Robbi Ryan of Sheridan Named 2016 Wyoming Girls Soccer Gatorade Player Of The Year

In its 31st year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with USA TODAY High School Sports, announced Robbi Ryan of Sheridan High School as its 2015-16 Gatorade Wyoming Girls Soccer Player of the Year.

Ryan is the first Gatorade Wyoming Girls Soccer Player of the Year to be chosen from Sheridan 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 Ryan as Wyoming’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, Ryan 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-9 senior forward had led the Broncs to a 7-6-1 record at the time of her selection. Ryan scored 21 goals and passed for eight assists through 14 games.

The state’s reigning Gatorade Girls Basketball Player of the Year, she is a two-time First Team All-State and First Team All-Conference selection in soccer.

Ryan has maintained a 3.89 GPA in the classroom.

Also a talented musician and a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, she has volunteered locally on behalf of Habitat for Humanity, the YMCA and Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.

“Robbi Ryan is strong physically and technically,” said Tanya Santee, head coach at Riverton High. “She’s always in the right place to receive balls from her teammates and she’s relentlessly unwilling to lose the ball if it’s anywhere near her.”

Ryan will attend Arizona State University this fall, where she will play basketball on scholarship.

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.

Ryan joins recent Gatorade Wyoming Girls Soccer Players of the Year Abby Morillon (2014-15, Cheyenne East High School), Rachel Erickson (2013-14 & 2012-13, Cheyenne East High School), Marcia Ashdown (2011-12, Riverton High School), Sheree Small (2010–11, Campbell County High School), Makenzie Meade (2009-10, Laramie High School), Ariela Schreibeis (2008–09 & 2007-08, Laramie High School), and Crystal Umphlett (2006-07, Cody High School) among the state’s list of former award winners.