Kovatch named Gatorade Player of the Year

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS- In its 36th year honoring the nation's best high school athletes, Gatorade named 2021 Seeley-Swan High School graduate Klaire Kovatch its 2020-21 Gatorade Montana Girls Track & Field Player of the Year. Kovatch is the first Gatorade Montana Girls Track & Field Player of the Year to be chosen from SSHS.

The award recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Girls Track & Field Player of the Year award to be announced in July.

Kovatch found out about the award after she received an Instagram notification that Montana Sports tagged her in a post announcing she had been named Player of the Year.

"At first I was shocked to have been awarded Gatorade Player of the Year!" Kovatch wrote in an email. "It's incredible to see my name and picture associated with such a well-known award! I don't know who nominated me but I'd like to know!

The six-foot senior won the discus for a third time and was a member of the winning 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relay teams at the Class C state meet this past season, leading the Lady Blackhawks to a first-place finish as a team. Kovatch also took second in the shot put at the state meet. At the time of her selection, her personal-best discus throw of 159 feet, 3 inches in April represents a Class C state record and ranked No. 21 nationally among prep competitors in the event in 2021.

The student council president at SSHS, Kovatch was also a two-year student trustee for the Missoula County Public School Board. She has volunteered locally as a youth ski coach and basketball referee. Kovatch maintained a 4.0 in the classroom and graduated as her school's valedictorian. She has signed a National Letter of Intent to compete on an athletic scholarship at Colorado State University.

"My kids competed against Klaire several times this year, and not only was she an exceptional athlete, she always exhibited exemplary sportsmanship," Shawn Ragnerus, head coach of Sheridan High, said in a press release. "Klaire is arguably the best female thrower ever in Montana."

The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction 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, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. The Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee administers the selection process. They work with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.

Kovatch joins recent Gatorade Montana Girls Track & Field Players of the Year Angellica Street (2019-20 & 2018-19, Columbia Falls High School), Camila Noe (2017-18, Bozeman High School) and Annie Hill (2016-17, Glacier High School), among the state's list of former award winners. She received a Nike duffle with "Gatorade Player of the Year" stitched on the side and a Gatorade water bottle. She also received an exclusive Gatorade Gx Sweat Patch and will be among the first athletes to try it. The sweat patch allows athletes to analyze their sweat and learn about their bodies to better plan and prepare for the workouts.

Kovatch said she has also seen banners hung in other gyms for Gatorade Player of the Year.

"It would be awesome to see a banner in our very own Seeley-Swan gym!" Kovatch wrote.

Through Gatorade's cause marketing platform "Play it Forward," Kovatch has the opportunity to award a $1,000 grant to a local or national youth sports organization of her choosing. Kovatch selected the new Building 4 WC Foundation for her grant.

The family of Wayne Cahoon recently started the Building 4 WC 501(c)3 in Seeley Lake to honor Wayne. Wayne was a builder in many ways including people, especially young people. He loved coaching and teaching kids as well as watching them develop their skills and success. The Building 4 WC Foundation will continue his legacy of building youth and building people by raising and distributing funds around local schools and communities.

"I chose to donate to this foundation started by Wayne Cahoon's family because of my personal interest in seeing the foundation succeed!" wrote Kovatch. "The Cahoon family has been so supportive of me and this is one way I can give back to them and my community. I believe they have a true interest in promoting youth student athletes in Seeley Lake."

Kovatch is also eligible to submit a 30-second video explaining why the organization they chose is deserving of one of twelve $10,000 spotlight grants, which will be announced throughout the year. To date, Gatorade Player of the Year winners' grants have totaled more than $2.7 million across 1,117 organizations.

Since the program's inception in 1985, Gatorade Player of the Year award recipients have won hundreds of professional and college championships, and many have also turned into pillars in their communities, becoming coaches, business owners and educators.

To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, check out past winners or to nominate student-athletes, visit playeroftheyear.gatorade.com or find them on social media.