Texas Tanner Of Sheridan Wins 2022 WY Boys Track and Field Gatorade Athlete Of The Year

In its 37th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, Gatorade announced Texas Tanner of Sheridan High School is the 2021-22 Gatorade Wyoming Boys Track & Field Player of the Year.

Tanner is the first Gatorade Wyoming Boys Track & Field Player of the Year to be chosen from Sheridan 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 Tanner as Wyoming’s best high school boys track & field athlete.

Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Track & Field Player of the Year award to be announced in July, Tanner 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 (2014- 15 & 2013-14, Grand Blanc High School, Mich.) and Candace Hill (2014-15, Rockdale County High School, Ga.).

The 6-foot-2, 230-pound senior won the discus event and took second in the shot put at the Class 4A state meet this past season, leading the Broncs to the team title.

Tanner’s top discus mark of 199 feet, 9 inches at the Queen City Classic ranked No. 10 nationally among prep competitors in 2022 at the time of his selection.

His personal-best put of the shot—61-10—ranked No. 46 in the country this spring.

An All-State defensive end and running back for the Sheridan High football team, he won a state title on the football field in the fall and with the Sheridan High indoor track team last winter.

Tanner has interned at a dentist’s office and wants to pursue orthopedic medicine as a career.

He has volunteered locally as a camp counselor, and he has donated his time to multiple community service initiatives through his church youth group.

“The moment Texas stepped into our program, he has been a game-changer,” said Taylor Kelting, head coach of Sheridan High School. “He loves the throwing events and does everything he can to help his teammates not only learn the events but excel [at them].”

Tanner has maintained a weighted 4.07 GPA in the classroom.

He has made a verbal commitment to attend the United State Air Force Academy, where he will compete in track and field, beginning this fall.

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 leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others as sources to help evaluate and determine the state winners in each sport.

Tanner joins recent Gatorade Wyoming Boys Track & Field Players of the Year Joseph Turner (2020-21, Lyman High School), Peter Visser (2019-20, Star Valley High School), Wyatt Moore (2018-19, Star Valley High School), and Brodie Roden (2017-18, Riverton High School), among the state’s list of former award winners.Gatorade has a long-standing history of serving athlete communities and understands how sports instill valuable lifelong skills on and off the field.

Through Gatorade’s “Play it Forward” platform, Tanner has the opportunity to award a $1,000 grant to a local or national organization of their choosing that helps young athletes realize the benefits of playing sports.

Tanner is also eligible to submit a short video explaining why the organization they chose is deserving of one of twelve $10,000 spotlight grants, which will be announced throughout the year.

To date, Gatorade Player of the Year winners’ grants have totaled more than $3.5 million across more than 1,300 organizations.

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.