Courtesy of the City of Eastvale

CHICAGO — In its 30th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with USA TODAY High School Sports, today announced Jasmyne Graham of Eleanor Roosevelt High School as its 2014-15 Gatorade California Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year. Graham is the first Gatorade California Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year to be chosen from Eleanor Roosevelt High School.

The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the track, distinguishes Graham as California’s best high school girls track & field athlete. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year award to be announced in June, Graham joins an elite alumni association of state award-winners in 12 sports, including Allyson Felix (2001-02, Los Angeles Baptist, Calif.), Derek Jeter (1991-92, Kalamazoo HS, Mich.), Candace Parker (2001-02, Naperville Central HS, Ill.), Abby Wambach (1997-98, Our Lady of Mercy, N.Y.), Mark Sanchez (2004-05, Mission Viejo HS, Calif.), Lolo Jones (1997-98, Roosevelt HS, Ia.) and Bianca Knight (2006-07, Ridgeland HS, Miss.).

The 5-foot-2 senior won the 100-meter high hurdles with a time of 13.17 seconds and the 300-meter intermediate hurdles in 40.73 at the state meet this past season, leading the Mustangs to fifth place as a team. Her 100- and 300-meter hurdles times at the state meet each ranked as the nation’s No. 1 prep performance in 2015 and amongst the 15 fastest performances in U.S. prep history at the time of her selection. Also the Citrus Belt Area Athletic Directors Association Female Athlete of the Year, Graham chipped in by running the opening leg for the eighth-place 4×100-meter relay quartet that finished in 47.54 seconds as well as the second leg of the ninth-place 4×400-meter relay squad that crossed the line in 3:49.90.

Graham has maintained a 3.14 GPA in the classroom. In addition to donating her time as a running instructor and guest speaker for youth track athletes, she has volunteered on behalf of the Black Coal and Red Roses mentoring program for girls.

“Jasmyne is the most fierce high school competitor I have seen,” said Eleanor Roosevelt coach Aaron Shires. “Her parents have instilled in her the discipline, desire and commitment to excellence that John Wooden would be proud of in an athlete. The reason Jasmyne can take over a race the way she does is because of her preparation. She attends extra training sessions; she treats her body properly with the right nutrition and sleep. She lives a life that is not just committed to being great at track, but (to) being the best she can be at anything she does.”

Graham has signed a National Letter of Intent to compete in track and field on scholarship at the University of Southern California this fall.

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 high school sports leadership team in partnership with USA TODAY High School Sports, which work with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.

Graham joins recent Gatorade California Girls Track & Field Athletes of the Year Ariana Washington (2013-14, Long Beach Poly High School), Sasha Wallace (2012-13 & 2011-12, Castro Valley High School), Amy Weissenbach (2010–11, Harvard-Westlake School), Ashton Purvis (2009-10, Saint Elizabeth), Anna Jelmini (2008–09, Shafter), Christine Babcock (2007-08, Woodbridge), and Tori Anthony (2006-07, Castilleja School) among the state’s list of former award winners.

To keep up to date on the latest happenings, become a fan of Gatorade Player of the Year on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. For more on the Gatorade Player of the Year program, including nomination information, a complete list of past winners and the announcement of the Gatorade National Player of the Year, visit www.gatorade.com/poy.