July 08, 2022

Garrett and Hansen named 2022 Gatorade North Carolina Track & Field Players of the Year

photos: John Nepolitan

USATF North Carolina members Akala Garrett, 17, of Charlotte and Rocky Hansen, 16, of Hendersonville have been selected as the 2022 Gatorade North Carolina Track & Field Players of the Year.

The award, recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field.

Akala Garrett, 17, is the second Gatorade North Carolina Girls Track & Field Player of the Year to be chosen from Harding University High Schoolwon.

The 5-foot-6 junior won three national titles this past season. At the Nike Outdoor Nationals she captured both the 100m hurdles and the 400m hurdles. The state’s returning Gatorade Player of the Year in girls track and field, Garrett won the 400m hurdles in 57.46 seconds, which ranked as the nation’s No. 1 performance among prep girls competitors in 2022, and she took the 100m hurdles in 13.44. At the USATF U20 Championships, she won the 400m Hurdles to earn a spot on Team USA for the World Athletics U20 Championships to be held in August in Columbia.

She also won both the 100m hurdles and the 300m hurdles at the Class 4A state meet. Her season-best clockings of 13.33 in the 100m hurdles and 40.62m in the 300 hurdles both ranked No. 1 nationally this season.

Garrett has volunteered locally on behalf of youth track programs.

Akala Garrett is fearless and a true joy to watch. I was fortunate to be out there for Nike Nationals and had the chance to watch her dominate some of the best athletes in the nation. She’s a tremendous talent who embraces the challenge of competing in four events at every meet - Brandon Webb Head Coach coach at Ardrey Kell High

Garrett has maintained a 3.38 GPA in the classroom. She will begin her senior year of high school this fall. She has announced that she plans to attend the University of Texas following gradution.

Rocky Hansen, 16, is the first Gatorade North Carolina Boys Track & Field Player of the Year to be chosen from Christ School.

The 6-foot, 140-pound junior won three individual events at the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association state meet this past season, leading the Greenies to second place as a team. Hansen won the 1600m in a meet-record 4:12.50, while taking the 800m in 1:54.79 and the 3200 in 9:14.36.

He won a national championship in the 2-mile at the New Balance Nationals Outdoor with a time of 8:46.97, which ranked as the nation’s No. 2 performance among prep competitors in 2022, also placing second in the mile.

At the RunningLane Track Championships, he set a state record of 4:00.76 in the mile, and his en-route time of 3:59.27 was the fastest 1600-meter rime ever clocked by a North Carolina high school runner.

A member of his school’s Environmental Conservation Club, Hansen has volunteered locally on behalf of a food pantry and trail maintenance projects.

Rocky excels at whatever he puts his mind towards,” “I’ve been his coach since he was 10 years old and he has, unequivocally, been the
most sincere, dedicated athlete I’ve had in that time. - Christ School coach Randy Ashley

Hansen has maintained a weighted 4.51 GPA in the classroom. He will begin his senior year of high school this fall. He has announced that she plans to attend the Wake Forest following gradution.