CHICAGO (June 29, 2020) -- In its 35th year of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company today announced Brandon Miller of John Burroughs School as its 2019-20 Gatorade Missouri Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year. Miller is the second Gatorade Missouri Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year to be chosen from John Burroughs 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 Miller as Missouri's best high school boys track & field athlete. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year award to be announced in July, Miller 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 (2013-14 & 2014-15, Grand Blanc High School, Mich.) and Candace Hill (2014-15, Rockdale County High School, Ga.).
The 5-foot-8, 140-pound senior recorded a season-best time of 1:51.10 in the 800-meter run this past winter, which ranked as the nation's No. 1 performance among prep competitors during the 2020 indoor season. Miller also ran a leg on the 4x400 relay quartet that won the Music City High School Indoor Invitational in 3:19.10, the fourth-fastest prep clocking this past winter. Ranked as the nation's No. 10 recruit in the Class of 2020 by MileSplit, he lost virtually all of his junior season to a hamstring injury, but won state outdoor championships in the 800 and 1600 as a sophomore, also capturing the 800 title at the 2018 Brooks PR Invitational.
Miller has served as a mentor for younger children, has participated in World Food Day and has volunteered locally on behalf of youth track programs. "Brandon Miller is the most successful track and field athlete to ever attend our school, which is saying a great deal given that he's following past Gatorade honoree Ezekiel Elliott," said Burroughs coach Daniel Harris. "His resolve is always to be his best, and his efforts match that every day."
Miller has maintained a 3.38 GPA in the classroom. He has signed a National Letter of Intent to compete in track and field on scholarship at Texas A&M University.
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 work with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.
Miller joins recent Gatorade Missouri Boys Track & Field Athletes of the Year Justin Robinson (2018-19, Hazelwood West High School), KC Lightfoot (2017-18, Lee's Summit High School), Austin Hindman (2016-17, Lafayette High School), Chris Nilsen (2015-16, Park Hill High School), Carlos Davis (2014-15, Blue Springs High School), and C.J. Jones (2013- 14, Cardinal Ritter College Prep.) among the state's list of former award winners.