check out past winners or to nominate student-athletes, visit playeroftheyear.gatorade.com or follow us on social media on Facebook at facebook.com/GatoradePOY, Instagram at instagram.com/Gatorade and X(Twitter) at x.com/Gatorade.
LAS CRUCES HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT-ATHLETE NAMED GATORADE NEW MEXICO GIRLS TRACK & FIELD PLAYER OF THE YEAR
CHICAGO (June 25, 2024) — In its 39th year of honoring the nation’s most elite high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Kaselle Davis of Las Cruces High School is the 2023-24 Gatorade New Mexico Girls Track & Field Player of the Year. Davis is the first Gatorade New Mexico Girls Track & Field Player of the Year to be chosen from Las Cruces High School. (Photo: Courtesy NMAA)
Source: Gatorade
The award, which celebrates the nation’s top high school athletes for excellence on the field, in the classroom and in the community, distinguishes Davis as New Mexico’s best high school girls track & field athlete. From CEOs and coaches to star athletes, Gatorade Player of the Year winners showcase the power of sport, touting an all-star group of alumni that includes Sanya Richards-Ross (2001-02, St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Fla), Sydney McLaughlin (2016-17, 2015-16 & 2014-15, Union Catholic High School, N.J.) and Angelina Napoleon (2022-23, Allegany-Limestone Central School, N.Y.).
The 5-foot-5 junior sprinter/jumper broke two state records and set a class record in a third event this past season with her new standard of 54.13 seconds in the 400-meter dash representing the No. 45 time nationally among girls prep competitors this spring. Davis won four gold medals and shared in a relay bronze at the Class 5A state meet, leading the Bulldawgs to fifth place as a team. Her winning clearing in the high jump was a class-record 5 feet, 9 inches, which ranked No. 28 nationally. She scored a meet-high 29.5 points at states thanks to additional victories in the 100 and 200 dash events along with a third-place showing as the anchor of the 4×400 relay quartet. Her remaining state record came in the 200, where she clocked a 24.27 during state meet prelims.
Davis has volunteered locally on behalf of the Holy Temple Church of God and Christ in Alamogordo. “Kaselle just completely dominated the state meet in every way possible,” said Rich Gonzalez, editor of PrepCalTrack.com. “Her 4×400 splits each day of the state meet—prelims and finals—were fast, too. She was well behind in each race and made up a lot of ground, despite the relay coming after a short turnaround from the 200-meter dash final.”
Davis has maintained a 3.66 GPA in the classroom. She will begin her senior year of high school 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 leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others as sources to help evaluate and determine the state winners in each sport.
Davis joins recent Gatorade New Mexico Girls Track & Field Players of the Year Jaiya Daniels (2022-23, Los Alamos High School), Yvonne Stinson (2021-22, Alamogordo High School), Ku’upualiliapihamekealoha “Lia” Pili (2020-21, Centennial High School) and Adriana Tatum (2019-20, Sandia High School), 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, the Gatorade Player of the Year program has provided more than $4.9 million in grants to winners across more than 1,900 organizations.
To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, check out past winners or to nominate student-athletes, visit playeroftheyear.gatorade.com or follow us on social media on Facebook at facebook.com/GatoradePOY, Instagram at instagram.com/Gatorade and X(Twitter) at x.com/Gatorade.
