It started as an early morning workout, a cold wintry run in a brisk southerly wind for Herriman High senior Jackson Spencer. It wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle, having blazed his way across the record books for the Mustangs for several seasons. But this run ended a bit differently on that Wednesday, Feb. 18.

As Spencer walked into the locker room, he was cheered by family, friends, the media and by Olympic distance runner Grant Fisher who was there to present Jackson with the 2025-26 Gatorade National Boys Cross Country Player of the Year Award. Considered the top national honor for high school sports, it’s part of Gatorade’s long standing tradition of awarding excellence in sport, academics and community.

“It was pretty much a surprise to me,” Spencer said after receiving the trophy. “Coach told us that we had to go back in because the district was getting mad at us for skipping classes while we ran. So we had to show up at 7:30 that morning to get the run in. Once we got back from that blizzard, he said we had to go to the locker room to finish filling out forms to run in New Balance nationals. So I walked in here, and, surprise!”

The Gatorade Player of the Year awards have an elite history. Past winners have included Peyton Manning, Paige Bueckers, Cooper Flagg and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. BYU freshman cross country star Jane Hedengren, who destroyed all competitors when she competed for Timpview High School, won the female award last year. It’s the third time that Fisher, winner of two bronze medals at the 2024 Olympic Summer Games in Paris, has been to Utah to present Gatorade national awards.

“I moved here in 2023, and what I observed is that you have fantastic high school programs and great college programs,” he said. “You have really good infrastructure for professionals, and you get into an environment where everybody is achieving great things and working hard, and that becomes the norm here in Utah.”

Fisher, who now lives in Park City, said the cross country program at Herriman High “is fantastic, and it has been for several years. There’s five schools in Utah that are national caliber, and it’s been fun to be a new person coming in from outside and observing this.”

Spencer praised his coaches and teammates at Herriman, including head coach Doug Soles. The Mustangs won the Nike Cross Nationals in 2023 and have been ranked first or near the top nationally in the years since. 

“It’s been awesome to run with so many great guys the past three years,” he said. “They’ve been fantastic teammates and I’ve been propelled by all of these guys. They’ve kept me grounded and helped me.”

As for Gatorade, which both runners said they love to drink, Spencer’s favorite is Glacier Cherry, while Fisher prefers Glacier Freeze. Among those who gathered for the trophy presentation were coaches and runners from Brigham Young University, the program that Spencer will be joining this coming fall.