In 1984, at the suggestion of outgoing Bay Area Chamber of Commerce President, Montie Lamontagne, the Prefontaine Foundation was encouraged to make an annual presentation to an area athlete at the annual Chamber Awards Banquet. The Foundation established the Prefontaine Athletic Award to honor an outstanding Bay Area student-athlete whose accomplishments most closely reflected the excellence in athletics represented by the late Steve Prefontaine. In addition to excellence in athletics, other criteria taken into consideration are excellence of character, involvement in the community outside of school activities, and acceptable academic achievement. The Prefontaine Athletic Award was first presented in 1985 and has been continuously presented since that time with the exception of two years during the Covid pandemic.