LHS’ Turner Boys State Track and Field Gatorade Player of the Year

By VIRGINIA GIORGIS Pioneer Editor vgiorgis@bridgervalleypioneer.com
Posted 7/16/21

LHS athlete, as a graduated senior, named Track and Field Gatorade Player of the Year

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LHS’ Turner Boys State Track and Field Gatorade Player of the Year

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LYMAN — Joseph Turner, LHS student-athlete graduate, received the news last week he was named the Gatorade State Player of the Year in Wyoming Boys Track and Field.

According to the information he received, by winning this honor Turner “is now part of a 35+ year legacy that includes past winners such as Peyton Manning, Sydney McLaughlin, Mallory Pugh, Karl-Anthony Towns, Elena Delle Donne, and many other sports icons!”

The Gatorade Player of the Year program recognizes the “nation’s most elite high school athletes for not only athletic excellence, but also for high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character.”

Turner has been a stand-out student at Lyman High School excelling in sports and academics. In receiving this award Turner will receive a trophy and Lyman High School will receive a banner to display at the school. In addition the school will receive a Gatorade Sideline Kit containing Gatorade coolers, cups and Gatorade Thirst Quencher powder for the athlete’s team to use, which is slated to arrive in 2-3 months.

By winning this award, Turner was also gifted with a ‘Play It Forward with a $1,000 Grant. Gatorade will donate $1,000 to a sport-based organization of Turner’s choosing.

Turner is the first athlete to ever be chosen for this award from Lyman High School.

Turner had gained notoriety through his high school career as a power thrower in both the shot and the discus, gaining move power and finesse each year and earning spots on the podium. This year he continued to ace both the shot and the discus at multiple track meets.

And true to his ability, Turner captured the 3A W title in both the discus and shot this spring at Lander. He actually out-threw his seed in the shot by almost two feet, almost four feet further than the distance for second place.

A two-time state champion in the discus, Turner set a personal record with a toss of 182-5 in the 2021 outdoor season. It ranked No. 42 in the country among prep competitors in that event at the time of his selection. In the shot put, Turner put forth a career-best 61-2, which put him No. 38 in the nation.

The 6-1, 230-pound senior had a 3.74 GPA in the classroom. He signed a National Letter of Intent earlier this year to throw at Utah State University on an athletic scholarship. Turner has volunteered locally as a youth basketball coach and as part of multiple community service initiatives through his church. He has also donated his time after school and on weekends to support and serve as a companion to a mentally challenged, wheelchair-bound student.