Shawnee Mission South High School STANDOUT NAMED

GATORADE® Kansas BOYS TRACK & FIELD ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

CHICAGO (June 22, 2010) — In its 25^th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with ESPN RISE, today announced Johannes Swanepoel of Shawnee Mission South High School as its 2009-10 Gatorade Kansas Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year.  Swanepoel is the first Gatorade Kansas Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year to be chosen from Shawnee Mission South 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 Swanepoel as Kansas’ 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, Swanepoel joins an elite alumni association of past 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.), Kevin Garnett (1992-93, Maudlin HS, S.C.), Mark Sanchez (2004-05, Mission Viejo HS, Calif.) and Lolo Jones (1997-98, Roosevelt HS, Ia.).

The 6-foot senior shattered his own state record in the javelin this past season, winning the event at the Class 6A state meet with a throw of 238 feet, 4 inches, second-best in the nation this year and the No. 3 distance in prep history.  Swanepoel has captured three javelin state titles and twice won the event at the Kansas Relays.

Swanepoel has maintained a B average in the classroom.  An active member of his church community, he has volunteered locally helping senior citizens with home renovation projects. 

“Johannes is a tremendously talented athlete,” said Shawnee Mission South Head Coach J.J. Wannamaker. “In his eyes, he had a sub-par year as a junior. But his hard work and dedication over the winter translated into an historic senior campaign.”

Swanepoel has signed a National Letter of Intent to compete on an athletic scholarship at the University of Kansas 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 ESPN RISE and the Gatorade high school sports leadership team, 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.

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