CHICAGO (June 24, 2016) - In its 31st year of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with USA TODAY High School Sports, today announced Noah Green of Blue Valley Southwest High School as its 2015-16 Gatorade Kansas Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year. Green is the third Gatorade Kansas Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year to be chosen from Blue Valley Southwest High School. The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the track, distinguishes Green as Kansas's best high school boys track & field athlete. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year award to be announced in June, Green joins an elite alumni association of state award-winners in 12 sports, including Ryan Hall (1999-01, Big Bear HS, Calif.), Meb Keflezighi (1993-94, San Diego HS, Calif.), Derek Jeter (1991- 92, Kalamazoo HS, Mich.), Candace Parker (2001-02, Naperville Central HS, Ill.), Mark Sanchez (2004-05, Mission Viejo HS, Calif.) and Lolo Jones (1997-98, Roosevelt HS, Ia.). The 6-foot, 165-pound sophomore won the 110-meter high hurdles with a meet-record time of 14.02 seconds and took the 300-meter intermediate hurdles in 37.14 at the Class 5A state meet this past season, leading the Timberwolves to second place as a team. Green also anchored the victorious 4x400 relay quartet at the state meet, and won the 110 hurdles at the Kansas Relays. Green has maintained a 4.0 GPA in the classroom. He has volunteered locally on behalf of the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life and the Marfan Foundation, which assists patients with Marfan syndrome. "Noah is young, but he's also experienced," said Blue Valley Southwest coach Staci Lowe. "He works hard and he's very mature for a sophomore. I think he's got much bigger things to come." Green will begin his junior 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 high school sports leadership team in partnership with USA TODAY High School Sports, which work with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport. Green joins recent Gatorade Kansas Boys Track & Field Athletes of the Year Willie Morrison (2014-15, Leavenworth High School), Kord Ferguson (2013-14 & 2012-13, Ottawa High School), Jonny Giess (2011-12, Blue Valley Northwest High School), Macauley Garton (2010-11, Mill Valley High School), Johannes Swanepoel (2009-10, Shawnee Mission South High School), Adonis Saunders (2008-09, Olathe North High School), John Talbert (2007-08, Kansas City East Christian Academy), and Iain Trimble (2006-07, Shawnee Heights High School) among the state's list of former award winners. To keep up to date on the latest happenings, become a fan of Gatorade Player of the Year on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. For more on the Gatorade Player of the Year program, including nomination information, a complete list of past winners and the announcement of the Gatorade National Player of the Year, visit www.gatorade.com/poy.