The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic
achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguishes Hardin as Alabama's best
high school boys cross country player. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Cross Country
Player of the Year award to be announced in February, Hardin joins an elite alumni association of state awardwinners, including Parker Wolfe (2020-21, Cherry Creek High School, Greenwood Village, Colo.), Nico Young
(2019-20, Newbury Park High School, Newbury Park, Calif.), Megan Goethals (2009-10, Rochester High School,
Rochester Hills, Mich.) and Jordan Hasay (2008-09, Mission College Preparatory Catholic High School, San Luis
Obispo, Calif.).
The 5-foot-11, 155-pound senior raced to victory at the Class 7A State Championships with a personal-best time of
14:46.63 this past season, pacing the Tigers to third-place team finish. Hardin also crossed the line fifth at the
Champs Sports South Regionals, qualifying him for Champs nationals, where he finished 20th. He was the state's
top runner in the Gold Race at the prestigious Jesse Owens Classic, where he clocked one of his three sub-15 times
on the year.
Hardin has volunteered locally at the Church of the Highlands in addition to serving as a junior high track team
mentor and as a personal trainer and coach. "Maxwell Hardin dominated in-state action while posting a pristine
ledger, stamping an exclamation point on his résumé with a course-record performance in winning the Class 7A
title," said PrepCalTrack editor Rich Gonzalez. "He capped his season with a 20th-place finish at the Champs Sports
Nationals."
Hardin has maintained a weighted 4.30 GPA in the classroom. He has signed a National Letter of Intent to run on
scholarship at Auburn University this fall.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of
the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls
basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player
of the Year in each sport. 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.
Hardin joins recent Gatorade Alabama Boys Cross Country Players of the Year Miles Brush (2021-22, Chelsea High
School), Ethan Strand (2020-21 & 2019-20, Vestavia Hills High School), and Will Stone (2018-19, Homewood High
School), among the state's list of former award winners.
