Top female high school athlete in every year since 1950

With the use of a little hindsight, MaxPreps has retroactively selected Female Athletes of the Year dating back to 1950.

Something to consider: Before Title IX in the mid-1970s, there were few states that had organized sports at the high school level for girls. Thus many of the selections prior to 1974 are golf, tennis, swimming and track and field athletes who competed in club sports, in the Olympics, at the professional level or in amateur competition. Top Female Athlete From Each Year Since 1950

2007
Maya Moore, Collins Hill (Suwanee, Ga.)
Moore led Collins Hill to the girls basketball mythical national championship in 2007. Her team won three state titles in four years and she scored 2,664 points during that period.

2006
Tina Charles, Christ the King (Middle Village, N.Y.)
Charles earned All-American honors after leading Christ the King to a mythical national championship and 57 straight wins in girls basketball.

2005
Cynthia Barboza, Woodrow Wilson (Long Beach, Calif.)
Barboza was the nation's top volleyball player during the 2004-05 season, earning player of the year honors from Volleyball Magazine and Gatorade.

2004
Candace Parker, Naperville Central (Naperville, Ill.)
Parker led her team to a pair of state titles and she was a two-time national player of the year in basketball by USA Today.

2003
Allyson Felix, Los Angeles Baptist (Los Angeles)
Named the High School Athlete of the Year by Track and Field News, Felix ran the fastest 200 meters in history for a high school girl.

2002
Alicia Hollowell, Fairfield (Calif.)
The national softball player of the year by multiple media outlets, Hollowell set a national record with 61 strikeouts in one game. She finished her career with a national record 2,238 strikeouts.

2001
Cat Osterman, Cypress Springs (Cypress, Texas)
An eventual four-time All-American softball player in college, Osterman was the Gatorade National Player of the Year.

2000
Diana Taurasi, Don Lugo (Chino, Calif.)
A two-time Parade National Player of the Year, Taurasi finished her career with 3,047 points before going on to a long career in the WNBA.

1999
Serena Williams, Driftwood Academy (Lake Park, Fla.)
Williams had already played in all four Grand Slam events by the time she was a senior in high school, posting a 19-6 record in those four tournaments.

1998
Abby Wambach, Our Lady of Mercy (Rochester, N.Y.)
Wambach won multiple honors as a senior soccer player, earning All-American status from Parade and national player of the year awards by several publications.

1997
Venus Williams, Driftwood Academy (Lake Park, Fla.)
Williams reached the finals of the US Open her senior year and also played in two other Grand Slam events.

1996
Kerri Walsh, Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, Calif.)
Walsh led Mitty to three state championships in volleyball and was the national player of the year by Gatorade. She also helped lead Mitty to a state title in basketball.

1995
Chamique Holdsclaw, Christ the King (Middle Village, N.Y.)
Holdsclaw led the team to four straight New York state championships and was a first-team All-American as a senior.

1994
Suzy Powell, Downey (Modesto, Calif.)
Powell was the Track and Field News High School Athlete of the Year after breaking the national record in the discus with a throw of 214 feet.

1993
Marion Jones, Thousand Oaks (Calif.)
One of the top sprinters in high school history, Jones was the Track and Field News High School Athlete of the Year twice and she won the 100 meters in the CIF meet four times. She was also dominant in basketball, playing for North Carolina at the college level.

1992
Katie Smith, Logan (Ohio)
The Gatorade National Player of the Year, Smith led Logan to the state championship game. She went on to a long career in the WNBA.

1991
Summer Sanders, Oakmont (Roseville, Calif.)
After almost earning a spot on the 1988 Olympic team as a 15-year old, Sanders climaxed her senior year by winning a pair of events at the Pan-Pacific championships in 1991.

1990
Lisa Leslie, Morningside (Inglewood, Calif.)
One of the all-time great WNBA players, Leslie became a national sensation in high school when she scored 101 points by halftime in a game against South Torrance. She was the top basketball player in the country by her senior year.

