ALLEGANY, N.Y., June 29,
2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In its 38th year of
honoring the nation's most elite high school athletes, Gatorade
today announced Angelina Napoleon of
Allegany-Limestone Central School in Allegany, N.Y. is the 2022-23 Gatorade
National Girls Track and Field Player of the Year. Napoleon won the
prestigious award for her accomplishments on and off the field,
joining an impressive group of former Gatorade National Girls Track
and Field Players of the Year who have combined for more than 71
gold medals and 34 National Championships.
Napoleon was surprised with the trophy by her family, coaches
and teammates. Check out a video of the announcement here.
The Gatorade Player of the Year award recognizes athletes not
just for their excellence on the playing surface, but for their
commitment in the classroom and impact in their community. Napoleon
beat out more than half a million other student-athletes who
compete in girls track and field nationwide, topping the list of
state winners in girls track and field who collectively boast an
incredible list of accomplishments, including 23 with signed
National Letters of Intent to compete at Division I
colleges/universities and 40 with a GPA of 4.0 and above.
"Angelina Napoleon not only
lowered the 2,000-meter steeplechase national record multiple
times, but she also became the second-fastest female athlete in the
event in American history," said Erik
Boal, editor at DyeStat.com. "She demonstrated incredible
range and versatility in 2023, excelling in the 800, mile and high
jump in addition to becoming the only female athlete in American
history to run under 6:20 in the 2,000 steeplechase and sub-2:04 in
the 800."
The 5-foot-9 senior won the New Balance Nationals title in the
2,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 6:19.53, completing the
most impressive season in the event in the U.S. prep history.
Napoleon is now the only American female athlete in history to run
sub-6:20 in the event on three occasions. She set the national high
school record of 6:18.41 in the steeple at the New York Federation
Championships, in addition to winning the 800-meter title in a
personal-best 2:03.97, an event in which she also took second at
the New Balance Nationals Outdoor. She ranks No. 11 nationally in
the 1500 meters among U.S. girls prep competitors in 2023 with a
clocking of 4:29.78. In addition, she ranks No. 8 in the steeple in
the world this year and is the No. 16 all-time World Under-20
athlete.
A team leader in the school's investment club as well as the
senior class secretary and a member of the student activities
council, Napoleon has also volunteered locally with Girls on the
Run, a youth-empowerment program.
Napoleon has maintained a 3.99 weighted GPA. She has signed a
National Letter of Intent to compete on scholarship at North Carolina State this fall.
In addition to excellence on and off the field of play, Gatorade
Players of the Year also pay it forward for the next generation. As
part of Gatorade's Play it Forward initiative, Napoleon will
receive a grant to give to one of Gatorade's social impact partners
– Athlete Ally, Laureus USA, Move
United, Women's Sports Foundation and Up2Us Sports – supporting
Gatorade's ambition to fuel the future of sport.
"The Gatorade Player of the Year award recognizes the next
generation of athletes on their path to greatness," said Gatorade
Portfolio president and general manager Michael Del Pozzo. "With an incredible resume on
and off the field of play, Angelina joins the likes of Peyton Manning, Abby
Wambach, Paige Bueckers and
many other sports icons, all of whom have etched their names onto
the prestigious Player of the Year trophy."
Each year, a selection committee evaluates the nation's top
talent to choose one state winner from each of the 50 states as
well as Washington D.C., 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 & field. In all, 608
athletes are honored each year. From the pool of state winners, one
national winner is selected in each of the 12 sports.
To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program,
check out past winners or to nominate student-athletes, visit
playeroftheyear.gatorade.com or follow us on social media on
Facebook at facebook.com/GatoradePOY, Instagram at
instagram.com/Gatorade and Twitter at
twitter.com/Gatorade.
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 57-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 $86 billion in net revenue in
2022, 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 Twitter,
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@PepsiCo.
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SOURCE The Gatorade Company