Roflickss
At the OHSAA Track & Field State Championships in June, recent Westerville Central High School graduates Symone Smith and Robert Young took their hard-earned places atop the podium in discus and shot put, and the 400-meter, respectively.
They are now both gearing up to continue their track and field careers at Division I universities.
The prelims
Roflickss
Robert Young
Before their success in track and field, both athletes began in other sports.
Smith started in volleyball and only joined track after lots of convincing from others. At first, she focused on hurdles, even going to Ohio Speed Academy outside of practice to improve. Then, the throwing coach asked her to try out shot put and discus, even though it wasn’t traditional to run and throw.
“I did throwing. I wasn’t really serious about it, but I liked it. I found joy in it,” Smith says.
When Young moved to Columbus in junior high, he was a basketball player. But, when he needed something to do in the summer, his aunt encouraged him to join track. He was reluctant, but when he was injured during basketball in the eighth grade, he fell back on track to keep active. To his surprise, he was extremely successful, even making the AAU Junior Olympics by the end of the season – leading him to pursue it more seriously.
“I experienced how competitive track and field actually is. And I guess from that moment forward, it was kind of a constant chase towards something. So, that was how it started,” Young says.
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Symone Smith
Hurdling challenges
As soon as Smith was finding her footing in track and field, she was injured while playing volleyball and missed her entire sophomore season of track. It was a devastating loss for her, but instead of letting the injury get her down, she used it to fuel her fire. At the start of her junior year, she told her dad her goal was to commit to a DI college for track. And she did.
Young faced injuries of his own throughout high school, dealing with multiple hamstring strains, a tear and dislocating his ankle. He shares that he was frustrated, but ultimately, decided that he didn’t want to back down.
Smith says she and Young have always set high expectations for themselves, so they both continued to show up, put in the work at the gym and track, and sought advice where they could get it to keep improving – finding a family and a calling in the sport along the way.
The final lap
Ole Miss Athletics
Going into the tournament, Smith knew what she was capable of, but the pressure of being seen as a DI commit added a whole new layer of stress to the competition. In addition to the pressure, after she had finished warming up for discus on day one, the rain started. It delayed the event for hours, and then eventually, it had to be moved to the next day.
Young ran the 400 prelim in a calm, collected mindset, having competed at the state level many times before. But going into the finals after multiple rain delays, feeling the eyes of his future college coach in the stands – and unfortunately forgetting his uniform – he recalls starting to experience performance anxiety.
In the end, they were both able to persevere through the rain delays, the heat and the pressure and come out on the podium. Smith was the girls Division I discus state champion and also placed third in shot put, while Young was the boys Division I 400-meter state runner-up.
This fall, both athletes will join the track and field teams of Division I universities. Smith plans to major in biology at the University of Mississippi – Ole Miss – and Young plans to major in computer science at Indiana University.
Ellie Keehn is an editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
