Gatorade Athlete of the Year nominees hit Hollywood for ESPYs

Video: Michael Porter Jr. highlights
The MaxPreps boys basketball Player of the Year is up for the Gatorade Athlete of the Year award.

LOS ANGELES — Sydney McLaughlin remembers the first time she ran the 400-meter hurdles, the event she competed last summer as a 16-year-old Olympian — the youngest of all U.S athletes in the Rio de Janeiro games.

The recent graduate of Union Catholic (N.J.) was a freshman when she tried it. Sprinting around a track once is as taxing as any of the 10 running races. Insert hurdles into the equation and for many it becomes sheer agony.

"I had no idea what I was doing," she said. "I was literally just jumping over the hurdles with both feet. There was no rhythm or form. I think I finished in like 61 seconds."

No a bad time at all for a first-timer. But now with a world junior best of 53.82 seconds — she qualified for the 2016 Olympics in 54.15 — failing to break a minute seems like a lifetime ago.

Now the gazelle-like 5-foot-9, 132-pounder is one of the most recognizable young athletes on the world track and field stage.

On Tuesday, she will cross the finish line on her high school career, perhaps setting history at prep sports' most lavish event — the 15th annual Gatorade High School Athlete of the Year Awards in Los Angeles.

Hosted at the Ritz-Carlton in Marina Del Rey and in conjunction with the ESPYs, McLaughlin will attempt to be the first athlete — male or female — to win the award for a second-straight season.

She was surprised on a San Francisco cable car last month by the very first female Athlete of the Year, 2012 200-meter Olympic champion Allyson Felix, with her second-straight Gatorade Track and Field Athlete of the Year trophy.

McLaughlin will need to beat out five other sport-specific athletes of the year to win her second-straight overall award.

"It's amazing to win the track award two years in a row," McLaughlin said. "It's really unbelievable. I didn't think it was possible to top last season."

Getting motivated for the high school season following a trip to the Olympics was admittedly tough for McLaughlin, but it didn't show in her results. She won her record 11th New Jersey career state title and finished as the national leader in the 400 (51.88), 300 hurdles (38.90) and 400 hurdles (53.82).

"It was a big transition back to high school," she said. "My coaches and parents helped keep me focused. It was different. People treated me different. I just wanted to be a normal senior in high school. It was definitely a challenge. It wasn't terrible by any means, but it just took adjusting."

She hopes there's no adjustment Tuesday at the star-studded event, which will have such presenters as April Ross and Abby Wambach among the women, and Aaron Rodgers, Karl-Anthony Towns, Christian McCaffrey, DeSean Watson and D'Angelo Russell among the men.

The boys competition appears wide open, though history has shown a basketball or football star has been awarded the top prize more often than not.

Of the previous 14 male winners, eight — including Jayson Tatum last year — have been basketball players and five were from the gridiron.

Owasso (Okla.) alum and current Baltimore Orioles pitcher baseball pitcher Dylan Bundy, the 2010-11 winner, was the only non-basketball/football player to emerge.

This year, Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) quarterback Tate Martell (now at Ohio State) and Michael Porter Jr., from Nathan Hale (Seattle) and now at Missouri, once again appear to be the front-runners for the award, though watch out for baseball's MacKenzie Gore.

If McLaughlin repeats, it will be the third-straight year — and fifth time overall — a track and field athlete has prevailed. Seven basketball players have won the female top award, while soccer has claimed two and volleyball once.

For the first time, Gatorade is honoring two coaches: Mat Taylor, a football coach at Skyline (Sammamish, Wash.), and record-setting Cathy Self-Morgan, a girls basketball coach from Duncanville (Texas).
Boys

Casey Clinger, American Fork (Utah) — Cross-country
The 5-foot-11, 145-pound senior captured his second-straight national title by claiming the Nike Cross national finals, covering the 3-mile course in 15 minutes, 28.4 seconds. He also won his state 5A title in a meet record and closed his prep career with 15 straight wins dating back to 2015.

Armand "Mondo" Duplantis, Lafayette (La.) — Track and Field
The 5-11 junior continued to redefine the pole vault game, with an almost preposterous mark of 19 feet, 4¼ inches at the Texas Relays, shattering the national high school record by nearly a foot. The vault also set a World Junior (under-20) record and represented the highest clearance in the world in 2017, regardless of age.

MacKenzie Gore, Whiteville (N.C.) — Baseball
The left-handed pitcher was the No. 3 pick in last month's MLB Draft. He posted an 11-0 record with a 0.19 ERA and hit .478, leading his team to a third state crown in four years. He was the MaxPreps Small Schools Player of the Year.

Tate Martell, Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) — Football
The MaxPreps Player of the Year led Gorman to a 15-0 record, eighth-straight Nevada state title and national crown. An early enrollee at Ohio State, the nimble 5-11, 195-pound quarterback accounted for 3,619 yards and 62 touchdowns last season. He was 43-0 as a starter in his career and was considered an impeccable leader.

