LEE'S SUMMIT HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT-ATHLETE NAMED
GATORADE MISSOURI BOYS TRACK & FIELD PLAYER OF THE YEAR
CHICAGO (July 8, 2021) - In its 36th year of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, Gatorade today
announced Johnny Brackins Jr. of Lee's Summit High School as its 2020-21 Gatorade Missouri Boys Track & Field
Player of the Year. Brackins Jr. is the second Gatorade Missouri Boys Track & Field Player of the Year to be chosen
from Lee's Summit 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 Brackins Jr. as Missouri's best
high school boys track & field athlete. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Track & Field Player of
the Year award to be announced in July, Brackins Jr. joins an elite alumni association of state award-winners in 12
sports, including Lolo Jones (1997-98, Roosevelt High School, Iowa), Allyson Felix (2002-03, Los Angeles Baptist High
School, Calif.), Robert Griffin III (2006-07, Copperas Cove High School, Texas), Grant Fisher (2013-14 & 2014-15,
Grand Blanc High School, Mich.) and Candace Hill (2014-15, Rockdale County High School, Ga.).
The 6-foot-4, 175-pound senior won three individual events at the Class 5 state meet, leading the Tigers to a third place
finish as a team. Brackins Jr. set a meet record with his time of 13.79 seconds in the 110-meter high hurdles, which
ranked as the nation's No. 7 performance among 2021 prep competitors. He also soared 23 feet, 8.25 inches to win the
long jump and captured the triple jump with a leap of 48-3.5. His career-best effort of 25-3.25 in the long jump at
sectionals broke the Class 5 record and ranked No. 2 nationally.
Brackins Jr. has volunteered locally on behalf of the Special Olympics. "Johnny is the most talented track athlete that
Lee's Summit High School has ever produced," said Lee's Summit coach Craig Heeney. "His jumping ability, hurdling
ability and sprinting talent makes him incredibly versatile. The hard part is trying to figure out what events to put him in
each meet."
Brackins Jr. has maintained a weighted 4.07 GPA in the classroom. He has signed a National Letter of Intent to compete
in track and field on scholarship at the University of Southern California this fall.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the
50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys
and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each
sport. The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which works with
top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine
the state winners in each sport.
Brackins Jr. joins recent Gatorade Missouri Boys Track & Field Players of the Year Brandon Miller (2019-20, John
Burroughs School), Justin Robinson (2018-19, Hazelwood West High School), KC Lightfoot (2017-18, Lee's Summit High
School), and Austin Hindman (2016-17, Lafayette High School), among the state's list of former award winners.
