CHICAGO — In its 40^th year of honoring the nation’s most elite high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Chloe Elarton of Valor Christian High School is the 2024-25 Gatorade Colorado Volleyball Player of the Year. Elarton is the second Gatorade Colorado Volleyball Player of the Year to be chosen from Valor Christian High School. 
 
Gatorade Player of the Year is the top honor in high school sports, celebrating the nation’s best high school athletes for their success on the court, in the classroom and in the community. The award distinguishes Elarton as Colorado’s best high school volleyball player, and she joins an impressive group of alumni that spans CEOs, coaches and star athletes such as April Ross (1999-00, Newport Harbor High School, Ca.), Kerri Walsh Jennings (1995-96, Archbishop Mitty High School, Ca.) and Ayden Ames (2023-24, Prosper High School, Texas).
 
The 5-foot-10 senior setter amassed 917 assists this past season, averaging 10.3 per set and leading the Eagles (28-1) to the Class 5A state title and the No. 38 national ranking in the MaxPreps Top 50. Elarton added 315 digs along with 89 kills, 66 blocks and 52 service aces and will graduate as a three-time state champion. Ranked as the nation’s No. 71 prospect by PrepVolleyball, she is a USA Volleyball Junior National title-winner in club play and a two-time USAV All-Tournament selection.
 
Elarton has volunteered locally on behalf of the MANNA community resource center in addition to donating her time to Movement 5280, a nonprofit organization supporting at-risk adolescents, as well as Project 25:35, which feeds the hungry. Also a three-year participant in Project Angel Heart supporting the homeless, she has served as a youth basketball and soccer coach for multiple seasons. “What you can’t miss when you watch Chloe play is her consistency—both her location and tempo of the ball, and in her interaction and connection with her teammates,” said Gwen Forster, club director at Eaton Volleyball Academy. “These qualities are precisely what you would be looking for in a setter and a leader and, currently, no athlete in the state is doing it better than her at the setting position. Her performance through the year with regard to court awareness and decision-making directly influence the level of play of those around her.”
 
Elarton has maintained a weighted 4.16 GPA in the classroom. She has signed a written letter of athletic aid to play volleyball at the University of Georgia this fall.
 
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states across 12 different high school sports – 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.
 
Elarton joins recent Gatorade Colorado Volleyball Players of the Year Delaney Russell (2023-24, Valor Christian High School), Izzy Starck (2022-23, Rampart High School), Carter Booth (2021-22, Cherry Creek High School) and Anjelina Starck (2020-21, Rampart 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, the Gatorade Player of the Year program has provided more than $5.6 million in grants to winners across more than 2,000 organizations.
 
To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, check out past winners or to nominate student-athletes, visit playeroftheyear.gatorade.com or follow us on social media on Instagram at instagram.com/Gatorade, Facebook at facebook.com/GatoradePOY and X(Twitter) at x.com/Gatorade.