Rio Rancho’s Charlie Vause Named Gatorade National Boys Cross Country Player of the Year
On Tuesday, Rio Rancho High School standout distance runner Charlie Vause was named the Gatorade National Boys Cross Country Player of the Year. “These are pinch me moments,” said a surprised Vause. “Seeing that big things like this can come from the accumulation of aerobic runs, and hard workouts, and races, and strength training, and lifting, it’s moments like these that are so unreal.”
The 6-foot-1, 147-pound senior won the national NXN Final this past season with a time of 15:28.1, breaking the tape 2.5 seconds ahead of his next-closest competitor in becoming the state’s first prep distance national champion in history. Vause raced to a second-place finish at the NMAA Class 5A state meet, leading the Rams to the team championship. He clocked a personal-best of 14:30.2 last fall when he took bronze at the NXN Southwest Regional. “I’ve been wondering who was going to be the next Player of the Year for cross country and I didn’t think it could be me because I had that one big race,” said Vause.
Vause is just the second student-athlete from New Mexico to ever win a Gatorade national honor. Albuquerque Academy standout Curtis Beach was the Gatorade National Boys Track and Field Player of the Year in 2009. “I started running in the seventh grade and I stuck with it this whole time and loved it the whole way,” said Vause. “Carrying that love for the sport, good things were bound to happen, and it’s amazing to see a lot of those good things happened this year.”
Vause was surprised with the award by American distance runner Grant Fisher, who recently shattered the world indoor 3000 meters record. “To be a runner, you have to have a lot of grit, and he (Charlie) has a lot of that,” said Fisher.
“It’s awesome to see someone I look up to, as a runner and person, say nice things about me and encouraging me to keep doing what I’m doing,” said Vause.
Vause has volunteered locally on behalf of his church youth group as well as the Big Event, New Mexico’s largest community service project for neighbors in need. He has also donated his time to RunFit road races in the area. In addition, he works as a swim instructor at the Rio Rancho Aquatic Center twice a week. Vause has maintained a 4.17 GPA in the classroom. He has signed a written letter of athletic aid to run at the Brigham Young University this fall.
Interview with Charlie Vause
