Lake Oswego's Josie Donelson named 2023-24 Gatorade Oregon Girls Track and Field Player of the Year

Lake Oswego’s Josie Donelson is the 2023-24 Gatorade Oregon Girls Track and Field Player of the Year, the Gatorade Player of the Year program announced via press release on Tuesday, June 25.

After helping her Lakers bring home their third-straight 6A girls team title back in May, Donelson was recognized yet again this spring for her efforts on the track.

Gatorade’s press release reads as follows:

In its 39th year of honoring the nation’s most elite high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Josie Donelson of Lake Oswego High School is the 2023-24 Gatorade Oregon Girls Track & Field Player of the Year. Donelson is the second Gatorade Oregon Girls Track & Field Player of the Year to be chosen from Lake Oswego High School.

The award, which celebrates the nation’s top high school athletes for excellence on the field, in the classroom and in the community, distinguishes Donelson as Oregon’s best high school girls track & field athlete. From CEOs and coaches to star athletes, Gatorade Player of the Year winners showcase the power of sport, touting an all-star group of alumni that includes Sanya Richards-Ross (2001-02, St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Fla), Sydney McLaughlin (2016-17, 2015-16 & 2014-15, Union Catholic High School, N.J.) and Angelina Napoleon (2022-23, Allegany-Limestone Central School, N.Y.).

The 5-foot-5 senior sprinter/hurdler swept the 100- and 300-meter hurdles at the OSAA Class 6A State Championships this past season, leading her team to first place. Donelson also clocked a state-record time of 52.83 to win the 400-meter dash, which ranked as the nation’s No. 6 time by a prep girl this spring. Additionally, she helped the 4x100 and 4x400 relay quartets to state championships. In May, she smashed the state record in the 300- meter hurdles by more than a half-second. She also earned All-American honors in the 400 at Nike Outdoor Nationals, where she took second.

Donelson, who serves as President of the school’s Black Student Union, has volunteered locally as youth coach and mentor for the Ultimate Speed Athletics middle school club team. She has also competed for the school’s We The People constitutional law team. “Josie Donelson stepped front and center to take the reins in leading Lake Oswego to a highly successful season,” said Rich Gonzalez, editor for PrepCalTrack.com. “Among the premier long sprinters and long hurdlers in the nation, the versatile star also anchored on relay duty, sparking the Lakers to a state title.”

Donelson has maintained a weighted 3.73 GPA in the classroom. She has signed a National Letter of Intent to compete on scholarship at Vanderbilt University this fall.