The accolades continue to pile up for Cooper senior Paul Van Laningham.
He was recently named the Gatorade Player of the Year in cross country, coming off back-to-back state championships in the Class 3A meet. Van Laningham obliterated the state record in his last state title, running in 15:01, breaking his own mark by 18 seconds. The University of Wisconsin commit torched the Class 3A course in a state-record 15:01, finishing 13 seconds ahead of Lafayette’s Xavier Richardson. With the victory, Van Laningham became the first 3A boy to repeat as state cross country champion since Greenwood’s Ryan Eaton in 2008–09.
Just in the past year, Van Laningham has recorded several milestones and achievements. He was named the 2025 KHSAA cross country student-athlete of the year, took sixth at the national Brooks XC Championships and fifth at the Brooks South Regional. He finished the season ranked No. 9 nationally in both the MileSplit50 and the Dyestat 100. As a A Brooks XC Second Team All-American and First Team All-Region honoree, Van Laningham ran a personal best 14:38.5 at the Trinity/Valkyrie Invitational. He owns four state titles, two in cross country and the 3A indoor and outdoor track and field 1,600-meter champion. Van Laningham won seven of the 11 races he competed in for the 2025 cross country season. His lowest finish was sixth at the Brooks XC nationals. Four times he finished under 15 minutes.
Through all this, Van Laningham has a weighted 4.63 GPA.
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 Gatorade:
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states across 12 different high school sports – 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 leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others as sources to help evaluate and determine the state winners in each sport. As part of Gatorade’s commitment to breaking down barriers in sport, every Player of the Year also receives a grant to donate to a social impact partner. To date, the Gatorade Player of the Year program has provided more than $5.6 million in grants to winners across more than 2,000 organizations.