In its 29th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with USA TODAY High School Sports, announced Tristan White of Riverton High School as its 2013-14 Gatorade Wyoming Boys Soccer Player of the Year.

White is the second Gatorade Wyoming Boys Soccer Player of the Year to be chosen from Riverton 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 White as Wyoming’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, White 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, 185-pound junior forward has scored 17 goals and passed for 10 assists this season, leading the Wolverines to a 12-6 record entering the Class 4A Regional playoffs, scheduled to begin May 16.

The Class 4A West Player of the Year as a sophomore, White is also a First Team All-State honoree.

White has maintained a 3.77 GPA in the classroom. Also a hockey standout, he is a member of the National Honor Society and has volunteered locally on behalf of youth soccer and hockey camps.

“White is big, fast and athletic,” said Bryan Chadderdon, head coach at Kelly Walsh High. “He’s got great speed, great field awareness and very good foot skills. He’s a pretty clinical finisher.”

White will begin his senior year of high school 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 and 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.

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