ELDORADO’S GIANNA RAHMER NAMED GATORADE NEW MEXICO GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY PLAYER OF THE YEAR
In its 41st year celebrating the nation’s best high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Gianna Rahmer of Eldorado High School is the 2025-26 Gatorade New Mexico Girls Cross Country 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 excellence in sport, academics and community. The award recognizes Rahmer as New Mexico’s best high school girls cross country athlete, and she joins an elite legacy that spans professional athletes and coaches to CEOs, such as Jordan Hasay (2008-09, Mission College Preparatory Catholic High School, CA), Katelyn Tuohy (2017-18, 2018-19 & 2019-20, North Rockland High School, NY) and Jane Hedengren (2024-25, Timpview High School, UT).
The state’s returning Gatorade Player of the Year, the 5-foot-4 sophomore won her third straight NMAA Class 5A state title this past season, breaking the tape 95.7 seconds ahead of her next-closest competitor and leading the Eagles to the team championship. Rahmer took second at the highly competitive Desert Twilight XC Invite and also broke the state record with her fourth-place finish in a personal-best 16:54.9 at the NXN Southwest Regional Championships, earning First Team All-Region honors and qualifying for nationals in the process. She was invited to run at the national Brooks XC Championships, where she finished 17th.
An avid skier and self-described expert chocolate cookie maker, Rahmer has volunteered locally with church groups by participating in toy, food and clothing drives. She has also donated her time as a meet volunteer with the USATF New Mexico Association by participating in her school’s Best Buddies program. “Gianna Rahmer smashed the state 5K record, won her third straight state crown and became the state’s first double-nationals qualifier in history,” said Rich Gonzalez of PrepCalTrack. “That’s a Player of the Year season.”
Rahmer has maintained a weighted 4.15 GPA in the classroom. She will begin her junior year of high school this fall.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one state winner from each of the 50 states and Washington D.C., in 12 different sports: football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, baseball, softball, boys and girls soccer, and boys and girls track & field. In total, 610 high school athletes are honored each year. From the pool of state winners, one national winner is selected in each of the 12 sports. 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 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 $6.4 million in grants to winners across more than 2,200 organizations.
