MENOMONIE – Lauren McCalla’s trophy case is getting pretty full.
The Menomonie High School senior distance runner was selected as the 2025–26 Gatorade Wisconsin Girls Cross Country Player of the Year. The award recognizes McCalla as Wisconsin’s best high school girls cross country athlete.
The 5-foot-6 senior won the WIAA Division 1 state meet last fall with a class meet record time of 17:26.4, breaking the tape 15 seconds ahead of her next-nearest competitor in leading the Mustangs to a fourth-place team finish. A two-time First Team All-State selection, McCalla broke the state 5k record at the Old Abe Invite by clocking 16:52.0. She won 9 of her 13 races during the season, also placing 16th at the Brooks Cross Country Championships.
McCalla has volunteered locally as an instructor for Run N’ Fun class each summer, working with middle school and elementary school students in building healthy activity habits. She has also donated her time with Mind Over Matter, a local non-profit initiative that organizes road races for the fundraising purpose of providing scholarships for underserved youth to attend summer camps.
In the classroom, McCalla has maintained a 3.99 grade point average. She has signed a written letter of athletic aid to run at the University of Washington this fall.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one state winner from each of the 50 states and Washington, D.C., in 12 different sports: football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, baseball, softball, boys and girls soccer, and boys and girls track & field. In total, 610 high school athletes are honored each year. From the pool of state winners, one national winner is selected in each of the 12 sports. The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others as sources to help evaluate.
