Gatorade honors Othello's Kirkwood

by Neil Pierson<br>Herald Sports Reporter
| June 19, 2007 9:00 PM

CHICAGO — Othello High School star athlete Courtney Kirkwood earned a prestigious honor Monday as she was named the Gatorade Washington Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year.

Kirkwood, who will be a senior this fall, won the Class 2A javelin and long jump state championships last month. She also finished fourth in the 100-meter hurdles, leading the Lady Huskies to a 10th-place team finish. Kirkwood's season-best javelin throw of 160 feet, 10 inches ranked No. 2 in the nation.

"I don't know if she knows the prestige that comes with this award," Othello head coach Mandi Perez said. "I knew she was in the running and they had narrowed it down. I haven't got a chance to talk to her about it yet."

Gatorade and RISE Magazine team up each year to name award winners for each state and the District of Columbia. Athletes are judged on their athletic and academic accomplishments and personal character. Kirkwood has a 3.92 grade-point average and has been a leader for the Lady Huskies in her first three years.

"She is a great point scorer and she has consistently run on relay teams for us, which is really nice," Perez said, noting that Kirkwood even ran the 300-meter hurdles earlier this year when her team had no one else to do it. "It's nice that we can kind of put her wherever we're lacking, that she's an all-around athlete."

Kirkwood is now a finalist for the Gatorade National Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year award, which will be announced later in June.

Along with her achievements on the track and in the classroom, Kirkwood is an active volunteer with her church's youth group and is a student body officer at OHS. She also participates in Interact, a Rotary-sponsored service club for youths who give back to their community.

Previous winners of Gatorade's Washington award are Mount Spokane's Megan O'Reilly and Bellarmine Prep's Brie Felnagle, a three-time honoree. A complete list of past winners and more information on the national award are available online at www.gatorade.com/playeroftheyear.