CHICAGO (June 30, 2022) - In its 37th year of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, Gatorade today
announced Iyana Johnson of Davidson High School is the 2021-22 Gatorade Alabama Girls Track & Field Player
of the Year. Johnson is the second Gatorade Alabama Girls Track & Field Player of the Year to be chosen from
Davidson 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 field, distinguishes Johnson as Alabama's
best high school girls track & field athlete. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Girls Track & Field
Player of the Year award to be announced in July, Johnson joins an elite alumni association of state award winners in 12 sports, including Lolo Jones (1997-98, Roosevelt High School, Iowa), Allyson Felix (2002-03, Los
Angeles Baptist High School, Calif.), Robert Griffin III (2006-07, Copperas Cove High School, Texas), Grant Fisher
(2014-15 & 2013-14, Grand Blanc High School, Mich.) and Candace Hill (2014-15, Rockdale County High School,
Ga.).
The 5-foot-8 senior thrower and hurdler was a double gold medalist at the Class 7A state meet this past season,
launching the shot put 40 feet, 4.5 inches and leaping a wind-aided personal-best of 41-1.25 in the triple jump.
Johnson also won a bronze medal at June's New Balance Nationals Outdoor, soaring 41-6.5 in the long jump, which
at the time of her selection was the nation's No. 8 distance among prep girls competitors in 2022. She graduated as
a three-time individual state champion and as the 2022 Mobile Optimist Club 7A Female Track Athlete of the Year.
Her personal-best throw at NBNO ranked No. 8 among girls prep competitors in the state this spring.
A leader in her church youth group, Johnson has donated her time as an officer in the Davidson High Black Student
Union. She has also volunteered locally coaching youth track athletes on behalf of the City of Mobile Parks and
Recreation Department. "Iyana Johnson ended her prep season leading the state of Alabama in the triple jump and
shot put," said Tim Loreman, editor of MileSplit Alabama. "Her recent third-place finish in the triple jump at New
Balance Nationals Outdoor is a career-best and demonstrates just how worthy she is of this honor."
Johnson has maintained a 3.49 weighted GPA in the classroom. She has signed a National Letter of Intent to
compete on an athletic scholarship at the University of South Alabama 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 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.
Johnson joins recent Gatorade Alabama Girls Track & Field Players of the Year Chanice Spicer (2020-21 & 2019-20,
Brewbaker Technology Magnet High School), Nicole Payne (2018-19, Oak Mountain High School), and Alonie
Sutton (2017-18, School Station High School), among the state's list of former award winners.
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, Johnson 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. Johnson 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.