1989
Lisa Fernandez, Saint Joseph (Lakewood, Calif.)
The California state player of the year by Cal-Hi Sports, Fernandez was one of the top softball players in the country. She went on to become a four-time All-American an a four-time national player of the year at UCLA.

1988
Janet Evans, El Dorado (Placentia, Calif.)
Evans broke three world records in the 400, 800 and 1,500-meter freestyle events in 1987 and then won three gold medals in the 1988 Olympics.

1987
Michelle Granger, Valencia (Placentia, Calif.)
Granger set multiple state and national softball pitching records while in high school and was a member of Team USA in 1986 at the age of 16.

1986
Teri Mann, Point Loma (San Diego, Calif.)
Although not named the national player of the year by Gatorade, Mann was a Parade All-American after finishing her career with 3,188 points and 2,256 rebounds.

1985
Nora Lewis, Richwoods (Peoria, Ill.)
A two-time Parade All-American, Lewis lost just five times in 124 games during her four-year varsity career. She went on to a Hall of Fame career at Louisiana Tech.

1984
Mary Lou Retton, Fairmont Senior (Fairmont, W.Va.)
As a sophomore in high school, Retton became the first American to win the gold medal in the all-around in gymnastics at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.

1983
Tina Hutchinson, Lincoln (East St. Louis, Ill.)
Hutchinson finished her career with over 3,000 career points and averaged 15 rebounds while earning Parade National Player of the Year honors.

1982
Mary Meagher, Sacred Heart (Louisville, Ky.)
The top swimmer in the country while still in high school, Meagher set national records in the 200-meter and 100-meter butterfly, besting the previous mark by nearly a second in the latter event.

1981
Cheryl Miller, Poly (Riverside, Calif.)
A three-time Parade All-American, Miller scored a 5-on-5 national record of 105 points in one game and finished her career as the all-time leading scorer in California with 3,446 points.

1980
Jackie Joyner, Lincoln (East St. Louis, Ill.)
A three-sport standout, Joyner excelled in volleyball, basketball and track and field. She was an all-state player in basketball and competed in the Olympic trials in the long jump. Joyner went on to win multiple gold medals in the heptathlon in the Olympics.

1979
Tracy Austin, Rolling Hills (Rolling Hills Estates, Calif.)
Austin turned professional in November of her senior year. She posted wins over Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert while still in high school, winning the U.S. Open the summer of her senior year.

1978
Tracy Caulkins, Harpeth Hall (Nashville, Tenn.)
At just 15 years of age, Caulkins won five gold medals and one silver at the World Championships and became the youngest winner of the Sullivan Award, rewarding the nation's top amateur athlete.

1977
Lynette Woodard, North (Wichita, Kan.)
Known as the first female Harlem Globetrotter, Woodard was a Parade All-American and led Wichita North to two state titles in basketball. She was also a four-time All-American at Kansas.

1976
Nancy Lieberman, Far Rockaway (N.Y.)
While still in high school, Lieberman earned a spot on Team USA and won a gold medal in the Pan American games.

1975
Nancy Lopez, Goddard (Roswell, N.M.)
While in high school, Lopez won the United States girls national golf championship at age 15 and age 17 while at Goddard.

1974
Ann Meyers, Sonora (La Habra, Calif.)
According to her Wikipedia page, Meyers lettered in seven sports in high school. She is most known for her basketball exploits when she became the first high school athlete to play on the U.S. national team.

1973
Chris Evert, St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
By the time she graduated high school, Evert had played in the final at Wimbledon and the French Open and was ranked the No. 3 women's tennis player in the world.

1972
Flo Hyman, Morningside (Inglewood, Calif.)
Considered one of the nation's all-time great volleyball players, Hyman was already playing professional volleyball by her sophomore season in high school.

1971
Laura Baugh, Woodrow Wilson (Long Beach, Calif.)
Baugh became the youngest golfer to win the U.S. Woman's Amateur title when she claimed the event in 1971 at age 16.

1970
Francie Larrieu, Fremont (Sunnyvale, Calif.)
Although she didn't compete for the high school because it didn't have a track team, Larrieu was one of the top long-distance runners in the nation, tying the American record in the 1,500 heading into her senior year.

