TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Dedicated, humble, determined and a champion. Those are just a few words that Brandon Martz's family use to describe him.
Most recently, they've added Gatorade Player of the Year.
“We started reading up on this prestigious honor and we realized how few people were recognized. We were just so honored that they chose Brandon," Christine Martz, Brandon's mother said.
Brandon is a senior at Catalina Foothills High School.
He is the first from his school to be named Gatorade Arizona Boys Cross Country Player of the Year.
“It was pretty cool going to school that day and having my teachers and all of my classmates tell me they were proud," Brandon said.
This award recognizes the nation’s most elite high school student-athletes for more than their work on the track, but also their academic excellence and honorable character.
“First and foremost, he’s an exceptional individual,” Dan Bach, Brandon's uncle said.
“He doesn’t only just focus on the running. He’ll talk about academics; we share a love of reading. He’s not just thinking about himself as a working machine,” Brandon's aunt, Lisa Bach said.
“I was always a student before I was an athlete,” Brandon stated.
Off the track, Brandon has managed to maintain a 4.22 GPA. On the track, he has raced his way to the Division II Individual State Championship.
But reaching this success didn’t come easy for Brandon.
“You’d never know he ever had an unhealthy moment,” Christine said.
Hidden behind a sweet spirit and many first-place medals is someone who has been battling severe asthma since he was barely a year old.
“After a track meet, he would be coughing in his room for like three days," Brandon's dad William Martz said.
"Sometimes, when you have a health struggle, it’s a possibility that you could just maybe not keep going,” Christine said.
Begging the question:
“Is this worth it?” William said they would wonder.
But it was.
“My wife and I from a very young age started teaching Brandon that life is full of roadblocks, and this is just one of them," said William.
“Everyone’s going to have that thing. You’re going to step up to the race, to the line, and look left and right, and even if you have a condition like me—severe asthma—it holds you back but no more than anything anyone else is dealing with.”
“He never gave up,” Christine said.
Brandon never allowed his medical issues to get in the way of his dreams and he says nothing is going to stop him now.
"I've realized this is something that I want to do for the rest of my life," Brandon said.
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Breanna Isbell is a reporter for KGUN 9. She joined the KGUN 9 team in July of 2022 after receiving her bachelor’s degree in sports journalism from Arizona State University in May. Share your story ideas with Breanna by emailing breanna.isbell@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, or Twitter.
