Quick Links
 Subscribe |
CHICAGO (February 11, 2016) — In its 31st year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with USA TODAY High School Sports, today announced Luca Levee of Milton Academy as its 2015-16 Gatorade Massachusetts Boys Soccer Player of the Year. Levee is the first Gatorade Massachusetts Boys Soccer Player of the Year to be chosen from Milton Academy. 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 Levee as Massachusetts’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, Levee 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 6-foot, 165-pound senior midfielder led the Mustangs to a 22-0 record and the New England Prep School Athletic Council Class A championship this past season. Levee scored 13 goals and passed for nine assists and was the MVP of the NEPSAC Class A title match. A member of the Jamaican Under-20 Men’s National Team, he was a First Team AllIndependent School League honoree and helped Milton complete the first perfect soccer campaign in the 67-year history of the ISL. Levee has maintained a B average in the classroom. A member of the Milton Academy Investment Club, he has volunteered locally as a student ambassador and as an academy tour guide. “Luca Levee was the heart and soul of a fantastic Milton Academy team,” said Jesse Sarzana, head coach of Buckingham, Browne & Nichols School. “He worked extremely hard box to box, saw the entire field at all times and made punishing runs into the box without fear.” Levee has signed a National Letter of Intent to play soccer on an athletic scholarship at the University of Maryland beginning 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 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. Levee joins recent Gatorade Massachusetts Boys Soccer Players of the Year Jack Harrison (2014-15 & 2013-14, Berkshire School), Mac Steeves (2012-13, Needham High School), Oliver White (2011–12, Noble & Greenough School), Cole DeNormandie (2010–11, Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School), Leon Brown, (2009-10, The Roxbury Latin School), Charlie Rugg (2008–09, The Rivers School), Jan Trnka-Amrhein (2007-08, Noble and Greenough School), and Ben Slingerland (2006-07, St. John's Prep School) among the state’s list of former award winners. To keep up to date on the latest happenings, become a fan of Gatorade Player of the Year on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. For more on the Gatorade Player of the Year program, including nomination information, a complete list of past winners and the announcement of the Gatorade National Player of the Year, visit www.gatorade.com/poy. |
