NETTLETON HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT-ATHLETE NAMED
GATORADE ARKANSAS GIRLS TRACK & FIELD PLAYER OF THE YEAR
CHICAGO (June 28, 2023)
In its 38th year of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, Gatorade today
announced Donna Douglas of Nettleton High School is the 2022-23 Gatorade Arkansas Girls Track & Field
Player of the Year. Douglas is the first Gatorade Arkansas Girls Track & Field Player of the Year to be chosen from
Nettleton High School.
The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic
achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguishes Douglas as Arkansas' best
high school girls track & field athlete. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Girls Track & Field
Player of the Year award to be announced in July, Douglas joins an elite alumni association of state awardwinners in 12 sports, including Jasmine Moore (2018-19, Lake Ridge High School, Texas), Sydney McLaughlin
(2016-17, 2015-16 & 2014-15, Union Catholic High School, N.J.), and Lolo Jones (1997-98, Roosevelt High School,
Iowa).
The 5-foot-11 junior won the shot put with a state-record throw of 45 feet, 3 inches at the Class 5A state meet this
past season, leading the Raiders to a sixth-place finish as a team. Douglas' record effort ranked No. 46 nationally
among prep competitors this spring. Douglas swept the shot put and discus at both the Class 5A state meet and the
Meet of Champions. Her winning discus throw of 147-11 at the MOC-a 40-foot improvement upon her sophomore
year personal-best-ranked No. 57 nationally at the time of her selection.