Angelina Perez, coming off the best year in state history for a distance runner, was rewarded for her amazing accomplishments when she was named Gatorade's 2021-22 New Jersey Female Track & Field Athlete of the Year on Thursday morning.
Lawrenceville's Greg Foster was named Gatorade's 2021-22 NJ Male Athlete of the Year on Wednesday.
Perez, who is headed to the University of Florida, will down as the greatest distance runner in state history after what she did this past year. The times and titles are simply eye-popping.
After being named Gatorade's 2021 NJ Female Cross-Country Runner of the Year, Perez followed that up by smashing the NJ indoor record in the 3,200/2-mile multiple times. The first time Perez broke it came when she ran 10:00.90 to win her second 3,200 title at the Meet of Champions at the Bennett Center, shaving more than 14 seconds off the state 3,200m record of 10:15.02 that Charlotte Bednar of Lawrenceville ran at the Virginia Showcase in January of 2021.
Perez reset the state indoor record again when she dropped a 9:56.96 in the 2-mile to place third at the New Balance National Championships at the New York Armory.
Perez's outdoor season was even more spectacular.
At the state Group 2 Championships, Perez dropped a 9:53.29 in the 3200 to crush Bednar's state outdoor record of 9:58.34. She also pulled off an incredible two-day, two-state distance double when she won the New Balance National title in the 2-mile 10:03.18 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, and the next day she won the 3,200 at the Meet of Champions at Franklin High School to put an exclamation point on her epic season and her legendary high school career.
Perez, who finished the outdoor season undefeated in the 1,600 and 3,200, also won the 3,000 at the Penn Relays in a NJ record 9:18.11, captured the 1,600 at the State Group 2 Championships in 4:48.68, and ran a PR of 4:48.13 in the 1,600.
Perez was just as impressive off the track.
She raised funds on behalf of both breast cancer research and mental health awareness, volunteered locally for her public library as well as trail clean-up initiatives and charity road races, and she maintained a weighted 4.29 GPA in the classroom.
"Angelina had an unbelievable finish to an already illustrious career," said Lakeland coach Damiano Conforti. "I feel she's meant more to the team, school and community than any other athlete, ever. She's a remarkable young lady who will be remembered for what she did for her teammates while also capturing national records and championships."
In my opinion, what Perez accomplished on the track, combined with her record-breaking cross-country season when she ran a NJ course record 17:07 at Holmdel Park, won the Meet of Champions, and placed second at the Eastbay National Championships, make her the greatest female distance runner in NJ high school history.
The times and the titles speak for themselves!!!!
