Gatorade State Players of the Year

[vbfan]

I am a little surprised that this has not been posted yet, but these are the 2003 state volleyball gatorade players of the year. Posted without comment, as I'll leave others to comment on the merits of the list.

Alabama – Jamie Houston
Alaska - Stephanie Wayt
Arizona – Jennifer Christian
Arkansas – Katy Schrodt
California – Cynthia Barboza
Colorado – Tara Hittle
Connecticut – Katelyn Stevens
Delaware – Kate Mills
D.C. – Liz Hirshhorn
Florida – Sara Kirkwood
Georgia – Elise Carstensen
Hawaii – Aneli Cubi-Otineru
Idaho – Amy Dyck
Illinois – Katie Bruzdzinski
Indiana – Katelyn Bishop
Iowa – Jessica Keefe
Kansas – Emily Brown
Kentucky – Alli Christian
Louisiana – Elena Martinez
Maine – Kelsey Snowman
Maryland – Kayani Turner
Massachusetts – Casey Buss
Michigan – Angie McGinnis
Minnesota – Betsy Slinger
Mississippi – Tessa Stimpson
Missouri – Erin Waller
Montana – Dana Conway
Nebraska – Carolyn Decker
Nevada – Amy Schlauder
New Hampshire – Suzy Flaherty
New Jersey – Daina Pucurs
New Mexico – Claudia Medina
New York – Franci Girard
North Carolina – Rebekah Brinkley
North Dakota – Katelyn Stiefel
Ohio – Bryn Kehoe
Oklahoma – Christie Clark
Oregon – Addie Webster
Pennsylvania – Melissa Walbridge
Rhode Island – April Oberhelman
South Carolina – Jessica Pedrick
South Dakota – Hilary White
Tennessee – Lindsay Sisco
Texas – Michelle Moriarity
Utah – Airial Salvo
Vermont – N/A
Virginia – Josie Hanners
Washington – Christal Morrison
West Virginia – Anna Wherry
Wisconsin – Jocelyn Wack
Wyoming – Shelby Heggie

[Wolfgang]

I haven't taken a sip of gatorade since high school. Unless you're losing gobs of liquid from a heavy workout (and the average person doesn't lose that much), it's actually not healthy for you to drink this crap. It should not be viewed as a "soft drink," which many teen-agers are inclined to do. It's also not good for diabetics, who make up a significant portion of the American population, including athletes. Why can't they make more sugar-free stuff? Don't companies know there's a multi-billion dollar industry for sugar-free and low-carb snacks/candies? Idiots. The lot of them. I go to every store and ask for "sugar-free" products and if they don't have them, I'm outta there.

[USAFAN]

I actually just was at the gym the other day and they were having a tasting sample of Gatorade that has very little sugar and carbs. It was actually quite good.

[HwnStunner01]

Cool...Hawaii grabs three of em.

[pavbfan]

My vote for best name goes to Betsy Slinger; a close second, Jocelyn Wack, and third, Daina Pucurs

[Gorf]

I'm kinda partial to N/A as being one of the better names in the list.

[USAFAN]

Wow Vermont is the only state without a girls volleyball program.

[Nutter]

And a National Gatorade Player of the Year is selected from that group right?

When is she named?

Has anyone been ever been named State or National Gatorade Player of the Year two years in a row?

[Gorf]

USAFAN said:

Wow Vermont is the only state without a girls volleyball program.

We had a bit of a discussion along those lines a while back on the board.

UVM had a D1 college volleyball team that was (re)started a relative few years back and was dropped again after the 2002 season.

They seem to like field hockey a lot in Vermont though.

[kolohekeiki]

Hawai`i has three of them, but only two will enter the Wahine program next season.

So maybe the Wahine will get several more for 2005 along with Otineru.

[BeiBei]

Nutter said:

Has anyone been ever been named State or National Gatorade Player of the Year two years in a row?

Not National because all the previous winners (Walsh, Boylan, Sandrick, Tom, Ross, Nnamani, Ladd, Richards)were seniors when they won it. Wow even Tom did not win this for 2 straight years, maybe priorities were given to seniors. I can only think of Amber McCray who won 2 Texas state awards. I am pretty sure that there are more

[eastcoaster]

Gatorade award seems to favor seniors, for example in North Carolina Rebecca Brinkley got it, a very deserving person, but is not even in the same class as sophomore Megan Hodge.

I know Molly Pyles got the North Carolina Gatorade State player of the Year twice, I am sure there are many more ... I am just not sure.

[Deleted]

whatever said:

My vote for best name goes to Betsy Slinger; a close second, Jocelyn Wack, and third, Daina Pucurs

It's Betty Lou Slinger (an even better name).

And she's going to be a nice player for Wisconsin-GB.

[fightingminime]

eastcoaster said:

Gatorade award seems to favor seniors, for example in North Carolina Rebecca Brinkley got it, a very deserving person, but is not even in the same class as sophomore Megan Hodge.

I know Molly Pyles got the North Carolina Gatorade State player of the Year twice, I am sure there are many more ... I am just not sure.

Many players have received the state accolades several years in a row, but they tend to be from the smaller states where the competition isn't as fierce. I doubt it happens in Cali, IL, Texas or FL.
People have to remember, this is a list comprised from nominations (from anyone I think) and then picked from the hype surrounding them basically (You can't honestly believe Hater-ade sends its minions all over the country to watch HS vball). So while its a nice honor, not really a big deal. That being said, congrats to the girls who did get it.
They National POY will be announced on Jan 27 (or somewhere around there).

Wow . . . Barboza over some of the others in Cali. I know she is good, but Damn, Copenhagen won four straight State Championships . . .

[Mumsie]

"Hater-ade"?? Am I missing something?