CHICAGO (May 14, 2013) — In its 28th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with USA TODAY High School Sports, today announced Salomon Lorenzano of McIntosh High School as its 2012-13 Gatorade Georgia Boys Soccer Player of the Year. Lorenzano is the first Gatorade Georgia Boys Soccer Player of the Year to be chosen from McIntosh 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 Lorenzano as Georgia’s best high school boys soccer player. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Soccer Player of the Year award to be announced in May, Lorenzano joins an elite alumni association of past state award-winners in 12 sports, including Abby Wambach (1997-98, Our Lady of Mercy, N.Y.), Derek Jeter (1991-92, Kalamazoo HS, Mich.), Candace Parker (2001-02, Naperville Central HS, Ill.), Alexi Lalas (1987-88, Cranbrook HS, Mich.), Heather O’Reilly (2001-02, East Brunswick HS, N.J.) and Mark Sanchez (2004-05, Mission Viejo HS, Calif.).
The 5-foot-11, 155-pound senior forward has led the Raiders to a 21-0 record and a berth in the Class AAAAA semifinals against Pope High, scheduled for May 15. Lorenzano scored 23 goals and passed for 28 assists through 21 games. The 2013 Class AAAAA Player of the Year and the 2012 Fayette County Player of the Year, he was the MVP of the 2012 Georgia Soccer Coaches Association All-Star Game.
Lorenzano has maintained a B average in the classroom. He has volunteered locally as part of fundraising campaigns to benefit muscular dystrophy and cancer research in addition to donating his time as a youth soccer coach.
“When you watch Salomon play the first thing you notice is that he has incredible speed both with and without the ball,” said John Bernard, head coach of Whitewater High. “He also has incredible touch on the ball and can navigate through defenses almost as if they are standing still at times.”
Lorenzano has signed a National Letter of Intent to play soccer on an athletic scholarship at Georgia State 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 high school sports leadership team in partnership with USA TODAY High School Sports, which work with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.
Lorenzano joins recent Gatorade Georgia Boys Soccer Players of the Year Holden Fender (2011-12, Walton High School), John "Snoopy" Davidson (2010–11, Rome High School), Jordan McCrary (2009-10, Lassiter), Chris Thomas (2008–09 Greater Atlanta Christian School), Connor Barbaree (2007-08, Walton), and Jimmy Maurer (2006-07, St. Pius X Catholic) among the state’s list of former award winners.
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