CHICAGO — In its 41st year celebrating the nation’s best high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Hunter Robbie of Niwot High School is the 2025-26 Gatorade Colorado Boys Cross Country Player of the Year.
Gatorade Player of the Year is the top honor in high school sports, celebrating the nation’s best high school athletes for their excellence in sport, academics and community. The award recognizes Robbie as Colorado’s best high school boys cross country athlete, and he joins an elite legacy that spans professional athletes and coaches to CEOs, such as Lukas Verzbicas (2009-10 & 2010-11, Carl Sandburg High School, IL) Edward Cheserek (2012-13, Saint Benedict's Preparatory School, NJ) and Charlie Vause (2024-25, Rio Rancho High School, NM).
The 6-foot-1, 140-pound senior finished sixth at Nike Cross Nationals this past season to earn All-American honors for a second consecutive year and lead the Cougars to back-to-back national team titles with a meet-record score. The nation’s closest finisher to eventual dual national champion Jackson Spencer in 2025, Robbie also took second at the CHSAA Class 5A state meet. He paced his squad to its third straight state championship as a team.
A member of Niwot High School’s Leadership Academy, Robbie has volunteered locally as a youth running club mentor through the REAL Training program. He has also donated his time assisting at youth track meets and working the concession stand for the Niwot High School Boosters at school sporting events.
“Taking his early season lumps to focus on being sharpest for a grueling stretch drive, Hunter Robbie peaked in the postseason as his performances and leadership keyed a repeat national title run for his team, which has also won three consecutive state championships,” said Rich Gonzalez of PrepCalTrack.
Robbie has maintained a weighted 4.62 GPA in the classroom. He has signed a written letter of athletic aid to run at Duke University this fall.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one state winner from each of the 50 states and Washington D.C., in 12 different sports: football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, baseball, softball, boys and girls soccer, and boys and girls track & field. In total, 610 high school athletes are honored each year. From the pool of state winners, one national winner is selected in each of the 12 sports. The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others as sources to help evaluate and determine the winners in each sport.
As part of Gatorade’s commitment to breaking down barriers in sport, every Player of the Year also receives a grant to donate to a social impact partner. To date, the Gatorade Player of the Year program has provided more than $6.4 million in grants to winners across more than 2,200 organizations.
To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, check out past winners or to nominate student-athletes, visit playeroftheyear.gatorade.com or follow the program on social media on Instagram at instagram.com/Gatorade, Facebook at facebook.com/GatoradePOY and X(Twitter) at x.com/Gatorade.