THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Edmond Santa Fe High School Athletics

Congratulations to Santa Fe junior Natalie Duggan for being selected as the Oklahoma Girls Cross-Country Gatorade Player of the Year! This is prestigious honor for Natalie and she now goes up against the other 50 state's winners to be crowned the National Player of the Year. Results will be posted on the Gatorade website the end of January. Press-Release: (entire release is listed on the link to this article) EDMOND SANTA FE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT-ATHLETE NAMED GATORADE OKLAHOMA GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY PLAYER OF THE YEAR CHICAGO (January 22, 2024) — In its 39th year of honoring the nation’s most elite high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Natalie Duggan of Edmond Santa Fe High School is the 2023-24 Gatorade Oklahoma Girls Cross Country Player of the Year. Duggan is the first Gatorade Oklahoma Girls Cross Country Player of the Year to be chosen from Edmond Santa Fe High School. The award, which celebrates the nation’s top high school athletes for excellence on the field, in the classroom and in the community, distinguishes Duggan as Oklahoma’s best high school girls cross country 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 Irene Riggs (2022-23, 2021-22 & 2020-21, Morgantown High School, Morgantown, W. Va.), Katelyn Tuohy (2019-20, 2018-19 & 2017-18, North Rockland High School, Thiels, N.Y.) and Jordan Hasay (2008-09, Mission College Preparatory Catholic High School, San Luis Obispo, Calif.) The 5-foot-3 junior finished 15th at the Nike Cross South Regional Championships this past season, crossing the line with a time of 17:52.7. Duggan followed up with a top 30 finish in the Gold Race at the national RunningLane Cross Country Championships in Alabama. Prior to taking the national stage, she broke the tape at the state Meet of Champions. A practiced piano player, Duggan has volunteered locally at the Tulakes Pantry and Clinic and as a worship leader/singer at the Bethany First Church of the Nazarene as well as the Edmond Santa Fe Fellowship of Christian Athletes. She’s also a member of the Santa Fe debate team. “Natalie Duggan’s stock on the national scene began trending upward late in the season, starting with her win at the Meet of Champions,” said Rich Gonzalez of PrepCalTrack. “She crossed the finish first among Oklahoma runners at the RunningLane Championships and was the state’s top underclassman at Nike.” Duggan has maintained a weighted 4.17 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. Duggan joins recent Gatorade Oklahoma Girls Cross Country Players of the Year Liesel Kehoe (2022-23, Edmond North High School), Cayden Dawson (2021-22, Bixby High School) and Payton Hinkle (2020-21 & 2019-20, Broken Arrow 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, Gatorade Player of the Year winners’ grants have totaled more than $4.9 million across more than 1,600 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 Twitter at twitter.com/Gatorade. ###

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Edmond Santa Fe High School Athletics

NATALIE DUGGAN - OKLAHOMA GIRLS CC GATORADE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

SANTA FE ATHLETICS

https://playeroftheyear.gatorade.com/winner/natalie-duggan/40092 | 1/23/2024

PHOTO CREDIT: photos provided