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WASHINGTON STATE GATORADE PLAYER OF THE YEAR MILES UNTERREINER

RISE selects Gig Harbor High School standout as Gatorade Washington Boys' Track and Field Athlete of the Year

In its third decade of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, Gatorade joined with RISE Magazine to name senior distance runner MILES UNTERREINER of GIG HARBOR HIGH as its 2007-08 Washington Boys' Track and Field Athlete of the Year.

The senior distance runner swept the 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter events in the Class 4A state meet, leading the Tides to a 10th-place finish overall as a team. The Athlete of the Year as named by the Tacoma Athletic Commission, Unterreiner won the 1,600-meter race with a time of 4:13.72 and captured the 3,200-meter run in 9:13.51. He recorded his top 3,200-meter time at the Narrows League meet, where he finished in 9:02.68, posting the 22nd-best performance nationally among high school competitors in 2008 at the time of his selection.

Unterreiner has maintained a 4.0 GPA in the classroom and ranks first in his class. A National Merit Scholar, he is a student leader in association with the Gig Harbor German Club despite the time-consuming demands of being a national-elite distance competitor.
 
“He has awesome genetic talent,” said Gig Harbor High head coach Kevin Eager. “He's one of those guys that even though he has the natural talent, he does all the things most hardworking athletes do. There's almost nothing missing from his character when it comes to being a good runner. He's the complete package. You need someone who is going to create a culture of hard work, and he's one of those guys that is a leader in establishing that culture. He pursues excellence. There's nobody out there that is at disciplined as he is.”

Unterreiner has signed a National Letter of Intent for track and field at Stanford University for this fall.