Abby Faith Cheeseman recently won the 2024-25 Gatorade Tennessee Girls Cross Country Player of the Year for the fourth consecutive year.
Since Tennessee allows eighth graders to compete in high school state championships, Cheeseman became the nation’s third prep runner in history to win five state titles. In addition, she’s won 10 event state titles, making her “one of the most decorated distance runners in history,” according to Rich Gonzalez of PrepCalTrack.
She won the TSSAA Division II Class A state meet this past season with a time of 17:22.5, breaking the tape 137 seconds ahead of her closest competitor, helping Webb secure second place as a team.
The 5-foot senior finished 19th at the Foot Locker Nationals and 22nd at the Nike Cross Nationals Final, missing out on NXN All-American honors by 0.20 seconds — making her one of 10 girls prep runners to qualify for both 2024 national championship meets.
Cheeseman isn’t just an all-star athlete. She also devotes her time to her studies by maintaining a weighted 4.65 GPA, Webb’s fine arts as a member of the Honors Orchestra, and volunteer work on behalf of the Trinity Presbyterian Church as well as giving tours at Webb as a Student Ambassador.
On top of that, she sang the national anthem at track and field meets, football games and the Tennessee Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association Conference.
We asked Abby Faith about her historic senior year, and she reflected on how athletics has helped her to be a well-rounded scholar.
"I don't feel like I'm performing my best in cross country or track when I'm not performing my best in the classroom,” she said. “I think that holding yourself to a higher standard is consistent across the board at Webb.”
“Using the skills that I've learned in the classroom and taking those to the course or track and vice-versa, is a special thing,” Cheeseman continued. “These things work in tandem. I think that athletics help me to be a better student."
Abby Faith will continue her athletic career at the University of Virginia this fall running cross country and track.
Cathy Cheeseman, Abby Faith's mother and Webb's cross country head coach, reflected on her daughter's achievements this school year.
"It really is amazing and hard to even take it all in right now,” she said. “When you look back at Abby Faith's cross country season, it's really extraordinary.”
She continued, “So much has to go into each season, and there's so much that can go wrong. For everything to go right and make it to the State Championship podium and stay healthy for five years in a row, it is quite a feat.”
“I'm really excited for her. These honors show a lot of inner strength and personal commitment to the team and the school."
About the award
This is Gatorade’s 40th year honoring the country’s best high school athletes. The award recognizes not only outstanding athletic performance, but also academic achievement, exemplary character and community support.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually awards one National Player of the Year in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states across 12 different high school sports — 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.
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.
Every Player of the Year also receives a grant to donate to a social impact partner as part of Gatorade’s commitment to breaking down barriers in sports. The program has awarded more than $5.6 million in grants to winners across more than 2,000 organizations, according to Gatorade.