Kimmel honored as Ohio Gatorade Player of the Year

Coming off a memorable cross country season where he won the state championship, it was a big honor for Tippecanoe junior runner Landon Kimmel.

The new state championship record holder with his 14:33.81 in the fall, Kimmel was recently selected as the Ohio Cross Country Gatorade Player of the Year. According to Tipp head coach Byron Kimmel, it was the second Red Devil runner to receive this honor. Sam Wharton was selected in 2012, with Tipp being one of the few schools with two winners of this award.

Kimmel had a great junior year, but according to the head coach, Landon earned this award based on more than just his time and championship in the state meet.

“Gatorade requires each nominee's transcripts, two letters of recommendation, and evidence of community involvement,” coach Kimmel said. “Landon was inducted into the National Honor Society this winter and that definitely helped his resume.  He is very active in our church (Tipp City Global Methodist Church), too.”

“For a town of 10,000, Tipp City has produced some outstanding runners that have excelled at the collegiate level and national level,” the head coach added. “Landon is humbled to be mentioned alongside great runners like Jeff Rawlins, Dave Lightle, Jason Salyer, Katie Landwehr, Sam Wharton, Mitchell Poynter, and Bryce Conley.”

Kimmel also ran to a fourth-place finish at the NIKE Nationals Midwest Regional to advance to the NIKE Nationals, where he placed 31st overall.

The Tipp runner has recently suffered a hip injury in late January, and is just now starting to cross train and should be back to training in April according to coach Kimmel.

“Landon has his sights set on some track goals,” coach Kimmel said. “He wants to run under 9:00 for the 3200 and under 4:10 in the 1600. He probably will focus on the 3200 in the postseason.”

“As for cross country, it will be interesting as the OHSAA has added another division.  So, Tipp will be DII for boys next year. This will be an adjustment for him as it will change the makeup of post season competition. There will still be outstanding runners in DII...just not quite the depth of DI.”

“The plan is to stay healthy, train smart, race hard, and see what happens.  He will likely target Nike and Footlocker for the postseason.  Recruiting has really picked up and he's drawn interest from many of the collegiate running schools including Oklahoma State and Wisconsin.”