1969
Denise Long, Union-Whitten (Whitten, Iowa)
The first female ever drafted by the NBA, Long played 6-on-6 basketball and scored 6,250 points in her career.

1968
Debbie Meyer, Rio Americano (Sacramento, Calif.)
Meyer became the first female swimmer to win three gold medals at the Olympics, breaking three world records in the process. She won the Sullivan Award as the nation's top amateur athlete.

1967
Karen Logan, Fortuna (Calif.)
A standout in volleyball, basketball, tennis and track and field, Logan was one of the top quarter-milers in the nation and she was good enough in basketball and tennis to play at the collegiate level. By 1975 she was regarded as the No. 1 women's basketball player in the world.

1966
Charlotte Cook, St. Mary's Academy (Compton, Calif.)
Competing for a club, Cook set multiple national high school records in the 400 and 800 meters.

1965
Peggy Fleming, Pasadena (Calif.)
En route to becoming a gold medal figure skater in the 1968 Olympics, Fleming won national figure skating titles in 1964 and 1965.

1964
Eleanor Montgomery, John Adams (Cleveland, Ohio)
Montgomery won a Pan American Game gold medal as a junior and reached the finals of the 1964 Olympic high jump competition as a senior. She won 13 national championships in her career.

1963
Judy Torluemke (Rankin), Eureka (Mo.)
Known as Judy Rankin as a professional golfer, Torluemke was the low amateur at the U.S. Women's Open in 1960 and turned professional in 1962 as a junior.

1962
Wyomia Tyus, Griffin (Ga.)
A gold medal sprinter at the 1964 and 1968 Olympics, Tyus was the top prep sprint in the nation while at Griffin.

1961
Billie Jean Moffitt (King), Long Beach Poly (Calif.)
One of America's great tennis players, Moffitt got her start competing as a sophomore in the U.S. Open. By the time she was a senior she competed at Wimbledon.

1960
Pat Daniels, Capuchino (San Bruno, Calif.)
Daniels compete in the Olympics in the 800 meters as a senior in high school. She went on to become one of the nation's top pentathletes in 1960s.

1959
Willye White, Broad Street (Greenwood, Miss.)
The year she graduated, White set a national record in the long jump that stood for 16 years. As a sophomore, she won a silver medal in the 1956 Olympics.

1958
Mary Mills, Gulfport (Miss.)
Mills won multiple state amateur championships while in high school and eventually joined the LPGA where she was rookie of the year. While in college, Mills was the No. 1 player on the men's team.

1957
Kathy Whitworth, Jal (N.M.)
Whitworth won the New Mexico U.S. Amateur golf championship while still in high school. She went on to become a three-time LPGA player of the year.

1956
Wilma Rudolph, Burt (Clarksville, Tenn.)
Rudolph competed in basketball, scoring 803 points as a sophomore to set a state record. In track, Rudolph was one of the top AAU runners in the country and eventually won three gold medals at the 1960 Olympics.

1955
Barbara Jones, St. Elizabeth (Elizabeth, N.J.)
Jones was one of the top sprinters in the nation while in high school and won an Olympic gold medal in the 4x100 relay when she was just 15.

1954
Nera White, Macon County (Lafayette, Tenn.)
A two-time district MVP, White led Macon County to the district championship. She went on to become one of the nation's top AAU women's basketball and softball players in the country.

1953
Tenley Albright, Winsor (Boston)
A silver medalist in figure skating in the 1952 Winter Olympics, Albright won her first world championship in 1953

1952
Mickey Wright, Hoover (San Diego)
While in high school, Wright won the U.S. girls junior. She went on to win 82 LPGA events in her career.

1951
Maureen Connolly, Cathedral Catholic (San Diego)
Connolly won the U.S. championships while still in high school and went on to win nine grand slam titles before an injury ended her career at 19.

1950
Maureen Connolly, Cathedral Catholic (San Diego)
The nation's top tennis player as a junior, Connolly was already competing at the U.S. national championships.