Alex LeathBy Rubin E. Grant
Alex Leath didn’t want to be left out. He had seen two of his former Vestavia Hills track teammates get recognized as Gatorade Players of the Year, and he wanted to join them.
In late June, Leath did just that when he was selected as the 2022-23 Gatorade Alabama Boys Track & Field Player of the Year.
“First and foremost, I am honored to be selected for this prestigious award,” Leath said. “Winning Gatorade Player of the Year is an honor I have hoped for since my freshman year. When I started running in 7th grade, my head coach (coach Greg Echols) told me that I had some talent and that I could work to develop my gifts.
“As I moved into high school and committed to running full time, I had excellent role models who taught me how to improve as a runner. With two teammates being recognized with the Gatorade Player of the Year from Vestavia in recent years, Ethan Strand and Crawford West, I thought that I might be able to do the same.”
Strand was the boys honoree in 2020-21, giving the Rebels two recipients in three years. West was a two-time state recipient of the Gatorade girls cross-country award in 2020-21 and 2021-22. Strand, who just finished his freshman year at North Carolina, also was a two-time cross-country honoree.
The award, in its 38th year, recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field. He is a finalist for the Gatorade National Boys Track & Field Player of the Year award to be announced in July.
Leath’s Year
As a senior this past track season, the 6-foot-1,160-pound Leath won the 800- and 1,600-meter events at the Alabama High School Athletic Association Class 7A state meet, leading the Rebels to a second-place finish as a team. Leath’s winning time in the 1,600 of 4:07.33 ranked No. 19 nationally among prep competitors in 2023.
Leath took seventh in the 800 at the Brooks PR Invitational in June in Seattle, Washington, in a state-record 1:49.84, which ranked No. 15 nationally.
He also earned dual All-American honors at Nike Outdoor Nationals at the University of Oregon in June with a sixth-place finish in the 800 followed by his anchor leg for a 4×800 relay quartet that took second in a state-record time of 7:30.68. Leath was joined on the relay team by Henry Strand, Mitchell Schaaf and Max Armstrong.
“This year was such a great experience, and really I focused on achieving both individual and team goals,” Leath said. “Ultimately, I think this focus put me in position to be considered and ultimately selected for the Gatorade Player of the Year award.”
Vestavia Hills track coach Richard Anderson was ecstatic to see Leath earn the award.
“Nobody deserved it more … in my mind,” Anderson said. “He did a great job, and his times speak for themselves, not only in the state but nationally. But beyond all that, I’m happiest about the person Alex became this year. He matured and embraced all challenges.”
Anderson wasn’t the only one who noticed.
“Alex Leath established himself as one of the top middle-distance talents in the nation this spring, breaking two state records to rank among Alabama’s all-time track greats,” said Rich Gonzalez, editor of PrepCalTrack.com. “He smashed a 16-year-old state record in the 800 before capping his senior season by anchoring the Rebels’ 4×800 quartet to the third-fastest performance in national prep history at Nike Outdoor Nationals.”
Leath maintained a weighted 4.11 GPA in the classroom. He also volunteered as part of multiple fundraising campaigns to benefit cancer research in association with Vestavia Rise, a school initiative.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross-country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track and field. It awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others as sources to help evaluate and determine the state winners in each sport.
Leath joins recent Gatorade Alabama Boys Track & Field Players of the Year Maddox Hamm (2021-22, Scottsboro), Strand (2020-21, Vestavia Hills), Josiah Harry (2019-20, Mobile Christian) and Charles Lewis (2018-19, Sparkman), among the state’s list of former award winners.
Leath will attend the University of Virginia this fall on a track scholarship.
“Virginia got themselves a good one to compete in the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) and be an impact,” Anderson said. “I think Alex has a bright future.”
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