Another area player has won the Gatorade South Carolina Boys Soccer Player of the Year award.
Riverside junior and midfielder Fabian Menendez, who helped lead the Warriors to the Class AAAAA boys soccer state title, was named this year’s winner.
He’s the second Greenville County player to win the award in the past five years, the most recent being former Wade Hampton star Ben Erkens (2019-20 and 2018-19).
Last season, Jackson Price of A.C. Flora won the award. He now plays for Furman.
Menendez tallied 20 goals and 10 assists for a top-ranked Riverside team that won the state championship a second year in a row. It was the Warriors’ 14th state title.
Menendez led Riverside to a No. 1 ranking nationally, according to MaxPreps. He was also an all-state honoree, and Menendez was the Region 2-AAAAA Player of the Year. He is also a member of Puerto Rico’s U20 National Team, said Riverside coach Scott Columbia, who also said the 17-year-old was just recently pulled up to the U20 squad.
“The greatest thing about (Fabian) is his contributions to the team,” Columbia told The Greenville News on Thursday. “He makes his teammates better and he’s a leader on and off the field.
“The team is a family … that is so important to our culture. That’s what turned our program into what it is today. (Fabian) and our juniors are a big part of that.”
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The junior is one of 51 winners announced this week for the award. Gatorade selects 50 winners from the 50 states and one from the District of Columbia.
Other recent winners of the award from Greenville County Schools include Tyler Rider and Michele Bottari, who both played at J.L. Mann.
Joe Dandron, a Michigan native and graduate of Michigan State University, covers high school sports for The Greenville News. Have a question, story idea, or story tip involving prep sports in the Upstate? Email him at jdandron@gannett.com or reach out via phone at 864-415-6213.