Paige Bueckers
and Candace Parker Present Highest Honor in High School Sports
to Nation's Top Athletes
LOS
ANGELES, July 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/
-- Tonight, Gatorade named Sadie
Engelhardt and Cooper Flagg
as the 2023-24 Gatorade Best Female and Best Male Players of the
Year, distinguishing the duo as the best high school athletes in
the nation. Former Gatorade Best Female Players of the Year Candace
Parker and Paige Bueckers presented
the honors live on stage at the 2024 ESPYs. With their selection,
Flagg and Engelhardt join an elite alumni group forged over 20
years that includes Jayson Tatum,
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Karl-Anthony
Towns.
The Gatorade Best Player of the Year announcement is the
culmination of an unparalleled Gatorade Player of the Year Awards
experience that brought the 12 Gatorade National Players of the
Year, the best of the best in high school sports, to Los Angeles for a week-long celebration. From
photoshoots and first access to the latest Gatorade iD Drop to an
exclusive celebration with a performance by Lil Yachty and their
favorite pro athletes and opportunities to give back to the next
generation, the immersive week is designed to recognize and
celebrate their accomplishments in a way only Gatorade can.
"Our Gatorade Player of the Year class embodies the future of
sport, so we're energized to celebrate their accomplishments and
bright futures during this one-of-a-kind experience," said Gatorade
president and general manager Mike Del
Pozzo. "For decades Gatorade Players of the Year have gone
on to have incredible success both on the field of play and in
their communities, and we can't wait to see what these athletes do
next."
Through Gatorade's Equity in Sports initiative, each year,
Gatorade brings some of its Players of the Year to local sports
organizations across Los Angeles
to advance access to sport for young athletes in the city. As part
of this year's experience, a few of Gatorade's Players of the Year
stopped by Hollywood High School to surprise LA Rec&Parks and
Girls Athletic Leadership School. 2022-23 Gatorade National Girls
Basketball Player of the Year and USC guard Juju Watkins was also
in attendance to present each organization with a $25,000 donation that will cover the cost of
their sports programming, equipment, and fees for the next
year.
Additionally, as part of Gatorade's commitment to breaking down
barriers in sport, every Gatorade Player of the Year also receives
a grant to donate to a social impact partner. From there, each
athlete may also submit a short video explaining why the
organization they chose is deserving of a Spotlight Grant, which
awards an additional $10,000 to give
to the organization. This year's twelve Spotlight Grant recipients
joined Gatorade in Los Angeles for
the Player of the Year Awards celebration. To date, Gatorade Player
of the Year winners' grants have totaled more than $4.9 million across more than 1,600
organizations.
The 12 National Players of the Year also received exclusive
first-access to Gatorade's limited-edition Drop co-created with
UNINTERRUPTED, with Engelhardt and Flagg as the first to model the
collection. The Drop, made up of two capsules including a
vintage-inspired Gatorade branded track jacket and towel and a
t-shirt, limited-edition snapback and Gx bottle, will be available
for sale on the brand's free membership platform, Gatorade iD,
beginning on Friday, July 12 at
10 a.m. ET, with limited quantities
available.
2023-24 GATORADE BEST PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD
WINNERS
Sadie
Engelhardt: California's three-time Gatorade Girls
Track & Field Player of the Year, Engelhardt finished as the
national leader in four events this past season and sparked the
Cougars to a second-place team finish at the state meet. She
crossed the line in 4:28.46 seconds to break the national high
school record in the mile at the HOKA Festival of Miles, and
clocked a 4:08.86 in the 1500-meter run while competing against
pros at the Portland Track Festival—that time ranks No. 5 in U.S.
girls prep history and qualified her for the U.S. Olympic Trials.
Below are additional facts about Engelhardt:
- Also the Gatorade State Girls Cross Country Player of the Year
from 2022-24, she broke the California record in the 1600 with a 4:32.06
at the state meet, the fastest time ever in the event in a meet
with high school-only competitors.
- Earlier in the season at the Azusa Pacific Meet of Champions,
she broke the tape in the 800 in 2:03.46, which is the nation's No.
1 time by a prep girl in 2024.
- Volunteered locally on behalf of Runners For Public Lands,
helping to clean trails and other places to run around Ventura County.
- Engelhardt has maintained a weighted 4.59 GPA in the
classroom.
- Made a verbal commitment to compete on scholarship at
NC State beginning in the fall of
2025.
Cooper Flagg: The
nation's No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2024 by ESPN, 247Sports and
Rivals, Flagg led the Montverde Eagles to a 34-0 record and the
Chipotle Nationals title. Also the 2021-22 Gatorade Maine Player of
the Year, Flagg is a McDonald's All-American Game selection, the
2024 Naismith Award National High School Player of the Year and a
member of both Nike Hoop Summit Team USA and the Jordan Brand Classic squad. Below
are additional facts about Flagg:
- The 2021-22 Gatorade Maine Player of the Year averaged 16.5
points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 2.7 blocks and 1.6 steals this
past season.
- In addition, he shot 55.1 percent from the field during the
season.
- Participated in fundraisers for both the Ronald McDonald House
and Donovan Kurt Memorial Cancer
Fund, as well as volunteered at youth basketball camps and clinics
in both Maine and Florida.
- Flagg has maintained a weighted 4.10 GPA in the classroom.
- Signed a national letter of intent to play basketball on
scholarship at Duke University this
fall.
To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program,
check out past winners or to nominate student athletes, visit
playeroftheyear.gatorade.com.
About The Gatorade Portfolio
The Gatorade
Portfolio, a division of PepsiCo (NASDAQ: PEP), is a connected
performance and wellness ecosystem built to fuel all athletes and
exercisers. Bringing together Gatorade, Fast Twitch, Propel, Evolve
and Muscle Milk, the Gatorade Portfolio is the most complete
offering in the category today, with a broad range of personalized
solutions at every stage of the athlete journey. This integrated
system of brands is built on Gatorade's 59-year history of studying
athletes and is fueling the future of athletic performance and
wellness by delivering solutions across hydration, protein, energy
and all-day nutrition to fuel consumers, no matter how or why they
sweat. For more information and a full list of product offerings,
please visit www.gatorade.com.
About PepsiCo
PepsiCo
products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion times a day
in more than 200 countries and territories around the world.
PepsiCo generated more than $91
billion in net revenue in 2023, driven by a complementary
beverage and convenient foods portfolio that includes Lay's,
Doritos, Cheetos, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Quaker, and
SodaStream. PepsiCo's product portfolio includes a wide range of
enjoyable foods and beverages, including many iconic brands that
generate more than $1 billion each in
estimated annual retail sales.
Guiding PepsiCo is our vision to Be the Global Leader in
Beverages and Convenient Foods by Winning with pep+ (PepsiCo
Positive). pep+ is our strategic end-to-end transformation that
puts sustainability and human capital at the center of how we will
create value and growth by operating within planetary boundaries
and inspiring positive change for planet and people. For more
information, visit www.pepsico.com, and follow on X (Twitter),
Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn @PepsiCo.
GatoradePOYQuestions@Fleishman.com
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cooper-flagg-and-sadie-engelhardt-named-gatorade-best-players-of-the-year-302195534.html
SOURCE The Gatorade Company