CHICAGO — Add another Gatorade award for Kalispell’s Perrin family.
Kalispell Flathead senior Ben Perrin was named the 2018-19 Gatorade Montana boys cross country runner of the year on Monday.
Perrin, 6-foot-1, 160 pounds, won the Class AA state cross country meet last fall, crossing the finish line in 15 minutes, 43.60 seconds, more than 12 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. Flathead finished 10th as a team.
“As a runner, Ben is super strong,” said Bozeman head coach Casey Jermyn. “He sets a good early pace with many of his races and doesn’t look back. He ran pretty tough all year.”
In addition to his high school state championship, Perrin placed 42nd at the Nike Cross Nationals Northwest Regional championships.
Perrin’s older brothers, Zach and Jake, also won Gatorade awards. Zach won the 2010-11 track and field and 2012-13 cross country runner of the year awards, and Jake was the 2015-16 track and field winner.
The Gatorade award “recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field,” according to a Gatorade media release. Ben Perrin maintains a B average in the classroom and “has volunteered locally with The Market Beautiful, a traveling vintage market, and as a youth running coach,” according to Gatorade.
Bozeman runner Duncan Hamilton won the 2017-18 award.
