North Central sophomore, Ramiah Elliott, was named the 2019-2020 Indiana girls track and field Gatorade Player of the Year.
The 5'11" sophomore did not get to race in the North Central uniform this season due to the COVID-19 cancellations. But there was little doubt that this season would have been a special one for the star sprinter.
Interview with Elliott after earning 4 rings at the 2019 State Meet
In her freshman campaign, it was no secret that Ramiah Elliott was destined to be great after the many AAU titles she had racked up over her youth and middle school career. Now at the high school level she is going after school, state and even potentially national records. With two more years to go, the sky's the limit for this Lady Panther.
Elliott's 52.89 400m win at the 2019 AAU JO's
CHICAGO (June 25, 2020) - In its 35th year of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company today announced Ramiah Elliott of North Central High School as its 2019-20 Gatorade Indiana Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year. Elliott is the second Gatorade Indiana Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year to be chosen from North Central 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 field, distinguishes Elliott as Indiana's best high school girls track & field athlete. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year award to be announced in June, Elliott joins an elite alumni association of state award-winners in 12 sports, including Lolo Jones (1997-98, Roosevelt High School, Iowa), Allyson Felix (2002-03, Los Angeles Baptist High School, Calif.), Robert Griffin III (2006-07, Copperas Cove High School, Texas), Grant Fisher (2013-14 & 2014-15, Grand Blanc High School, Mich.) and Candace Hill (2014-15, Rockdale County High School, Ga.).
The 5-foot-11 sophomore finished fourth in the 200-meter dash at the 2019 USATF U20 Championships last summer after completing her freshman season. The state's returning Gatorade Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year, Elliott also took seventh in the 200 at the New Balance Nationals Outdoor a year ago, earning All-American status in that discipline as well. She was a four-time state champion in her first varsity season of 2019, breaking the tape in the 200 and 400, while also anchoring the winning 4x100 and 4x400 relays.
A devoted member of her church community, Elliott has volunteered locally on behalf of the Humane Society and youth track programs. "Ramiah's personal records of 52.89 in the 400 and 23.27 in the 200 had easily put her in position to repeat as state champion in both events before the season was derailed by Covid-19," said North Central coach Mark Haste. "Since the cancellation of the season, she has continued to train on her own wherever she can find space. She clocked times that would have qualified her to compete for a spot on the Under-20 National Team."
Elliott has maintained a 3.68 GPA in the classroom. She will begin her 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 Player of the Year Selection Committee, 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.
Two-time winner Elliott joins recent Gatorade Indiana Girls Track & Field Athletes of the Year Semira Killebrew (2017-18, Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School), Lynna Irby (2016-17, 2015-2016 & 2014-2015, Pike High School), and Symone Black (2013-14, Concordia Lutheran High School) among the state's list of former award winners.
Since the program's inception in 1985, Gatorade Player of the Year award recipients have won hundreds of professional and college championships, and many have also turned into pillars in their communities, becoming coaches, business owners and educators.
To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, check out past winners or to nominate student-athletes, visit www.Gatorade.com/POY, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GatoradePOY or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Gatorade.
