NEWBURY PARK, Calif. (February 24, 2022) – Just over two years to the date following his former high school teammate and future NAU teammate
Nico Young's prestigious honor, incoming Northern Arizona Lumberjack Colin Sahlman followed suit as he was named the 2021-22 Gatorade National Boys Cross Country Player of the Year.
Sahlman received the award in front of his family, coaches and teammates at Newbury Park High School on Wednesday. To view the video of the announcement, click
here.
Salhman was selected for the award, which recognizes outstanding athletic excellence and high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, from nearly 300,000 other student-athletes wo compete in boys cross country nationwide. A back-to-back recipient of California's Gatorade state honor, Sahlman topped all 50 state winners for the national award, a list that included 34 who joined two or more charitable organizations, 10 returning state Gatorade Players of the Year and 30 with a GPA of 4.0 or above.
Sahlman is the second incoming Lumberjack, joining Young, to earn Gatorade's top Boys Cross Country honor in the last three years. He is the third Lumberjack recipient of all time along with Futsum Zeinasellassie, who earned the 2011-12 national honor and went on to be the lead finisher on NAU's first NCAA Championship Cross Country Team in 2016.
Of course, Sahlman, who will join the Lumberjack cross country and track & field program this fall, hopes to follow Young's path at NAU. In his first two seasons as a Lumberjack, Young has helped the 'Jacks to two Division I National Championships in the spring and fall of 2021 with a pair of cross country All-American honors.
Sahlman, like Young, has starred at Newbury Park High School and was the top runner on the top team in the country in the fall. With Sahlman leading the way with an individual national title winning time of 14:03.3 – the fastest 5K time in US prep history – Newbury Park High School claimed the national championship at the Garmin RunningLane Cross Country Championships in December.
Sahlman also won the California Division I state championship with a time of 14:26.5, helping Newbury Park win the state title, and also crossed the line first at the Clovis Invitational, Marmonte League finals and the Southern Section Championships. He won his last four races with each of his last three performances all clocking a sub-14:30 5K time.
Following the conclusion of the cross country season, Sahlman already has put a stamp on his final prep track & field campaign. Earlier this month at the Dr. Sander Invitational at the Armory in New York City, Sahlman posted his first sub-4:00 mile with a time of 3:58.81 – the third-fastest indoor mile every by a high school athlete. Then just last week, Sahlman clocked the fastest straight 3,200m time in high school history of 8:33.32 in the second installment of the Sundown Track Series at Azusa Pacific University.
In addition to his athletic accolades, Sahlman has maintained a 3.47 high school grade point average and has volunteered locally feeding the homeless on behalf of St. Patrick's Episcopal Church. He has also volunteered as a coach for the Camarillo Cosmos youth Track Program and as a counselor at the Mile High Running Camp.
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