Gilbert's Vance Nilsson named Gatorade Boys Track and Field Player of the Year

On the same day that he was set to race in the first round of the men’s 400-meter hurdles at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials, Gilbert senior Vance Nilsson earned another award for his breathtaking season on the track — the Arizona Gatorade 2024 Track and Field Player of the Year.

On Thursday, in his race at the Olympic trials, the 18-year-old qualified for the semifinals of the men's 400-meter hurdles. That race was scheduled for Friday evening.

Nilsson, who is committed to Florida, became the first American boys' high school hurdler to run under 35 seconds in the 300-meter hurdles when he broke the U.S. high school national record at the AIA State Championships in early May. He went 34.83, recording the sixth-fastest time ever in the event in the history of the sport.

That came the week after Nilsson broke Phoenix Brophy Prep’s Devon Allen’s 2013 state record in the 110-meter hurdles, running 13.39 at the Division I championships. Allen went on to become an NCAA champion at Oregon and has made two Olympic teams.

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Nilsson was undefeated in every hurdle race this season in a Gilbert uniform, and just recently won the United States Track and Field Under-20 championship and Nike Outdoor Nationals in the 400-meter hurdles. At the U-20 championships, Nilsson ran 50.23. He has qualified for the U-20 World Athletics Championship, which takes place in Peru in August.

In total, he broke the state record in all three hurdles events in his senior year and ranks among the top 25 nationally in history for all three.

Nilsson was also named The Republic’s Male Athlete of the Year and Track and Field Athlete of the Year.

Nilsson was in Eugene, Oregon this week at the Olympic Trials. He was one of only nine high schoolers who competed. The 400-meter hurdles will be the distance he will focus on at Florida, as well as the 110-meter hurdles as he doubles up in each event at the collegiate level.

“This puts a bow on a great high school season and career,” Gilbert coach Devin Green told The Republic in a message. “They give this award to one boy and one girl every year, there have been a lot of deserving athletes from some of the historically great programs that never won the award. Now when people look at the list, they will see ‘Vance Nilsson, Gilbert High School’ and that's never going to change.”

Logan Stanley is a sports reporter with The Arizona Republic who primarily focuses on high school, ASU and Olympic sports. To suggest ideas for human-interest stories and other news, reach out to Stanley at logan.stanley@gannett.com or 707-293-7650. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @LSscribe .

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Gilbert's Vance Nilsson named Gatorade Boys Track and Field Player of the Year