Natasza is the 2025-26 Gatorade National Cross Country Player of the Year—the first scholastic female in history to double at nationals
For Pioneer sophomore Natasza Dudek, what’s another national honor on top of so many achievements this past cross country season?
It’s a chance to make history.
“Oh, I am definitely honored to receive this award. It’s a huge thing,” Dudek said about being named the 2025-26 Gatorade National Girls Cross Country Player of the Year.
Three-time Gatorade National Girls Cross Country Player of the Year Katelyn Tuohy surprised Dudek with the award, which celebrates the nation’s best high school athletes for their excellence in sport, academics, and community—the top honor in high school sports.
Natasza joins Tuohy as one of only two sophomore girls to win the national award in cross country and has also become the first scholastic female in history to double at nationals.
“I mean, nobody has done what she did this year—undefeated, and she won two national titles, and she’s the first girl to do that,” said head coach Nancy Boudreau. “So, what’s her secret? I wish we all knew. I have no idea, but she has an extra gear that I’ve never seen from anybody. In the two national races that she won, which were really, really close, and coming down the final stretch, she just had something nobody else did. It was pretty impressive.”
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one state winner from each of the 50 states and Washington, D.C., in 12 different sports: football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, baseball, softball, boys and girls soccer, and boys and girls track & field. In total, 610 high school athletes are honored each year. From the pool of state winners, one national winner is selected in each of the 12 sports. 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 winners in each sport.
Anyone familiar with Pioneer sports over the past few years knows that Natasza’s older sister, Zofia, is a 2020 Pioneer graduate and top runner who is now running for Stanford University. Zofia and Natasza Dudek are the only siblings to have won the national championship race in San Diego. Zofia clocked 16:45.0 in 2019, and Natasza ran 16:55.5 this season on the 5-kilometer layout at Balboa Park’s Morley Field. Sister Anna Dudek, was also a standout runner at Pioneer.
Despite her extraordinary accomplishments, Natasza remains grounded.
“Working with Natasza has been so fun this season,” said assistant coach Mary Blanchard. “It’s just so cool when you’re working with a high school team, you really get the full range of experience level and effort. We’ve got a big team and all the kids are great, really getting super novice runners all the way up to literally the best runner in the country. And she’s so fun to work with.”
Blanchard emphasized Natasza’s humble approach to the sport: “Natasza is so humble. It’s never about the results for her. It’s always about the process, coming to practice every day, working hard, and just giving her best effort. So, if you came to practice, you wouldn’t pick who the best runner was. Of course, if you watch the workout, she’s a little bit ahead. But the way they interact and stuff, you would never think. You’d never know.”
When asked about her favorite race this year, Natasza pointed to Nike Cross Nationals. “That was obviously a huge event in general, but it just meant a lot to me, just kind of finishing on empty and pushing to the last,” she said.
Reflecting on what has defined her growth as a runner during her two years at Pioneer, Natasza highlighted the mental aspect of competition.
“I think that just those points where you think that you have nothing left, and then you just hear your coach yelling at you mid-race, being like, ‘Don’t give up,’ because that’s really the key to everything. You have to stay strong in your mind. So if you just push on with the mind, then your body will follow.”
Natasza credits her teammates as essential to her success. The team placed first in the state competition this year.
“My teammates are a very big part of my running and my just day-to-day life,” she says. “They support me so much, and they are always there on the runs, on the hard workouts … They always push to their limits, and I also want to do that.”
She also expressed deep appreciation for Boudreau’s coaching.
“She’s always there to cheer everybody up, always there to give the right tips to us. And she just puts in so much effort with planning our workouts,” Natasza said. “They’re very intentionally placed throughout the week and everything just to get us ready for all those individual races.”
Rich Gonzalez, Editor of PrepCalTrack, has nothing but praise for her.
“It’s one thing to ride sheer talent and elite fitness to blowout victory margins during the regular season, but when national championship challenges arrived, Natasza Dudek broke out new racing weapons from her toolbox, which proved to be decisive separators,” said Gonzalez. “At the Nike Cross Nationals, the precocious sophomore summoned the power and poise to erase her first late-race deficit of the season and scripted a thrilling comeback for the title. A week later, riding an aggressive pace at Brooks Nationals, it was her attack in the final climb and her mental durability to withstand a late challenge that sealed the first dual national title in girls’ high school cross country history. Her ability to evolve and adapt in the clutch has forged her incredible rise.”
About Gatorade Player of the Year
The program has an elite legacy, including star alumni such as Peyton Manning, Paige Bueckers, Cooper Flagg, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, and more. Past Gatorade National Girls Cross Country Players of the Year have gone on to have incredible success—they’ve combined for more than eight National Championships and five bronze medals.
Competition for the award is fierce, and Dudek rose above more than 300,000 other high school girls’ cross country student-athletes nationwide.
Community and Academics
Natasza has donated her time locally with the Women in Sports Club, on behalf of which she has coached youth athletes and organized a sports-equipment drive for underserved communities. Additionally, Dudek is a member of her school’s Science Olympiad team and has also volunteered locally, helping to remove seat cushions at the University of Michigan stadium after the football season. All this while maintaining a a 4.0 GPA in the classroom.
As part of Gatorade’s commitment to breaking down barriers in sport, every Player of the Year also receives a grant to donate to a social impact partner. To date, the Gatorade Player of the Year program has provided more than $6.4 million in grants to winners across more than 2,200 organizations.
When asked if she feels like a celebrity at Pioneer, the 5’1″ sophomore smiled.
“Maybe a little bit,” she said. “But I’m also happy to just have that normal life outside of those big meets, so that’s nice.”
Luckily for Pioneer, Natasza is just a sophomore.
Is she worried about competing with her own stellar record when she returns to the sport next year?
“Every year has different competitions and a different story,” she said. “But I’m definitely going to try just as hard to just live up to what I did this year.”
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