SMOKY VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT-ATHLETE NAMED GATORADE KANSAS BOYS TRACK & FIELD PLAYER OF THE YEAR CHICAGO (June 24, 2019) -

In its 34th year of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company today announced Tim Lambert of Smoky Valley High School as its 2018-19 Gatorade Kansas Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year. Lambert is the first Gatorade Kansas Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year to be chosen from Smoky Valley High School.

The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the track, distinguishes Lambert as Kansas' best high school boys track & field athlete. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year award to be announced in June, Lambert joins an elite alumni association of state track & field award-winners, including Lolo Jones (1997-98, Roosevelt High School, Iowa), Allyson Felix (2002-03, Los Angeles Baptist High School, Calif.), Robert Griffin III (2006-07, Copperas Cove High School, Texas), Grant Fisher (2013-14 & 2014-15, Grand Blanc High School, Mich.) and Candace Hill (2014-15, Rockdale County High School, Ga.).

The 6-foot-2, 170-pound senior won two individual events and anchored the 4x100 relay quartet that broke the tape at the Class 3A state meet this past season, leading the Vikings to second place as a team. Lambert won the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.55 seconds and the 200 in 21.97, while also placing second in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles. A devoted member of his church youth group, Lambert has participated on a service-mission trip to assist hurricane victims and has volunteered locally on behalf of an assisted living facility. "Tim's development as an athlete has been remarkable, but it's largely a product of his work ethic," said Smoky Valley coach Jay Myers. "He is what you hope your son grows up to be-not the amazing athletic things, but how he goes about his business and how he handles everything that needs to be handled."

Lambert has maintained a 4.0 GPA in the classroom. He has signed a National Letter of Intent to compete in track and field on scholarship at Kansas State University beginning this fall.

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. From the 12 national winners, one male and one female athlete are each named Gatorade High School Athlete of the Year. In all, 607 athletes are honored each year.

Lambert joins recent Gatorade Kansas Boys Track & Field Athletes of the Year Michael Hoffer (2017-18, Shawnee Heights High School), Kyler True (2016-17, Olpe High School), Noah Green (2015-16, Blue Valley Southwest High School), Willie Morrison (2014- 15, Leavenworth High School) and Kord Ferguson (2013-14, Ottawa High School) among the state's list of former award winners.