Following a season where she led the Dimond High girls soccer team to a third straight Division I Alaska state championship appearance, Tatum Porter was named Alaska’s Gatorade Player of the Year. Last week, the senior striker became the second straight Lynx player and sixth all-time in program history to be honored.
Some notable recipients of the award from its previous 37 years include No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NWSL Draft Alyssa Thompson of Angel City FC, Mallory Swanson who plays as a forward for the Chicago Red Stars of the NWSL, three-time Olympic gold medalist Heather O’Reilly and National Soccer Hall of Fame inductee Abby Wambach.
Porter had a sensational final prep season in which she led Dimond to a 13-2 overall record and recorded 26 goals and 10 assists for an average of 2.4 points per game.
[Dimond girls soccer avenges lone loss of the season in potential state preview with rival South]
The award doesn’t just recognize a student-athlete for their performance on the pitch. It also acknowledges exceptional academic achievement and character exemplified in their classroom and respective communities.
Porter maintained a 3.95 GPA and volunteered locally as part of a Japanese language immersion program where she regularly met with an exchange student to converse and share their culture backgrounds.
Porter is the third Dimond player to win the award in the last four years, joining former teammates Keegynn Applegate who was the 2021-2022 recipient and Kana Mateaki, who was the 2019-2020 honoree.
“The player that was always a challenge and one that every team had to pay attention to was Tatum Porter,” Service head coach Reuben Siedl said in a statement. “She is a danger to score anywhere within 35 yards of the goal, and she works hard to win any ball that is in her area.”
She has already committed to play soccer for and attend the University of Hawaii, where she will be reuniting with one of her former club coaches, Kaula Rowe, who is an assistant coach for the Rainbow Warriors. She plans to major in biology with intentions of going into the dental field when her soccer career ends.
“I went on a visit and enjoyed everything about them so I committed,” Porter said in April.