Katelyn Tuohy is only a sophomore in high school but she’s making some serious history. The Stony Point (N.Y.) Little League graduate smashed records during the 2017-2018 school year, from setting a women’s course record at Van Courtland Park in the Bronx to breaking the National High School mile record, and she’s showing no signs of slowing down. In addition to becoming the first athlete in the 33-year history of the Gatorade Player of the Year Awards to be awarded the National Gatorade Player of the Year Award in two sports (National Runner of the Year in Cross Country and National Athlete of the Year in track and field), she’s now been named one of two High School Athletes of The Year. And when looking at her resume, it’s not really a surprise.
This past fall, the 16-year-old set course records, took home the girls New York State public school and State Federation (all schools) Cross-Country Championship, and broke the Van Courtland Park record to win the prestigious Manhattan High School Invitational. A few months later, she continued setting records in the indoor track and field season where she ran the United States’ fastest indoor 5,000 meter all-time among both high school girls and all women under-20. When the outdoor season came around this spring, she broke two more records at both the 3,200 meter and mile distances.
But Ms. Tuohy is only one of the more than 120 Gatorade State Players of the Year from across 12 different sports who grew up playing Little League®. Girls were recognized in Basketball, Cross Country, Soccer, Softball, Track and Field, and Volleyball, while boys were recognized for Baseball, Basketball, Cross Country, Football, Soccer, and Track and Field
Baseball players Grant Lavigne, whose Bedford (N.H.) Little League All-Star team made it all the way to the East Regional in 2012, and Carter Stewart, who played for Eau Gallie (Fla.) Little League and was selected eighth overall in the 2018 MLB Draft, highlight a list of more than 20 Gatorade State Baseball Player of the Year award winners who got their start in Little League.
2018 Baseball Gatorade Players of the Year
- Michael Cesar – Gastineau Channel (Alaska) Little League
- Justin Olson – Academy (Colo.) Little League
- Patrick Winkel – Orange (Conn.) Little League
- Zack Gelof – Cape Henlopen/Rehobeth Beach (Del.) Little League
- Zach Taskounis – Arlington National/Dumfries District (Va.) Little League*
- Carter Stewart – Eau Gallie (Fla.) Little League
- Stone Parker – Kainalu (Hawaii) Little League
- Matt McCormick – Ridge Beverly (Ill.) Little League
- Nicholas Schnell – Southport (Ind.) Little League
- Ryan Hawks – BG-WC Northern (Ky.) Little League
- Brendan Tinsman – Cape Elizabeth (Maine) Little League
- Steve Hajjar – North Andover (Mass.) Little League
- Spencer Schwellenbach – North Saginaw Township (Mich.) Little League
- Dylan Phillips – Keystone (Neb.) Little League
- Austin Pfeifer – Cheyenne (Nev.) Little League
- Grant Lavigne – Bedford (N.H.) Little League
- Owen White – Rowan (N.C.) Little League
- Willie Weiss – Scappoose (Ore.) Little League
- Michael Siani – Oreland-Wyndmoor (Pa.) Little League
- Ben Sears – Riverside (R.I.) Little League
- Nick Fitzgerald – Lamoille County (Vt.) Little League
- Cade Hungate – Abingdon (Va.) Little League
- Carter Young – Selah (Wash.) Little League
*won for the District of Columbia
2018 Softball Gatorade State Players of the Year
- Daisy Page – City View (Alaska) Little League
- Becca Johnson – George J. Hummel (Conn.) Little League
- Lexi Kilfoyl – Land O Lakes (Fla.) Little League
- Erin Hocker – Great Falls American (Mont.) Little League
- Courtney Wallace – Benson (Neb.) Little League
- Calista Phippen – Norther Columbia (N.Y.) Little League
- Ariel Carlson – Cedar Mill (Ore.) Little League
- Riley Magoon – Colchester (Vt.) Little League
- Brooke Nelson – Bonney/Sumner (Wash.) Little League
- Delani Buckner – Elk District (W.V.) Little League
Like Ms. Tuohy shows, Little Leaguers® grow up to be successful in all kinds of sports. Sam Welsh, Gatorade’s State Player of the Year in Track and Field for Connecticut, credits baseball for some of his success as a discus thrower. He points to the similarities between a discus throw and baseball swing saying it made it easier to pick up discus. Mr. Welsh is one of more than 70 athletes who played Little League and went on to have success in sports other than baseball and softball.
