In its 30th year of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with USA TODAY High School Sports, announced Taylor Cuneo of Central Magnet School as its 2014-15 Gatorade Tennessee Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year.

Cuneo is the first Gatorade Tennessee Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year to be chosen from Central Magnet 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 racecourse, distinguishes Cuneo as Tennessee's best high school girls cross country runner. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year.

The 5-foot-2 freshman raced to the Division I AA-A individual state championship this past season with a time of 18:57.58, leading the Lady Tigers to a third-place finish as a team.

The 2014 First Team All-State selection, Cuneo was the fastest Tennessee competitor at the Nike Cross Nationals Southeast Regional championships, crossing the line in fourth place in 17:27.3. She went on to compete at the NXN Final, where she earned All-American honors with an eighth-place finish in 17:41.

Cuneo has maintained an A average in the classroom. A member of the Key Club, she has volunteered locally on behalf of her church youth group and as both a soccer and a track & field camp counselor.

"Taylor Cuneo embodies all the things any coach would dream of in a student-athlete," said Central Magnet High head coach Allen Nichols. "Her work ethic and dedication to excellence is the perfect example for her teammates as she develops into an important leader for our Lady Tiger cross country team. Even with her undeniable talent, she remains quite humble and has kept her sights set on becoming even better."

Cuneo will begin her sophomore year of high school this fall.