CHICAGO — In its 20th Anniversary season of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, Gatorade Thirst Quencher today announced Trindon Holliday of Northeast High School in Pride, La., as its 2005 Louisana Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year.

Gatorade, in partnership with Scholastic Coach & Athletic Director magazine, named State Track & Field Athlete of the Year award winners representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Holliday, along with his fellow State Players of the Year, is now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year award to be announced in the following weeks.

Holliday was the champion in the 100m, 200m and 4x200m relay in the 2005 Louisiana Class AA State Meet, and took second place in the long jump. He was the Class AA State Meet MVP, District and Regional Meet MVP, Challenge of Champions Outstanding Performer and the Nike Indoor Nationals 60m Champion. In addition, he has recorded top times in the nation in the 55m (6.26 seconds) and the 60m (6.64 seconds), and the fourth best time in the 100m (10.43). He also has recorded personal bests of 21.3 in the 200m (14th best in the nation) and 23' 4½" in the long jump.

Holliday's standard of excellence extends to the classroom, where he maintains a 3.0 GPA.

"I've never witnessed an athlete as gifted as Trindon Holliday in my 18 years of coaching," says Northeast High Head Coach Darren Taylor. "He is absolutely amazing."

Holliday will attend LSU in the fall.

The Gatorade High School Player of the Year program recognizes one winner in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia in football and baseball (boys), volleyball and softball (girls), as well as soccer, basketball, and track & field (boys and girls). Each state winner, selected by a panel of sport-specific experts in conjunction with a national media advisory board, is chosen based on his or her outstanding accomplishments on and off the field of play. In addition to athletic performance, the award's criteria include the athlete's achievements in the classroom and overall character.

Holliday joins recent Louisana High School Boys Track & Field Athletes of the Year Kenneth Hall (2004, Tara H.S.), Albert Turner (2003, Southern Lab H.S.) and Johnathan Wade (2002, Evangel Christian H.S.) among others in the Gatorade Circle of Champions.