2018 Boys Basketball State Players of the Year
- Tobin Karlberg – Abbot O Rabbit (Alaska) Little League
- Joseph Pfennigs – Post Falls (Idaho) Little League
- Joseph Wieskamp – Muscantine Youth Baseball (Iowa) Little League
- Terion Moss – Portland (Maine) Little League
- Foster Loyer – Kennett Square KAU (Pa.) Little League
- Sam Beighle – Mount Sentinel (Mont.) Little League
- Joe Girard III – Glens Falls (N.Y.) Little League
- Darius Garland – Merrillville (Ind) Little League
2018 Girls Basketball State Players of the Year
- Alissa Pili – Dimond-West (Alaska) Little League
- Haley Jones – Santa Cruz National (Calif.) Little League
- Bella Santoro – Coginchaug (Conn.) Little League
- Paige Bueckers – St. Louis Park (Minn.) Little League
- Amaya Brown – Petroglyph (N.M.) Little League
- Sadie Stetson – St. Johnsbury (Vt.) Little League
- Hanna McClung – Upshur County (W.V.) Little League
- McKinley Bradshaw – Bridger Valley (Wyo.) Little League
2018 Boys Cross Country State Runners of the Year
- Liam Anderson – Aptos (Calif.) Little League
- Gavin McElhennon – South Maryland (Md.) Little League*
- Danny Kilrea – La Grange Park (Ill.) Little League
- Luke Laverdiere – Augusta (Maine) Little League
- Tristan Shelgren – Boxford (Mass.) Little League
- Forest Mackenzie – Lamprey (N.H.) Little League
- John Tatter – Winston-Salem National (N.C.) Little League
- Dustin Horter – West Chester Liberty (Ohio) Little League
- Andy Monroe – Central Point (Ore.) Little League
- Chris Barbera – Sophia (W.V.) Little League
- Albert Steiner – Laramie (Wyo.) Little League
*won for the District of Columbia
2018 Girls Cross Country State Runners of the Year
- Maya X. Smith – Flagstaff Girls Softball (Ariz.) Little League
- Emma Wilson – Eagle Creek (Ind.) Little League
- Katelyn Tuohy – Stony Point (N.Y.) Little League
- Tori Starcher – Ripley (W.V.) Little League
2018 Football State Players of the Year
- Brock Purdy – Queen Creek (Ariz.) Little League
- Ty Evans – Tri Lakes (Colo.) Little League
- Trevor Lawrence – Carterville (Ga.) Little League
- Samson Evans – Crystal Lake (Ill.) Little League
- Rondale Moore – New Albany (Ind.) Little League**
- Slade Bolden – West Ouachita (La.) Little League
- Owen Garrard – Scarborough (Maine) Little League
- Gabe Sulser – Billings Big Sky (Mont.) Little League
- Cade McNamara – Washoe (Nev.) Little League
- Trey Lowe – Murrayhill (Ore.) Little League
- Isaiah Ifanse – Capitol (Wash.) Little League
- Tyson Bagent – Charles Washington (W.V.) Little League
** won Gatorade Player of the Year and played Little League in different states
2018 Boys Soccer State Players of the Year
- Tristan Weber – San Clemente (Calif.) Little League
- Michael Suski – Avon (Conn.) Little League
- Bryce Wallace – Naamans (Del.) Little League
- Omar Hernandez – Dalton (Ga.) Little League
- John Lynam – Paseo Verde (Nev.) Little League
- Taylor Silverstein – Concord National (N.H.) Little League
- Adam Foltz – Rotary (N.M.) Little League
- Chris Donovan – Berwyn-Paoli (Pa.) Little League
- Bryan Silver – Reston Herndon (Va.) Little League
- Matthew Comiskey – Whitefish bay (Wis.) Little League
2018 Girls Soccer State Players of the Year
- Jasmine Green – Cashin Wheeler (Ala.) Little League
- Lauren Hinton – Pat Kennedy- B O Rourke (Conn.) Little League
- Kayla Duran – Woburn (Mass.) Little League
- Jansen Eichenlaub – Beverly Hills (Mich.) Little League
- Brianna Coco – Bedford (N.H.) Little League
- Brianna Martinez – Copper (N.M.) Little League
2018 Boys Track and Field State Athletes of the Year
- Isaac Frumkin – Capitol City (D.C.) Little League
- Caleb Stamper – Southwest ADA (Idaho) Little League
- Armand Duplantis – LaFayette (La.) Little League
- Sam Welsh – West Boylston (Mass.) Little League
- Dustin Horter – West Chester Liberty (Ohio) Little League
- Micah Williams – Rose City (Ore.) Little League
- Jeffrey Pedersen – East Greenwich (R.I.) Little League
- Zane Russom – Richmond (Vt.) Little League
- Trey Knight – Ridgefield (Wash.) Little League
- Brodie Roden – Riverton (Wyo.) Little League
2018 Girls Track and Field State Athletes of the Year
- Haley Rizek – Alameda (N.M.) Little League
- Katelyn Tuohy – Stony Point (N.Y.) Little League
- Payden Montana – Berwick Area (Pa.) Little League
- Karlee Freeman – Willapa Harbor (Wash.) Little League
- Tori Starcher – Ripley (W.V.) Little League
2018 Volleyball State Players of the Year
- Raegan Steiner – Billings Big Sky (Mont.) Little League
- Cat Kelly – Altamont (N.M.) Little League
- Julia Morris – Swedesboro-Woorigh (N.J.) Little League
- Charlotte Frivoll – Essex Softball (Vt.) Little League