Sarah Ing ‘ 14 Named Gatorade DC Softball Player of the Year

The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with ESPNHS, announced National Cathedral School student Sarah Ing ’14 as its 2011-12 Gatorade District of Columbia Softball Player of the Year on June 6.

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 Ing as District of Columbia’s best high school softball player. This is the 27th year Gatorade has been honoring high school athletes.

Ing, a 5-foot-5 right-handed pitcher, led the Eagles to a 12-5 record, the Independent School League Class A championship and the Best of D.C. Tournament title game this past season. A D.C. Softball Classic All-Star Game selection, Ing posted an 11-4 record in the circle with a 1.61 ERA and 154 strikeouts against 37 walks in 87 innings-pitched. Also an All-ISL Class A selection, she batted .491 with three home runs and 28 RBI in 2012, producing a .772 slugging percentage and .508 on-base percentage.

In addition to maintaining a high grade point average, Ing is an accomplished pianist and writes for the Discus. She volunteers on behalf of her church’s youth group and Operation Smile. She plans to intern for the U.S. Congress this summer and will serve as class vice president next year.

The official Gatorade announced quoted NCS Softball Coach Anya Adams:  “Sarah Ing is an incredible competitor, both mentally and physically. She always comes prepared to practices and games to do her absolute best and leaves everything on the field. I have never heard Sarah even utter a negative word. No matter what the situation is she stays positive, works harder, and gets the job done.”

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 ESPNHS and the Gatorade high school sports leadership team, who work with sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.

Ing is the second Gatorade Softball Player of the Year to be chosen from NCS; Alexandra “Alie” Kolbe ’08 was named in 2007-2008.