Daniel Simmons Runs Into Surprise Announcement, Greeted By Former American Fork Recipient Casey Clinger
By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor
Daniel Simmons of American Fork UT didn’t expect to feel this good at the top of The Grinder.
At the top of one his training group’s workout hills on Monday, he was greeted be crowd of cheering people, a bright orange balloon archway. Simmons began to process what was happening as he ran past all of that and met Casey Clinger holding the Gatorade Boys Cross Country Athlete of the Year trophy.
Simmons, a junior who won the Utah 6A and Nike Cross Southwest regional titles before taking second at Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, was selected by Gatorade for achievements last fall in competition, in the classroom and in his community.
“I was surprised for sure,” Simmons said.
Simmons and his family moved back to the American Fork area, between Salt Lake City and Provo, last summer after his first two years at Salmon High in Idaho.
He made an immediate impact for one of the country’s top high school distance programs under the coaching of Timo Mostert.
“It has really been fun,” Simmons said of his time at American Fork. “It’s been a really big growth stage for me. It’s brought out the best in me. It’s really great to receive this type of training and I love being here in this community, love the people, and really learned a lot.”
Simmons won the competitive Southwest regional title at Coyote Run Golf Course by 11 seconds and covered the 5,000-meter layout in 14:44.8.
At Nike Cross Nationals, he was second behind Newbury Park’s Aaron Sahlman. Simmons moved up from 13th place at the 2-mile mark.
Sahlman’s only win was at nationals. His teammate, Leo Young, won the state award for California. His older brother, Colin, was last year’s national recipient.
Simmons joins Clinger, now an All-American at BYU, as a national receipient from American Fork. Clinger, a two-time NXN champion, won the 2015-16 Gatorade award.
“I got to know him a bit after NXN. We went to (an indoor meet) of his and got to hang out and have some fun. I said ‘hi’ to him and we talked,” Simmons said.
Simmons is the first junior to win the award since Grant Fisher won the first of his back-to-back honors in 2013-14 and 2014-15.
Simmons has a 3.98 grade-point average. He has volunteered locally through church service projects benefiting the elderly and the homeless and is also an accomplished actor and singer.
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