Gatorade announced its 2025-26 boys and girls high school cross-country runners of the year on Feb. 13. Here are the winners from Mississippi.
Boys
Tupelo's Andrew Brown has won his second Gatorade Mississippi Boys Cross-Country Player of the Year award after claiming the honor last season. Brown is the second boys cross-country runner from Tupelo to win the award.
The 5-foot-9, 146-pound junior won the MHSAA 7A state championship with the fastest all-class time, 15:23.7, and helped lead the Golden Wave to the team title. Brown recorded Mississippi’s best time at the Jesse Owens Classic, where he placed second in the Gold Race, and at The Southern Showcase, where he placed eighth.
"Andrew Brown was once again the class of Mississippi this past fall, clocking five times under 15:30 at 5K, and he didn’t lose to an in-state competitor," Rich Gonzalez, editor of Prep CalTrack, said in a press release. "From September through November 1, he earned three wins, a second and an eighth-place finish.”
Brown also won the Tupelo Invitational last fall in a personal-best 15:04.5, which was the state’s fastest 5K in 2025.
Girls
Madison Central's Alex Lee was selected the winner of the 2025-26 Gatorade Mississippi Girls Cross-Country Player of the Year award.
The 5-foot-4 senior claimed the MHSAA 7A title and led Madison Central to a second-place finish as a team. Lee was Mississippi's top finisher at the Southern Showcase, where she finished ninth.
The Ole Miss signee recorded a personal-best time of 17:57.2 at October’s Watson High School Classic and recorded the state’s fastest 5K among Mississippi girls last fall.
“Anyone who was paying attention knows the race for Gatorade Player of the Year in Mississippi was incredibly close,” Gonzalez said. “I think Lee’s large margin of victory at the state, her PR in the Watson Classic Gold Race and the fact she clocked the state’s fastest 5K of 2025 are enough to put her over the top.”
Michael Chavez covers high school sports for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at [email protected] or reach out to him on X, formerly Twitter @MikeSChavez.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Andrew Brown, Alex Lee named Gatorade winners in cross-country for 2026