Morgantown's Lea Hatcher has been named the 2019 Gatorade Female Cross Country Runner of the Year for West Virginia. Hatcher dominated in-state competition all year long, not losing a head-to-head matchup to a State rival during the regular season, and took the State Title by 10 seconds in a race where she led by 8 seconds less than 3/4 of a mile into the race and was never threatened. Her 17:24.66 is the 2nd best time ever ran on the State Meet Course.
Hatcher also clocked a 17:24 at the OVAC Championships, a dominating performance that saw her win by over 40 seconds. Hatcher then joined teammate Athena Young in advancing to Nike Team Nationals with a 3rd place finish at Nike Southeast. She would cap her season with a 32nd place finish in 18:24.6 on a cold and sloppy day at Nike Nationals.
A complete press release can be found at the Gatorade POY site.