Kentucky Boys' Track Athlete of the Year
In its third decade of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, Gatorade joined with RISE Magazine to name junior sprinter JUSTIN GREEN of LOUISVILLE MALE HIGH in Louisville as its 2007-08 Kentucky Boys' Track and Field Athlete of the Year.
The junior sprinter swept the 100-meter, 200-meter and 400-meter events at the Class AAA state meet, leading the Bulldogs to the state championship. The 2007 Sophomore Athlete of the Year as named by the Kentucky Track and Cross Country Coaches Association, Green won the 100-meter and 200-meter sprints with times of 10.82 seconds and 21.82 seconds, respectively. He captured the 400-meter race in 48.95 seconds in addition to helping Male High's 4-x-400-meter relay quartet to a winning time of 3:20.95 at the state meet.
Also a highly regarded defensive back recruit in football, Green has maintained a solid average in the classroom. A member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, he participates in multiple community-service initiatives, donating his time as a youth football mentor and instructor at several local leagues, participating in the Green Street Baptist Church community as an usher and volunteering on behalf of the Men of Quality Initiative, an organization dedicated to teaching black teenagers to become responsible adults.
"We knew he was capable of doing it; it was a matter of whether he thought he could do it," said Male High head coach Jason Neuss. "We worked up to it with big workloads with little rest. Once he got that into his head, his confidence grew."
Green will begin his senior year of high school this fall and remains undecided upon a collegiate destination.
