STANFORD, Calif. – A trio of incoming Cardinal players have been named their respective state Gatorade Players of the Year, with Charlotte Kohler (California), Sammy Smith (Idaho) and Jaden Thomas (Texas) earning the selections.
Kohler and Smith are both two-time Gatorade Players of the Year after being lauded as juniors following the 2022-23 season.
The trio will join junior Elise Evans as Gatorade Players of the Year on the 2024 Stanford women’s soccer roster after Evans earned the award for California while playing at Woodside High School during the 2021-22 season.
Kohler led the St. Francis High School Lancers to a 20-2-2 record and the Central Coast Section Division 1 tournament championship this past season. Kohler scored 16 goals and passed for 18 assists. A two-time West Coast Athletic League Midfielder of the Year, she earned a bronze medal at the 2023 Pan American Games in Chile last fall as a member of the U.S. Soccer Under-19 Women’s National Team.
Smith scored 11 goals and passed for 11 assists this past season, leading the Boise High School Braves (17-1-1) to the Class 5A state championship game. Also the Southern Idaho Conference Class 5A Player of the Year, she missed the postseason while earning a bronze medal at the 2023 Pan American Games in Chile as a member of the U.S. Soccer Under-19 Women’s National Team. The state’s 2020-21 Gatorade Girls Cross Country Player of the Year, Smith is ranked as the nation’s No. 22 recruit in the Class of 2024 by TopDrawerSoccer.com.
Thomas scored 39 goals and passed for 10 assists this past season, leading The Hockaday School Daisies (15-2) to the Southwest Preparatory Conference Class 4A Tournament championship game. Thomas scored at least one goal in all 17 games with 13 multi-goal games and eight hat tricks. Ranked as the nation’s No. 10 recruit in the Class of 2024 by TopDrawerSoccer.com, she concluded her prep soccer career with 64 goals and 22 assists.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program, now in its 39th year honoring the nation’s most elite high school athletes, 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.