ELDORADO’S GIANNA RAHMER NAMED GATORADE NEW MEXICO GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Gatorade today announced Gianna Rahmer of Eldorado High School is the 2024-25 Gatorade New Mexico Girls Cross Country Player of the Year. Rahmer is the fourth Gatorade New Mexico Girls Cross Country Player of the Year to be chosen from Eldorado 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 field, in the classroom and in the community. The award distinguishes Rahmer as New Mexico’s best high school girls cross country athlete, and she joins an impressive group of alumni that spans CEOs, coaches and star athletes 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, N.Y.) and Addison Ritzenhein (2023-24, Niwot High School, Co.).
The 5-foot-4 freshman raced to the NMAA Class 5A state title this past season with a time of 17:34.7, dominating the pace to win by 66 seconds and leading the Eagles to the team championship. Rahmer took 27th at the Nike Cross Southwest Regional in 17:36.7, the top finish by a New Mexico runner. She also finished third at the Desert Twilight meet in Arizona with a season-best clocking of 17:25.1.
An active participant in the Best Buddies program at her school, Rahmer is a devoted member of her church community, on behalf of which she has participated in multiple community service endeavors. “Gianna Rahmer continues to be well ahead of the pack on New Mexico soil, winning the state meet’s largest division by more than a minute in capping yet another unbeaten campaign against in-state rivals,” said Rich Gonzalez of PrepCalTrack. “She now owns the two fastest 5K times in state meet history and, with three seasons remaining, could become New Mexico’s first ever five-time state champion.”
Rahmer has maintained a weighted 4.05 GPA in the classroom. She will begin her sophomore year of high school 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.
Rahmer joins recent Gatorade New Mexico Girls Cross Country Players of the Year Kate Henderson (2023-24, Sandia Preparatory School), Leah Futey (2022-23, Sue Cleveland High School), Raylee Hunt (2021-22, St. Michael’s High School) and Laurynn Sisneros (2020-21, Eldorado High School), among the state’s list of former award winners.