Umar Farouk Osman, Hotchkiss School (Lakeville, Conn.) — Soccer
The 5-9, 150-pound senior finished off an illustrious career with 19 goals and nine assists to up his career marks to 63 goals and 45 assists. He participated in the High School All-American Game in North Carolina in December.

Michael Porter Jr., Nathan Hale (Seattle) — Basketball
The MaxPreps Player of the Year is considered the greatest player to ever come out of Washington, even though he played there only one season. What a season it was. He averaged 37.0 points and 14.3 rebounds per game, leading his team — 3-18 the previous year — to a 29-0 record along with state and national titles. The do-everything 6-9 forward is now at Missouri.

Girls
Taylor Dockins, Norco (Calif.) — Softball
The senior pitcher went 33-1 and posted a 1.00 ERA for the nation's No. 2 team. She also hit .454 with seven doubles, 30 runs and 27 RBIs. The inspirational Cal State Fullerton-bound star dominated despite being diagnosed with a rare form of liver cancer last July.

Sydney McLaughlin, Union Catholic (Scotch Plains, N.J.) — Track and Field
The 5-9 senior backed up a remarkable junior campaign by recording national-best times in the 400 (51.88), 300 hurdles (38.90) and 400 hurdles (53.82). She's headed to the University of Kentucky.

Brie Oakley, Grandview (Aurora, Colo.) — Cross Country
The 5-4 senior won the national title at the Nike Cross Nationals, winning in 17:10.1. She set a course record while taking the Colorado 5A state title and she also captured the NXN Southwest Regional championship.

Lexi Sun, Santa Fe Christian (Solana Beach, Calif.) — Volleyball
The 6-2 outside hitter backed up her status as nation's top recruit by prepvolleyball.com by amassing 630 kills with 288 digs, 60 blocks and 45 aces for the 32-8 Eagles. Sun, the MaxPreps Player of the Year, finished her three-year prep career with 1,360 kills and 687 digs. She's headed to Texas.

Megan Walker, Monacan (Richmond, Va.) — Basketball
The MaxPreps Player of the Year led the Chiefs to a 29-0 record by averaging 25.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.1 steals per game. Rated the No. 1 recruit in the country by the Blue Star Basketball Report, the 6-1 senior had more than 2,000 career points. She'll play next season for Geno Auriemma at the University of Connecticut.

Kennedy Wesley, Valley Christian (Cerritos, Calif.) — Soccer
The 5-6 sophomore midfielder and defender led the Crusaders to a 25-3-3 record and Southern California Regional title. Rated the No. 1 recruit in her class by TopDrawerSoccer.com, Wesley had 22 goals and nine assists.
 
HISTORY
Previous Gatorade National High School Athletes of the Year
BOYS
2002-03 — Lebron James, St. Vincent-St. Mary: Basketball
2003-04 — Dwight Howard, Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy: Basketball
2004-05 — Greg Paulus, Christian Brothers Academy (Syracuse, N.Y.): Football
2005-06 — Greg Oden, Lawrence North (Indianapolis): Basketball
2006-07 — Kevin Love, Lake Oswego (Ore.): Basketball
2007-08 — Matt Barkley, Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.): Football
2008-09 — Garrett Gilbert, Lake Travis (Austin, Texas): Football
2009-10 — Brandon Knight, Pine Crest (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.): Basketball
2010-11 — Dylan Bundy, Owasso (Okla.): Baseball
2011-12 — Johnathan Gray, Aledo (Texas): Football
2012-13 — Andrew Wiggins, Huntington Prep (WV): Basketball
2013-14 — Karl-Anthony Towns, St. Joseph (N.J.): Basketball
2014-15 — Kyler Murray, Allen (Texas): Football
2015-16 — Jayson Tatum, Chaminade (St. Louis): Basketball

GIRLS
2002-03 — Allyson Felix, Los Angeles Baptist: Track and Field
2003-04 — Candace Parker, Naperville Central (Ill.): Basketball
2004-05 — Cynthia Barboza, Wilson (Long Beach, Calif.): Volleyball
2005-06 — Tina Charles, Christ the King (Middle Village, N.Y.): Basketball
2006-07 — Maya Moore, Collins Hill (Ga.): Basketball
2007-08 — Chanelle Price, Easton Area (Pa.): Track and field
2008-09 — Skylar Diggins, Washington (South Bend, Ind.): Basketball
2009-10 — Chiney Ogwumike, Cy-Fair (Cypress, Texas): Basketball
2010-11 — Morgan Brian, Frederica Academy (Saint Simons Island, Ga.): Soccer
2011-12 — Breanna Stewart, Cicero-North Syracuse (Cicero, N.Y.): Basketball
2012-13 — Morgan Andrews, Milford (N.H.): Soccer
2013-14 — Brianna Turner, Manvel (Texas): Basketball
2014-15 — Candace Hill, Rockdale County (Conyers, Ga.): Track and field
2015-16 — Sydney McLaughlin, Union Catholic (N.J.): Track and field