FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich.,
Jan. 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In its
35th year of honoring the nation's most elite high
school athletes, The Gatorade Company today announced Jess
Mruzik of Mercy High School in
Farmington Hills, Mich. is the
2019-20 Gatorade National Volleyball Player of the Year. Mruzik won
the prestigious award for her accomplishments on and off the court
joining an impressive group of former Gatorade National Volleyball
Player of the Year winners who have combined for 89 gold medals and
13 National Championships.
Mruzik was surprised with the award in front of teammates,
coaches, friends and family at her school. Check out a video of the
announcement here.
The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic
excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and
exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field,
distinguishes Mruzik as the nation's best high school volleyball
player. A national advisory panel comprised of sport-specific
experts and sports journalists helped select Mruzik from nearly
half a million high school volleyball players nationwide.
Competition for the national award is fierce. Mruzik topped the
list of 51 state winners in volleyball who have an incredible list
of accomplishments, including 15 All-Americans, 27 All-State, 10
Big Ten committees, 15 with a GPA of 3.8 or higher and 40
volunteering with at least two organizations.
Mruzik is now a finalist for the most prestigious award in high
school sports, the Gatorade Female High School Athlete of the Year
award, which is announced at a special ceremony prior to The ESPY
Awards in July.
"I first saw Jess as an eighth grader, when she was dominating
older players on the club circuit," says John Tawa, Managing Editor for
PrepVolleyball.com. "Not only had she already begun to flash the
all-around skillset that overwhelms opponents today, but she also
showed the grit and determination that all great athletes possess.
Even at a young age, she understood that need to expect more of
herself than others because of the extraordinary gifts she
owned."
The state's returning Gatorade Player of the Year and 6-foot-1
senior outside hitter led the Marlins to a 59-1 record and the
Division 1 state championship this past season. Mruzik compiled 495
kills, 209 digs, 47 service aces and 19 blocks while posting a
dizzying .635 kill percentage and a .540 hitting percentage. The
captain of the USA Volleyball
Youth National Team, Mruzik missed 16 matches in September while
leading Team USA to the gold medal
at the FIVB Girls U18 World Championships in Egypt, earning tournament MVP honors in the
process. She concluded her prep volleyball career with 2,151
kills.
A member of the Science Club and Spirit Club, Mruzik
participated in a community cleanup effort sponsored by
Mercy High School and has also
donated her time instructing youth players in association with her
volleyball club team as well as assisting with her local grade
school volleyball program. She has also served as part of a local
quilting initiative to benefit children of families in need. Mruzik
has maintained a 3.47 GPA in the classroom. She has signed a
National Letter of Intent to play volleyball on scholarship at the
University of Michigan this fall,
though she matriculated at Ann
Arbor on Jan. 9.
"Gatorade Player of the Year is the most prestigious award in
high school sports and recognizes only the best and brightest,"
said Gatorade Senior Vice President and General Manager
Brett O'Brien. "We selected
Jess Mruzik not only for her
athletic talent, but also for outstanding academic achievement and
exemplary character."
Through Gatorade's cause marketing platform "Play it Forward,"
Mruzik has the opportunity to award a $1,000 grant to a local or national youth sports
organization of her choosing. She is also eligible to submit an
essay to win one of twelve $10,000
spotlight grants for the organization of choice, which will be
announced throughout the year.
Each year a selection committee evaluates the nation's top
talent in the District of Columbia
and all 50 states, choosing national winners 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 and field. From the 12
national winners, one male and one female athlete are each named
Gatorade High School Athlete of the Year.
Since the program's inception in 1985, Gatorade Player of the
Year award recipients have won hundreds of professional and college
championships, and many have also turned into pillars in their
communities, becoming coaches, business owners and educators.
Previous winners include a distinguished list of athletes, such as
Peyton Manning, Abby Wambach, Karl-Anthony Towns, Derek Jeter and many other sports icons. To
learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, check out
past winners or to nominate student-athletes, visit
www.Gatorade.com/POY, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GatoradePOY
or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Gatorade.
