by Scott Sacry, Sports Editor
Hunter Loesch’s magical season got a little better last week. The Corvallis high school senior and future University of Montana Griz was awarded the 2025 Gatorade Player of the Year for boys track & field on June 25th.
Loesch made headlines this year in the boys javelin. Loesch’s best throw of the season was 219’11” at the Western A Divisionals on May 17. This was the best throw in Montana for 2025 and the second best throw in the nation during the high school season. Loesch took 3rd place at the Nike Outdoor Nationals in Eugene, Oregon on June 22 with a throw of 217’ 4”. It’s rare for a Montana track & field athlete to be at this level nationally.
Corvallis’s Hunter Loesch was awarded the 2025 Gatorade Player of the Year for boys track & field on June 25th. Star file photo.
Loesch won the Class A state championship in Kalispell on May 24 with a throw of 209’04”. Loesch also took 2nd at state (186’8”) in 2024 as a junior, and 3rd at state (176’8”) in 2023 as a sophomore.
“Hunter has matured immensely as an athlete, person and student over the past four years,” said Corvallis’s track head coach Spencer Huls. “His dedication to his craft has been second to none. He is a role model for all student-athletes.”
Gatorade also lauded Loesch for keeping a B average in the classroom and volunteering to help elderly neighbors, and donating his time as a youth tee-ball and football coach.
This is the second year in a row that a track athlete from Corvallis has won this award for track and field. Corvallis’s Olivia Lewis won the Gatorade Player of the Year for girls track and field last year.
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.
Patricia Treece says
Sure wish I would have known he was in Eugene, that’s only about 5o miles north of me! I sure would have went!!