
Photo courtesy of Heidi Teter
Emma Brooke Levering won the Gatorade Alabama Cross Country Player of the Year for the second straight season. Photo courtesy of Heidi Teter.
Homewood High School senior Emma Brooke Levering was named the Gatorade Alabama Cross Country Player of the Year for the second consecutive year.
Levering is fresh off a state championship in the Class 6A cross-country meet, running the race in 17 minutes, 47 seconds. She won the race by 28 seconds over the next runner, leading Homewood to a second-place finish as a team.
Levering, a Penn State signee, was the top runner from the state of Alabama at the RunningLane Championships, finishing 22nd overall with a time of 17:48.
She won five meets in the 2024 cross-country season — Thompson Warrior Invite, Chickasaw Trails Invite, Black and Gold Classic, Class 6A section meet and Class 6A state meet — and ran her personal best of 17:43.70 at the Black and Gold Classic.
The Gatorade Player of the Year awards also consider classroom and community efforts in addition to athletic excellence. Levering volunteers locally with Peer Helpers, her church, National Beta Club and with the Best Buddies program, mentoring special needs students.
In the classroom, Levering holds a 4.28 GPA. She continues a trend of local two-time Gatorade award winners, with Mountain Brook’s Reagan Riley and Vestavia Hills’ Crawford West also winning the award in back-to-back years.
Levering and the Patriots are now in the indoor track and field season. The state meet to cap the indoor season will be Feb. 1 at the Birmingham CrossPlex.