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Finnegan Saunders ’23 has been named the 2022-23 Gatorade New Mexico Boys Soccer Player of the Year.

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 Saunders as New Mexico’s best high school boys soccer player, according to a news release from Gatorade.

Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Soccer Player of the Year award to be announced in June, Saunders joins an elite alumni association of state award winners in 12 sports.

Saunders led the Sundevils to a 19-4 record and the Class 3A State Championship this past season. He scored 44 goals and passed for 18 assists, netting both goals in Sandia Prep’s 2-0 win over Hatch Valley High School in the state final.

A United Soccer Coaches All-American selection, Saunders graduates a three-time First Team All-State selection. He concluded his high soccer career with 81 goals and 37 assists.

Saunders also volunteered locally as part of multiple community service initiatives in association with Prep’s National Honor Society.

“Finn was the total package,” said Shaun Gill, head coach of Cleveland High School. “He was able to score goals, attack with pace, and hold onto the ball in the attacking third. Finn is dangerous both on and off the ball.”

Saunders maintained a 3.83 GPA in the classroom. He will attend Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, where he will play soccer, beginning 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, according to the news release.

Peyton Manning, Sydney McLaughlin, Mallory Pugh, Jayson Tatum, Elena Delle Donne, and Paige Bueckers are among the Gatorade athletes who have gone on to become collegiate and pro champions, important figures in their communities—and the biggest sports icons.

Each Player of the Year receives a grant through Gatorade’s Pay it Forward initiative to give to one of Gatorade’s social impact partners, supporting the company’s ambition to fuel the future of sport. To date, Gatorade Player of the Year winners’ grants have totaled more than $3.5 million across more than 1,300 organizations, according to the news release.

Saunders is the fourth Sundevil student athlete to win the prestigious Gatorade award. Previous winners were: Cat Kelly ’18, volleyball (two-time winner); Seth C’deBaca ’07, soccer; and Tyrone Petrakis ’05, soccer.

Saunders was named to the High School All-American Soccer Team last December. He and Sandia Prep Boys Varsity Soccer Coach Tommy Smith were recognized in Philadelphia in January by the United Soccer Coaches. Smith was named the Far West Region National Coach of the Year.

Smith has called Saunders “one of the top Sandia Prep players of all time.”

You can read Prep’s earlier story about Saunders and Smith here.

You can watch a KRQE story about Saunders' Gatorade award here.