Lakota West’s Evelyn Prodoehl named Gatorade Ohio Girls Cross-Country Player of the Year
In its 39th year of honoring the nation’s most elite high school athletes, Gatorade this week announced Evelyn Prodoehl of Lakota West High School is the 2023-24 Gatorade Ohio Girls Cross-Country Player of the Year. Prodoehl is the first Gatorade Ohio Girls Cross-Country Player of the Year to be chosen from Lakota West High School.
The award, which celebrates the nation’s top high school athletes for excellence on the field, in the classroom and in the community, distinguishes Prodoehl as Ohio’s best high school girls cross-country player. From CEOs and coaches to star athletes, Gatorade Player of the Year winners showcase the power of sport, touting an all-star group of alumni that includes Irene Riggs (2022-23, 2021-22 & 2020-21, Morgantown High School, Morgantown, W. Va.), Katelyn Tuohy (2019-20, 2018-19 & 2017-18, North Rockland High School, Thiels, N.Y.) and Jordan Hasay (2008-09, Mission College Preparatory Catholic High School, San Luis Obispo, Calif.).
The 5-foot-4 junior broke the tape at the national RunningLane Cross-Country Championships this past season, clocking a time of 17:32.80 to win by over seven seconds. Prodoehl also won the Division 1 state title in 2023 with an all-class best 17:23.8, leading the Firebirds to eighth place as a team. She won all 12 races she entered last fall and won the GMC Cross-Country Championships in a personal-best 16:59.10.
Prodoehl, who serves on the Lakota West Student Athletic Advisory Board, has volunteered locally on behalf of Goodwill Industries, the Lakota West Campus Clean-Up Project and various running-related youth camps and events.
“The season ledger for Evelyn Prodoehl was quite literally perfection,” said Rich Gonzalez of PrepCalTrack. “It’s hard enough to win more meets than you don’t, even as an elite prep talent, but she accomplished the rare feat of going unbeaten.”
Prodoehl has maintained a 4.81 weighted GPA in the classroom. She will begin her 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 & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others as sources to help evaluate and determine the state winners in each sport.
Prodoehl joins recent Gatorade Ohio Girls Cross-Country Players of the Year Katie Clute (2022-23, Olmsted Falls High School), Grace Hartman (2021-22 & 2020-21, Oakwood High School) and Taylor Ewert (2019-20, Beavercreek High School), among the state’s list of former award winners.
As part of Gatorade’s commitment to breaking down barriers in sport, every Player of the Year also receives a grant to donate to a social impact partner. To date, Gatorade Player of the Year winners’ grants have totaled more than $4.9 million across more than 1,600 organizations.
To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, check out past winners or to nominate student- athletes, visit playeroftheyear.gatorade.com or follow Gatorade on social media on Facebook at facebook.com/GatoradePOY, Instagram at instagram.com/Gatorade and Twitter at twitter.com/Gatorade.