Less than two weeks ago, Rachel Quon was on top of the world. Today, she’s just another one of the girls.

Quon is present this week with the US U18 Women’s National Team camp in Carson, California, just days after she was named the 2008-09 Gatorade National Girls Soccer Player of the Year – the most prestigious individual award given to any high school soccer player.

Quon, a 5-foot-3 Eclipse Select defender, led her Lake Forest High School team with 15 goals and 10 assists while exuding strong character and exceptional work in the classroom.

And after making national headlines, including a mention on SportsCenter, she’s now surrounded by a collection of players who boast their own awards, state, and club championships.

Still, it was fun while it lasted.

“A friend of my sister’s called and told her that she’d seen my family on ESPN – because they flashed a family photo,” Quon said. “I was very thankful to be chosen out of so many great players. I was very surprised. It’s like that surprise when you have to stand up in front of a bunch of people and you’re like, ‘what’s going on.’ ”

It was an especially validating moment for Quon considering what she’s been through in the last year.  

In July of 2007, Quon tore her ACL while competing for the US U17 team. The injury wiped out her junior season and placed a few natural doubts in the back of her mind about her future career. It didn’t help that teammate Brianne Rodriguez suffered the same injury less than a year later.

But these days, all doubts have been erased.

“It means a lot knowing that people have acknowledged that you can come back from an ACL injury,” Quon said. “It proves that it’s not the end of the world. You can come back even stronger. The injury was so difficult for me. During physical therapy when they would push my knee for range of motion, which is the first step in therapy, I would cry. I just wanted to get out there.”

To see Quon out there on the field now is to know that her knee is the very last thing on her mind. Alongside Torri Allen, Julie Johnston, Mollie Pathman, Kate Bennett, Lauren Matheson and Kelly Cobb, she’s one of the girls again. Well, she’ll never completely be one of the girls – not with her athleticism and knack for getting the ball forward – but she’s back doing what she loves, anyway.

Quon, coming off a strong performance in the 2008 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup, will be heading to Stanford this Fall with potential boundless and possibilities endless.

“It’s already a great team, hopefully I can come in with the class and we can get back to the Final Four and eventually a national championship,” Quon said. “I’m really excited.”