CHICAGO — In its 40th year of honoring the nation’s most elite high school athletes, in a press release on Monday Gatorade announced Billings Skyview's Rae Smart is the 2024-25 Gatorade Montana Girls Track & Field Player of the Year.
The Gatorade Player of the Year is one the top honor in high school sports, celebrating the nation’s best high school athletes for their success on the field, in the classroom and in the community the press release from the sports drink company detailed.
The 5-foot-9 senior throws specialist set a state record in the javelin at the Class AA state meet this past season, with a mark of 162 feet, 11 inches to rank third nationally among girls prep competitors this spring. Smart also repeated as state champion in the shot put in addition to winning the discus throw, leading the Falcons to seventh place as a team. Her personal-best shot effort of 46-5 at April’s Midland Roundtable Top 10 ranked No. 39 nationally at the time of her selection.
Billings Skyview's Rae Smart throws the javelin a distance of 162 feet, 11 inches — an all-class state record — at the 2025 MHSA State AA Tournament May 24 at Legends Stadium in Kalispell.
Also an all-state soccer and basketball player, Smart has volunteered locally with a Unified physical education class at Skyview High School, supporting students with physical and intellectual challenges, in addition to serving as a youth soccer and basketball coach the Gatorade news release noted. She has also donated her time with the Reading Rocks program at various elementary schools. Smart was also selected to play for the Treasure State girls in the Midland Roundtable Montana-Wyoming All-Star Basketball Series. She was also the Midland Roundtable Female Athlete of the Year.
“Rae is great — extremely competitive and performs at the big meets,” said Billings West coach Rob Stanton in the Gatorade press release. “As an example, our javelin thrower jumped ahead of Rae on her final toss (at the state meet). Rae had to throw further on her last toss to win. Not only did she win, she had a 30-plus foot PR and set an all-class record for the javelin.”
Smart has maintained a 4.39 weighted GPA in the classroom. She has signed a written letter of athletic aid to play basketball and compete in track and field at Montana State University Billings beginning with the 2025-26 school year.
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