Class A Div. II Blog: Bowdon’s Averi Lowen returns to the spotlight this fall

With the start of the 2025 football season just seven weeks away, Bowdon High School will have a target on its back when the action kicks off. The Red Devils are a three-time defending state champ and have the highest-rated player in the entire classification with tight end 6-foot-6 composite five-star Kaiden Prothro. This fall, however, there are more milestone’s in the forecast for the Bowdon community when it comes to cross country and the Red Devils’ rising junior Averi Lowen.

This past year, Lowen was named the 2024-25 Gatorade Georgia Girls Cross Country Player of the Year. In doing so, Lowen is the first Gatorade Georgia Girls Cross Country Player of the Year to be chosen from Bowdon High School.

Gatorade Player of the Year is the top honor in high school sports, celebrating the nation’s best high school athletes for their success on the field, in the classroom and in the community. The award distinguishes Lowen as Georgia’s best high school girls cross country athlete, and she joins an impressive group of alumni that spans CEOs, coaches and star athletes such as Jordan Hasay (2008-09, Mission College Preparatory Catholic High School, Ca.), Katelyn Tuohy (2017-18, 2018-19 & 2019-20, North Rockland High School, N.Y.) and Addison Ritzenhein (2023-24, Niwot High School, Co.).

The 5-foot-7 sophomore won the GHSA Class 1A Division 2 state meet this past season with an all-class best clocking of 17:52.5. Lowen earned First Team All-Region honors by winning the Nike Cross Southeast Regional Championship, one of her seven race wins in 2024. She is a two-time state champion and produced the state’s fastest 5K time last fall by 19 seconds.

A student leader with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Lowen has volunteered locally through the program via endeavors geared toward serving those in need. She has also donated her time by helping to plan and execute the 5K road race fundraisers in the community. “Over the final 10 weeks of the season, Averi Lowen was unbeaten and stormed to a more than 3-minute winning margin at the state meet— among the largest gaps in the nation—before impressively winning the Nike Cross Southeast Regional meet, which featured loads of interstate talent,” said Rich Gonzalez of PrepCalTrack. “With two seasons to go, she’s a quick-rising talent to watch on the national scene.”