CHICAGO — In its 40^th year of honoring the nation’s most elite high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Meredith Barnhart of Lutheran High School is the 2024-25 Gatorade Colorado Softball Player of the Year.  
 
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 field, in the classroom and in the community. The award distinguishes Barnhart as Colorado's best high school softball player, and she joins an impressive group of alumni that spans CEOs, coaches and star athletes such Cat Osterman (2000-01, Cypress Springs High School, Texas), Rachel Garcia (2014-15 & 2012-13, Highland High School, Calif.), Ava Brown (2022-23, Lake Creek High School, Texas) and Addisen Fisher (2023-24, Bend High School, Oregon).   
 
The 5-foot-8 senior shortstop led the Lions (27-1) to the 4A state championship last season. Barnhart, the 4A Player of the Year and two-time Pikes Peak Athletic Conference Player of the Year, batted .547 with 52 RBI and 10 home runs, compiling an OPS of 1.764. She also recorded 10 steals and posted a .933 fielding percentage on her way to earning 4A First Team All-State honors for the fourth time in her career. 
 
Barnhart has volunteered locally with the Miracle League of Metro Denver, which offers children and adults living with intellectual or physical challenges the opportunity to play baseball. She has also donated her time as a nanny for a family with a terminally ill parent. “She controls the game from her defensive position and can change it with one swing,” said Ray Garza, head coach at Riverdale Ridge High School. “And it’s not just stats. Coaches and scouts look at how she carries herself—she lifts up her team, she’s vocal, supportive and leads by example, even when things aren’t perfect.”  
 
Barnhart has maintained a 4.0 GPA in the classroom. She has signed a written letter of athletic aid to play softball at the University of Tennessee 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. 
 
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.