Nate Johnson named Gatorade D.C. Boys Soccer Player of the Year

CHICAGO (Via Gatorade) — In its 31th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with USA TODAY High School Sports, announced Nate Johnson of St. Albans School as its 2015-16 Gatorade District of Columbia Boys Soccer Player of the Year. Johnson is the second Gatorade District of Columbia Boys Soccer Player of the Year to be chosen from St. Albans 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 Johnson as District of Columbia’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, Johnson 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.).

+Read: Gatorade State Boys Soccer Players of the Year announced for fall season

The 6-foot, 180-pound senior midfielder led the Bulldogs to a 15-3-1 record and the championship of both the Independent Athletic Conference Tournament and the District of Columbia Schools Athletic Association Tournament. Johnson scored nine goals and passed for eight assists on the season. The 2015 IAC Player of the Year and a three-time All-Conference selection, he was a 2015 Washington Post First Team All-Met honoree.

Johnson has maintained a B-plus average in the classroom. He has volunteered locally at an assisted-living facility and as a youth swim and soccer coach.

“Nate Johnson created chances and he won a lot of challenges in the middle of the field,” said Bill Reed, head coach of Landon School. “He did a ton of dirty work that doesn’t show up on the score sheet but can turn a game.”

Johnson will attend the University of Chicago, where he will play soccer, beginning 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.

Johnson joins recent Gatorade District of Columbia Boys Soccer Players of the Year Chris Fleischer (2014-15, St. Albans School), Nick Jackson (2013-14, Sidwell Friends School), Nicko Corriveau (2012-13, Gonzaga College High School), Ian Harkes (2011–12, Gonzaga College High School), Joey Wilkins (2010–11, Gonzaga College High School), Ben Norton, (2009-10, Sidwell Friends School), Chris Perez (2008–09, Gonzaga College High School), Yoni Berhanu (2007-08, Sidwell Friends School), and Kieran Rice (2006-07, Gonzaga College High School) among the state’s list of former award winners.