Gatorade today announced Ella Nighbor of Clover High School is the 2025-26 Gatorade South Carolina Girls Cross Country Player of the Year.
Gatorade Player of the Year is the top honor in high school sports, celebrating the nation's best high school athletes for their excellence in sport, academics and community. The award recognizes Nighbor as South Carolina's best high school girls cross country athlete, and she joins an elite legacy that spans professional athletes and coaches to CEOs.
The 5-foot-6 senior broke the tape at the SCHSL AAAAA state meet with a time of 17:37.78, leading the Blue Eagles to the team title. Nighbor was the state's top finisher at the Hare & Hounds Invitational (9th), the Brooks XC South Regional Championships (17th) and the Great American XC Festival (20th). Her winning time at the Bob Jenkins York County Championships came in a personal-best 17:26.2.
A Student Ambassador and a peer tutor at her school, Nighbor has volunteered locally on behalf of the Imagine Church Youth Group, Operation Christmas Child and the Salvation Army. In addition, she's participated in the AMC Math Competition and qualified for the National Association of Teachers Regional as a singer. Nighbor has also donated her time to the Lake Wylie Athletic Association. "Ella Nighbor ran a good slate of competitive races on courses with a challenging degree of difficulty," said John Olson of MileSplit SC. "She led her team to the state title and was the state's fastest finisher at Brooks South."
Nighbor has maintained a weighted 5.52 GPA in the classroom. She has signed a written letter of athletic aid to run at the University of South Carolina this fall.
