by Scott Sacry
Corvallis’ Olivia Lewis was awarded the 2023-24 Gatorade Montana Girls Track & Field Player of the Year on June 26th. The award celebrates the nation’s top high school athletes for excellence on the field, in the classroom and in the community. This is the first time an athlete from Corvallis High School has won this award.
“This is a really big honor,” said Lewis. “I feel there were a lot of worthy girls this year from Montana, so it’s nice to see all my hard work rewarded. I’m so thankful.”
Lewis had a storied high school career at Corvallis as a sprinter and hurdler. At the 2024 Class A State track meet, Lewis competed in seven events. She won the 400m, the 110m hurdles, and the 300m hurdles. She also took 4th in the 200m, 6th in the high jump, and was on Corvallis’ 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams.
Lewis factored in 39 of Corvallis’ 92.5 points on their way to a team state title.
In the 300m hurdles, Lewis broke the All-Class state record with a time of 41.86, becoming the only high school girl in Montana history to run under 42 seconds. She also won the same three events at state in 2023 and the 400m in 2022.
“I want to thank my coaches and mentors in Corvallis,” said Lewis, “but also I want to thank my family, especially my sister Jessica. She was a huge part of helping me with the mental side of competing, especially at state. She is amazing.”
Corvallis’ head track coach Spencer Huls said of Lewis, “I’m really proud and happy for her. This award speaks to her many talents, hard work and competitiveness. This individual award is even more impressive given that the Corvallis track team has a ‘team first’ mentality. When she broke the state record in the 300m hurdles, it was her seventh race of the weekend. She still won this individual award even though she was in all these other events to help the team.”
Outside of track, Lewis held a 3.84 GPA in high school and volunteered with the Special Olympics and the Colors For Cancer 5K, and participated in highway cleanups and food drives.
Lewis will run track for Montana State University next year.
“I was thinking of going out of state for track, “said Lewis, “but I really liked my visit and the new coach at MSU. It will mean more to me to run for a Montana school than to run for a school in another state, because Montana has meant so much to me.”
Lewis is eager to explore subjects in college associated with athletics and health.
Lewis isn’t content with her success in high school track and wants to keep improving at Bozeman. “My main focus at MSU will be on the 400m hurdles,” said Lewis. “I may run some open 400’s, but I want to give it my all in the 400m hurdles and see how far I can take it.”
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in each of the 50 states for high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field.