DES MOINES, IOWA - Former Ankeny athlete Leigh Smith, who was ranked No. 4 in the United States last year in the men's javelin, will return to the throwing fields at Drake Stadium where his career began when he competes in the 98th annual Drake Relays April 26-28.
Smith, 25, trains in Chicago, Ill., with two-time Olympian and six-time U.S. national champion Tom Puksty, who is his coach.
If he is successful in earning a trip to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Smith has a goal of becoming the first U.S. athlete to win an Olympic medal in more than 30 years.
Smith, who lettered in varsity swimming and track as a freshman at Ankeny High School, is one of two U.S. performers with marks over 270 fee meters, the Olympic “A” standard, setting a personal best of 270-1 last year. He was third at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials and only missed a trip to Athens by four inches!
The 6-8 Smith was a three-time All-American and a three-time Southeastern Conference champion at the University of Tennessee, where he holds every Tennessee and Southeastern Conference Championship records in the event. He was named Tennessee's Outstanding Male Athlete of the Year for 2003-2004.
Smith's track and field roots, however, run deeply in the soil at Drake University.
As a youth in the USA Track and Field program in Iowa, Smith won numerous state, regional and national titles in the javelin. He credits Janelle Coil, who serves as Vice President of USATF/Iowa, with his start in the event. Coil ensured Smith got early training and an opportunity to compete in the event, despite the fact he was, at the time, too young to throw the spear in competition.
After Smith and his family relocated to North Carolina, where he repeated his success in both state, regional and national USATF and AAU competitions. Smith won the Penn Relays high school javelin competition and also took gold at the Adidas National Scholastic Open in the young men's javelin. Those successes paved his way to Tennessee, where he played a pivotal role in the Volunteers' 2001 NCAA Outdoor team title.
Javelin is not offered as a high school field event in either Iowa or North Carolina. In fact, only 11 states offer the event in public school competition.
Professionally, Smith is a professional pilot, with multi-engine and jet-aircraft ratings. After he completes his athletic career, he anticipates a career in aviation.
