AMERICAN FORK HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT-ATHLETE NAMED GATORADE UTAH BOYS TRACK & FIELD PLAYER OF THE YEAR CHICAGO (June 29, 2023) —
In its 38th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Daniel Simmons of American Fork High School is the 2022-23 Gatorade Utah Boys Track & Field Player of the Year. Simmons is the second Gatorade Utah Boys Track & Field Player of the Year to be chosen from American Fork 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 Simmons as Utah’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, Simmons joins an elite alumni association of state awardwinners in 12 sports, including Nico Young (2019-20, Newbury Park High School, Calif.), Michael Norman (2015-16 & 2014-15, Vista Murrieta High School, Calif.), Grant Fisher (2014-15 & 2013-14, Grand Blanc High School, Mich.) and Robert Griffin III (2006-07, Copperas Cove High School, Texas).
The 2022-23 Gatorade National Boys Cross Country Player of the Year, the 5-foot-10, 127-pound junior won the national title in the 2-mile run at New Balance Nationals Outdoor this past season with a time of 8:41.23. Simmons also earned All-American honors at NBNO with a sixth-place finish in the mile run. He took second in the 3200meter run at the Arcadia Invitational with a time of 8:34.14, which ranked No. 2 nationally among prep competitors in 2023 and No. 3 in U.S. prep history. His top 2-mile time of 8:41.10 at the Brooks PR Invitational ranked No. 5 nationally and No. 12 in history, while his 4:07.51 performance in the 1600-meter run at the BYU Invitational ranked No. 22 this spring.
Simmons has volunteered locally as part of multiple community service initiatives through his church youth group. He has also donated his time by orchestrating food drives for the underserved and raising money for non-profit organizations. “Daniel Simmons continued on his path as a distance talent to be reckoned with,” said Rich Gonzalez, editor of PrepCalTrack.com. “His two-mile victory at New Balance Nationals put the finishing touches on a junior campaign which ended with him ranked among the top 15 prep competitors in history in two events.” Simmons has maintained a 3.93 GPA in the classroom. He will begin his senior year of high school this fall.
