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LORMAN – Alcorn State Women’s Soccer 2022 signee Samara Nunn was named West Virginia’s Gatorade Player of the Year, announced Thursday afternoon along with a list of the entire 2021-22 Girls Soccer State Players of the Year winners. In earning the award, Nunn becomes the first Alcorn State Women’s Soccer player to win the prestigious award.

Nunn, a 5-foot-4 prolific scorer from Parkersburg South High School in Parkersburg, West Virginia, was tabbed West Virginia High School Soccer Coaches Association Class AAA Player of the Year and a United Soccer Coaches All-South Region performer following her senior season in 2021, en route to breaking several school records under Head Coach Ron Bucholtz and the Patriots program. In 2021, she registered 13 multi-goal performances, including six hat tricks.

The Gatorade Player of the Year program 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.

Nunn joins recent Gatorade West Virginia Girls Soccer Players of the Year Graceylyn Hanna (2020-21, Wheeling Park High School), Sammie Brown (2019-20, Morgantown High School), McKenzie Moran (2018-19, St. Joseph Central Catholic High School), and Emilie Charles (2017-18, Cabell Midland High School), among the state’s list of former award winners.

During her senior season with the Patriots, Nunn led all players on her team with 36 goals scored, allowing her an average of 1.6 goals per game. In all, she tallied 90 points during the 2021 campaign – yet another school record for the high-scoring striker, putting her at an average of 4.1 points per game. She finished her career owning the all-time points record in school history as well.

Throughout her varsity career, Nunn bagged 87 goals and produced 37 assists.

Parkersburg South finished the 2021 campaign with an 18-3-2 overall mark, narrowly missing out on a return to the state finals, suffering a 1-0 loss to Cabell Midland in the regional final.

Voted the 2021 Parkersburg South High Homecoming Queen, Nunn has volunteered locally on behalf of the Salvation Army and by feeding the homeless at the Latrobe Street Mission. She has also donated her time as an assistant in the high school main office, and as a youth soccer coach.

In the classroom, Nunn maintained a 3.78 Grade Point Average (GPA).

Gatorade has a long-standing history of serving athlete communities and understands how sports instill valuable lifelong skills on and off the field. Through Gatorade’s “Play it Forward” platform, Nunn has the opportunity to award a $1,000 grant to a local or national organization of their choosing that helps young athletes realize the benefits of playing sports. Nunn is also eligible to submit a short video explaining why the organization they chose is deserving of one of twelve $10,000 spotlight grants, which will be announced throughout the year. To date, Gatorade Player of the Year winners’ grants have totaled more than $3.5 million across more than 1,300 organizations.

Since the program’s inception in 1985, Gatorade Player of the Year award recipients have won hundreds of professional and college championships, and many have also turned into pillars in their communities, becoming coaches, business owners and educators.