Incoming Panthers Alex Megna and Morgan LaPlant were named the Gatorade Boys’ and Girls’ State Players of the Year for Wisconsin.
Read releases from Gatorade here for Alex and here for Morgan.
Megna earned the award in February and signed a National Letter of Intent to join the Panthers in March. He capped his career at Marquette High School by scoring the game-winning goal in the state championship game as part of a 22-4-1 season. The WSCA Player of the Year, he was also named Conference Player of the Year and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel area player of the year. He finished the season with 11 goals and 12 assists en route to also earning NSCAA All-Midwest Region and NSCAA All-American accolades.
"Alex is the state player of the year and won a state championship with Marquette High School," men’s head coach Chris Whalley said of Megna in March. "That is the third Wisconsin player of the year in a row to join the Panthers, so our commitment to recruiting the best local players is paying off."
At the time of Gatorade's release May 12, Morgan had scored 12 goals and tallied four assists through 11 games this season. She is already Madison LaFollette’s all-time leading scorer with 104 career goals. She signed a NLI to come to Milwaukee in February. That release is here.
“Morgan is a very dynamic player, both quick and fast,” women’s head coach Michael Moynihan said. “She is relatively new to competitive soccer, (getting into it) in the last couple of years. She has come a long way in a short amount of time. She has enormous potential and, even with an award like this, it’s still relatively untapped. We’re excited for what she’ll be able to do in a Panther uniform.”
The award also recognizes players for their efforts in the classroom. Alex has maintained a B average in the classroom. A devoted member of his church community, he has volunteered at a
local nursing home and as a mentor for area elementary school student. Meanwhile, Morgan has maintained a 3.70 GPA in the classroom. A religious education instructor at her church, she has
volunteered locally on behalf the Salvation Army and has participated in several service-mission trips to repair homes for the underprivileged.
Robbie Boyd (2009) and Laurel Ragalie (2008) are current Panthers who have also received this award in recent years.