About Gatorade
The Gatorade Company, a division of PepsiCo (NASDAQ: PEP), meets
the needs of consumers who participate in Sports and Fitness,
through brands that include Gatorade, Propel, Muscle Milk and
Bolt24. The solutions they provide are driven by a deep
understanding of the unique needs and occasions of different types
of sports and fitness. Gatorade, their marquee brand, is
underpinned by more than 50-year history of studying the best
athletes in the world and sports-nutrition research by the Gatorade
Sport Science Institute, allowing it to provide
scientifically-formulated products that meet athletes' needs both
on and off the field. For more information and a full list of
products, 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 $64
billion in net revenue in 2018, driven by a complementary
food and beverage portfolio that includes Frito-Lay, Gatorade,
Pepsi-Cola, Quaker and Tropicana. PepsiCo's product portfolio
includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including
22 brands that generate more than $1
billion each in estimated annual retail sales.
At the heart of PepsiCo is Performance with Purpose – our
fundamental belief that the success of our company is inextricably
linked to the sustainability of the world around us. We believe
that continuously improving the products we sell, operating
responsibly to protect our planet and empowering people around the
world enable PepsiCo to run a successful global company that
creates long-term value for society and our shareholders. For more
information, visit www.pepsico.com.
PREVIOUS GATORADE
NATIONAL VOLLEYBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR WINNERS
|
YEAR
|
NAME
|
HOMETOWN
|
STATUS
|
2018-19
|
Ellie
Holzman
|
New Orleans,
LA
|
University of
Illinois
|
2017-18
|
Thayer
Hall
|
Roebuck,
SC
|
University of
Florida
|
2016-17
|
Lexi Sun
|
Solana Beach,
CA
|
University of
Nebraska
|
2015-16
|
Khalia
Lanier
|
Phoenix,
AZ
|
University of
Southern California
|
2014-15
|
Mikaela
Foecke
|
West Point,
IA
|
US Women's National
Volleyball Team
|
2013-14
|
Alexa
Filley
|
Louisville,
KY
|
Played for Auburn
University
|
2012-13
|
Lauren
Carlini
|
Aurora, IL
|
US Women's National
Volleyball Team
|
2011-12
|
Jordan
Burgess
|
Tampa, FL
|
Played for Stanford
University
|
2010-11
|
Krista
Vansant
|
Redlands,
CA
|
Retired from US
Women's National Volleyball Team
|
2009-10
|
Ashley
Wittman
|
Shakopee,
MN
|
Played for University
of Minnesota
|
2008-09
|
Gina
Mancuso
|
Papillion,
NE
|
Played for University
of Nebraska
|
2007-08
|
Kelly
Murphy
|
Wilmington,
IL
|
US Women's National
Volleyball Team
|
2006-07
|
Alix
Klineman
|
Manhattan Beach,
CA
|
US Women's National
Beach Volleyball Team
|
2005-06
|
Megan
Hodge
|
Durham, NC
|
US Women's National
Volleyball Team
|
2004-05
|
Cynthia
Barboza
|
Long Beach,
CA
|
Retired from US
Women's National Volleyball Team
|
2003-04
|
Cynthia
Barboza
|
Long Beach,
CA
|
Retired from US
Women's National Volleyball Team
|
2002-03
|
Kristin
Richards
|
Orem, UT
|
Retired from US
Women's National Volleyball Team
|
2001-02
|
Bre Ladd
|
Tucson, AZ
|
Played for University
of Arizona
|
2000-01
|
Ogonna
Nnamani
|
Bloomington,
IL
|
Retired from US
Women's National Volleyball Team
|
1999-00
|
April Ross
|
Newport Beach,
CA
|
US National Beach
Volleyball Team
|
1998-99
|
Logan Tom
|
Pelham, AL
|
Played for Stanford
University
|
1997-98
|
Sara
Sandrik
|
Salt Lake City,
UT
|
Played for Stanford
University
|
1996-97
|
Denise
Boylan
|
Lisle, IL
|
Played for University
of Notre Dome
|
1995-96
|
Kerri
Walsh
|
San Jose,
CA
|
US Women's National
Beach Volleyball Team
|
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content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jess-mruzik-named-2019-20-gatorade-national-volleyball-player-of-the-year-300991674.html
SOURCE The Gatorade Company