Kia Rankin named Gatorade Maryland Girls Soccer Player of the Year

CHICAGO (Via Gatorade) — In its 31st year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with USA TODAY High School Sports, today announced Kia Rankin of McDonogh School as its 2015-16 Gatorade Maryland Girls Soccer Player of the Year. Rankin is the fourth Gatorade Maryland Girls Soccer Player of the Year to be chosen from McDonogh 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 Rankin as Maryland’s best high school girls soccer player. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Girls Soccer Player of the Year award to be announced in May, Rankin 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-7 senior midfielder led the Eagles to a 12-0 record and the Independent Athletic Association of Maryland Class A Tournament championship this past season. Rankin scored 21 goals and passed for 19 assists, with four goals in the state semifinals and two more in the title game, a 4-0 victory over Notre Dame Prep. The 2015 Baltimore Sun All-Metro Player of the Year, Rankin is a two-time All-American selection by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. She concluded her prep soccer career with 46 goals and 37 assists.

+Read: Gatorade State Girls Soccer Players of the Year announced for fall 2015

Rankin has maintained a 3.72 GPA in the classroom. An admissions tour guide at McDonogh, she has volunteered locally at a community garden and as a youth soccer coach.

“Kia Rankin made an integral run for McDonogh in the final games completing her season,” said Ashly Kennedy, head coach of Archbishop Spalding High. “She had a handful of goals in the playoffs and two goals in the championship game. She had a huge impact.”

Rankin has signed a National Letter of Intent to play soccer on an athletic scholarship at North Carolina State University 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.

Rankin joins recent Gatorade Maryland Girls Soccer Players of the Year Bridgette Andrzejewski (2014-15, McDonogh School), Imani Dorsey (2013-14, Our Lady of Good Counsel High School), Midge Purce (2012-13, Our Lady of Good Counsel High School), Ashley Spivey (2011-12, McDonogh School), Alex Doll (2010–11 & 2009-10, Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School), Caroline Miller (2008–09, Walter Johnson High School), and Christine Nairn (2007-08 & 2006-07, Archbishop Spalding High School) among the state’s list of former award winners.