On Monday morning, it was announced that South Vigo senior and future Wisconsin Badger, Jason Swarens was the Indiana Gatorade Track and Field Player of the Year'.
Swarens had a remarkable career, and made the most of his senior year. He contested in 4 indoor meets this year, the biggest one being the Music City HS Invitational, where he finished 1st with a throw of 55-3. Swarens was the favorite going throughout the indoor season to win the indoor state titles as well as the outdoor favorite in shot put and a favorite in the discus.
At the 2019 state meet, Swarens took the win in the shot put with a throw of 60ft 2.5in to win by over 4 feet to his nearest competitor. He also took 6th in the discus with a toss of 161ft 9in.
Here's what Swarens had to say about finding out that he was this years Indiana Gatorade Track and Field Player of the Year'.
"When I woke up this morning and found out that I won this award, I was completely ecstatic. I'm not much of a morning person, but I woke right up, and ran upstairs to show my family."
"It is an honor to be representing Terre Haute and UW for the Indiana Gatorade T&F Athlete of the Year. This is by far one of the best accomplishments that I have received, and even though the phrase "hard work pays off", it is completely true."
"I could not have done this without the amazing coaches, trainers, and teachers who have all helped me in so many ways. I also have an amazing family to keep pushing and supporting me."
OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
In its 35th year of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company today announced Jason Swarens of South Vigo High School as its 2019-20 Gatorade Indiana Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year. Swarens is the first Gatorade Indiana Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year to be chosen from South Vigo 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 Swarens as Indiana'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 July, Swarens 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 6-foot-4, 280-pound senior hurled the shot put 57 feet, 11.5 inches this past winter, which ranked as the nation's No. 35 performance among prep competitors during the 2020 indoor season. Selected as the 2020 Mr. Field Event by the Indiana Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches, Swarens won the shot put at the 2019 state meet and placed 11th in the event at the New Balance Nationals Outdoor.
Swarens has served as an instructor for younger track athletes and has volunteered locally on behalf of his community's Diversity Walk. "Jason is the first one to practice-whether that is the weight room or the track-and he is the last one to leave," said Terre Haute South Vigo coach Jonathan Lee. "His determination to be the best at whatever he's doing is evident in the way he carries himself, along with the way he pursues each and every task."
Swarens has maintained a 3.81 GPA in the classroom. He has signed a National Letter of Intent to compete in track and field on scholarship at the University of Wisconsin.
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.
Swarens joins recent Gatorade Indiana Boys Track & Field Athletes of the Year Cole Hocker (2018-19, Cathedral High School), Nate Patterson (2017-18, Plymouth High School), Ryan Lipe (2016-17, Carmel High School), Ben Veatch (2015- 16, Carmel High School), Deakin Volz (2014-15, Bloomington High School South), and Deakin Volz (2013-14, Bloomington High School South) 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.