Photo by Erin Nelson.
Mountain Brook’s Reagan Riley leads in the girls race during the 31st annual Husky Challenge cross-country meet at Hewitt-Trussville High School on Oct. 15.
Mountain Brook High School runner Reagan Riley was recently named the 2022-23 Gatorade Alabama Girls Cross Country Player of the Year. Riley is the second Gatorade Alabama Girls Cross Country Player of the Year to be chosen from MBHS (Madeline Morgan: 2007-08, 2008-09) and the 14th athlete from MBHS to receive a Gatorade Player of the Year award.
The award program, which is in its 38th year, recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguishing Riley as Alabama’s best high school girls cross country runner. She is now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Girls Cross Country Player of the Year award, which will be announced later this month.
The 5-foot-6 senior raced to a second straight Class 6A individual state championship this past season with a time of 17:57.30, leading the Spartans to back-to-back team titles. Riley also won the Southern Showcase and took second at Nike Hole in the Wall Invitational in Washington. She placed ninth at the Garmin RunningLane National Championships. The co-president of the Justice Club, organized to raise awareness about human trafficking, Riley has also volunteered locally at Alabama Game Changers, where she tutors autistic youth to make them feel comfortable in new environments. She is also the secretary of the Civitan Club, which plans service projects within her community.
Riley has maintained a weighted 4.16 GPA in the classroom. She has signed a National Letter of Intent to run on scholarship at the University of Notre Dame this fall.
– Submitted by William Galloway, Mountain Brook Schools.
