Photo by: Brendan Saak/Davidson Athletics
Smith Ready to Roll at NCAA Championships
6/4/2024 7:30:00 PM | Men's Track & Field
DAVIDSON, N.C. – Wednesday night, Jayden Smith will take the blocks in the 110-meter hurdle semifinals at the NCAA Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon. He will be the first Wildcat to do so in the event while bringing a lifelong goal to life.
Hailing from Richmond, Virginia, Smith is coming off a season-best performance at the NCAA East Regionals over ten days ago when he won his heat. He clocked a time of 13.46 which tied his previous season-best and was the second-fastest of his career.
"Representing this school has been an amazing opportunity for me, and I see it less as an underdog kind of thing, but more of an opportunity to represent Davidson in the best way I can," said Smith. "I want people to know that we may be a small program, but we're a mighty program."
He will get a primetime chance to show that tomorrow night on ESPN 2.
Smith will race in the final semifinal heat, heat three, and run in lane six. He is tied for the 12th fastest time out of the 24 remaining athletes, and his heat will feature five runners who ranked inside the top-20 nationally this spring.
But that doesn't deter him and his mindset heading into the race.
"I've spent so much time thinking about this sport and how I can improve," said Smith, "It's taken a lot of work and trial and error to get to this point, but I'm just so exited to be at the point that I'm at and to keep going."
One thing that favors Smith ahead of the semifinal is previous experience in Hayward Stadium. Last summer, he competed at the USA Track & Field Championships at the same venue. There he lined up against reigning Olympic silver medalist and currently the fastest American hurdler, Grant Holloway. In that race, Smith clocked a 13.66 and missed qualifying for the final by just .03 seconds, but he did earn a spot on USA's U23 team.
When asked what the goal was this week, Smith's answer was simple: "I want to be an NCAA Champion. I want to bring a trophy to Davidson."
Davidson's most decorated hurdler will hit the track at approximately 8:32 p.m. eastern time.
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