Sioux Falls Christian’s Paul Hoekman is the 2023-24 Gatorade South Dakota boys track and field athlete of the year. 

Hoekman is the first Gatorade South Dakota boys track and field athlete of the year to be chosen from Sioux Falls Christian School. 

The award, which celebrates the nation’s top high school athletes for excellence on the field, in the classroom and in the community, distinguishes Hoekman as South Dakota’s best high school boys track and field athlete. 

The 6-foot, 245-pound junior throws specialist took fourth in the shot put at the Nike Outdoor Nationals this past season, launching the apparatus a personal-best 64 feet, 4.5 inches to record the No. 23 effort nationally among boys prep competitors this spring. 

Hoekman also won the shot put, finished second in the discus and 8th in the javelin at the Class A state meet, earning field events MVP honors. He set personal-bests in the discus (165-2) and the javelin (147-1) in 2024 and received All-America recognition at NBNO. His PR in the shot ranks ninth in state history. 

Also a state powerlifting champion, a first team all-conference football player and member of his high school’s concert and marching bands, Hoekman has maintained a 3.56 GPA in the classroom. 

He will begin his senior year of high school this fall.