FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FORT MILL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT-ATHLETE NAMED GATORADE SOUTH CAROLINA GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY PLAYER OF THE YEAR CHICAGO
(January 22, 2024) — In its 39th year of honoring the nation’s most elite high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Alivia Cleveland of Fort Mill High School is the 2023-24 Gatorade South Carolina Girls Cross Country Player of the Year. Cleveland is the second Gatorade South Carolina Girls Cross Country Player of the Year to be chosen from Fort Mill 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 Cleveland as South Carolina’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-8 sophomore won the Class AAAAA state meet this past season, breaking the tape in an all-class best time of 18:17.24 and leading her team to the state title. Cleveland was also the state’s top finisher at the prestigious Great American Cross Country Festival meet, where she crossed the line in 23rd.
Cleveland has volunteered locally preparing and donating care bags for an elderly group home as well as making and donating blankets for Gold Project, an initiative focused on suicide prevention. She has also donated her time preparing sandwiches for the community food truck in Fort Mill. “Alivia Cleveland continues to boost her stock as a two-time All-State selection and she posted the fastest time at the state meet en route to an individual and team championship,” said Rich Gonzalez of PrepCalTrack. “She won nine of the 13 races she entered and finished second in two others.”
Cleveland has maintained a 4.56 weighted GPA in the classroom. She will begin her junior 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.
Cleveland joins recent Gatorade South Carolina Girls Cross Country Players of the Year Caroline Lyerly (2022-23, Greenville High School), Hannah Vroon (2021-22, James Island Charter High School), Katie Pou (2020-21, Nation Ford High School) and Ava Dobson (2019-20, St. Joseph’s Catholic 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 studentathletes, visit playeroftheyear.gatorade.com or follow us on social media on Facebook at facebook.com/GatoradePOY, Instagram at instagram.com/Gatorade and Twitter at twitter.com/Gatorade.
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