CHICAGO (June 30, 2022) - In its 37th year of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Gianna Locci of Stillwater High School is the 2021-22 Gatorade New York Girls Track & Field Player of the Year. Locci is the first Gatorade New York Girls Track & Field Player of the Year to be chosen from Stillwater High School.
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 Locci as New York's best high school girls track & field athlete. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Girls Track & Field Player of the Year award to be announced in July, Locci joins an elite alumni association of state award-winners in 12 sports, including Lolo Jones (1997-98, Roosevelt High School, Iowa), Allyson Felix (2002-03, Los Angeles Baptist High School, Calif.), Robert Griffin III (2006-07, Copperas Cove High School, Texas), Grant Fisher (2014- 15 & 2013-14, Grand Blanc High School, Mich.) and Candace Hill (2014-15, Rockdale County High School, Ga.).
The 5-foot-4 senior broke the state record in the long jump this past season by earning silver in the event at the New Balance Nationals Outdoor with a leap of 21 feet, 1.5 inches, which ranked as the nation's No. 2 performance among girls prep competitors in 2022 and was also the No. 10 long jump in U.S. girls prep history. Locci also won the long jump at the N.Y. Federation Championships. In the Division 2 championships, she won the long jump and 200-meter dash, and anchored the victorious 4x100 relay.
Also a talented pianist, Locci has participated in a student-mentoring program and has volunteered locally on behalf of both a food pantry and a community farm. "Gianna's talent is next level, but what sets her apart is dedication," said Stillwater High School coach Shawn McClements. "She takes nothing for granted. She treats each race and each attempt as if it were sacred-as if it could be the last jump she ever takes."
Locci has maintained an A average in the classroom. She has signed a National Letter of Intent to compete on scholarship at Duke University this fall.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others as sources to help evaluate and determine the state winners in each sport.
Locci joins recent Gatorade New York Girls Track & Field Players of the Year Brooke Rauber (2020-21, Tully High School), and Katelyn Tuohy (2019-20, 2018-19, & 2017-18, North Rockland High School), among the state's list of former award winners.
Gatorade has a long-standing history of serving athlete communities and understands how sports instill valuable lifelong skills on and off the field. Through Gatorade's "Play it Forward" platform, Locci has the opportunity to award a $1,000 grant to a local or national organization of their choosing that helps young athletes realize the benefits of playing sports. Locci is also eligible to submit a short video explaining why the organization they chose is deserving of one of twelve $10,000 spotlight grants, which will be announced throughout the year. To date, Gatorade Player of the Year winners' grants have totaled more than $3.5 million across more than 1,300 organizations.
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. To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, check out past winners or to nominate studentathletes, 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. ###
