Reno High’s Ortega-Gammill honored as Nevada’s Gatorade runner of the year

Gatorade announced that Eric Ortega-Gammill of Reno High School is the 2023-24 Gatorade Nevada Boys Cross Country Player of the Year. Ortega-Gammill is the second Gatorade Nevada Boys Cross Country Player of the Year to be chosen from Reno High School.

Ortega-Gammill, a 6-foot-3, 160-pound senior, raced to seventh place at the talent-stacked Clovis Invitational this past season in a time of 15 minutes, 38.6 seconds. Ortega-Gammill was also the top Nevada finisher at the Woodbridge Classic and the prestigious Bob Firman Invitational.

A four-time Academic All-State honoree, he won the Class 5A state meet in the fastest time across the all levels with 16:31.0, earning All-State recognition for a third consecutive year.

Ortega-Gammill is also an accomplished classical pianist, and he has volunteered locally on behalf of MyKeys Studio, playing the instrument for younger students and providing feedback on their own recitals. He also has donated his time to the Junior Silver State Striders, a running group for ages 6 to 18.

“Eric Ortega-Gammill churned out highly impressive consistency on a variety of championship-level courses to emerge as one of the premier talents from the Silver State in recent memory,” Rich Gonzalez of PrepCalTrack said in a news release. “Crossing state lines six times this season in search of top competition, the talented senior shined brightest at the Clovis Invitational in California and the Bob Firman Invitational in Idaho, two of the top meets in the country.”

The Gatorade award celebrates the nation’s top high school athletes for excellence on the field, in the classroom and in the community, distinguishes Ortega-Gammill as Nevada’s best high school boys cross country runner.

Ortega-Gammill has maintained a 4.60 weighted GPA in the classroom. He has signed a National Letter of Intent to run on scholarship at Santa Clara University this fall.