The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with USA TODAY High School Sports, announced Erika McLeod of Butte High School as its 2013-14 Gatorade Montana Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year. McLeod is the second Gatorade Montana Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year to be chosen from Butte 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 track, distinguishes McLeod as Montana’s best high school girls track & field athlete.
The 5-foot-6 senior hurdler, sprinter and jumper won four individual state championships this spring and led the Bulldogs to a fifth-place finish as a team at the Class AA state meet. McLeod captured the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.21 seconds, the 300-meter hurdles in 43.09, the triple jump with a leap of 37 feet, 2.25 inches and the long jump by soaring 17 feet, six inches. A two-time Academic All-State selection, McLeod completed an undefeated season in both the 300-hurdles and the long jump in 2014.
McLeod has maintained a 3.17 GPA in the classroom. She has volunteered locally on behalf of the Special Olympics, multiple food and clothing drives to benefit area families in need and as a youth track and field coach.
“Erika McLeod represents the sport of track and field very well,” said Jerry Boschee, head coach at Glacier High. “Besides the impressive performances she turned in throughout the season, she is a very personable young lady. I love her competitiveness yet she stays humble while doing it.”
McLeod has signed a National Letter of Intent to compete in track and field on an athletic scholarship at the University of Montana this fall.