May 11, 2006

By LINDA BOUVET, LSSU Sports Information Director

SAULT STE. MARIE - Lake Superior State's first Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference track champion since 2003 will get one more chance to qualify for the 2006 NCAA II Outdoor Championships when he competes Friday at North Central College in Naperville, Ill.

Adam Smith (Mount Pleasant, Mich.), who won the 400-meter dash at last week's Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships with a school-record time of :47.91, met the NCAA provisional qualifying time and is currently ranked 26th nationally. LSSU coach Steve Eles, who was the last Laker runner to win a GLIAC title, said that Smith will have to run a :47.5 at NCC to make the top-16 cut.

"Two or three feet - that's all it is," Eles said. "This is very doable."

In March, Smith placed second in the GLIAC indoor 400-meter dash with a time of :48.95, finishing behind Ashland's Brian Ryman. Since Ryman red-shirted during the outdoor season, Smith was the GLIAC's top-ranked quarter-miler throughout the spring and continued to improve his time.

"A :47.91 is very impressive," said Eles, a distance runner who is a bit surprised by LSSU's success in middle-distance events. "It's a marquee race like the mile, and people know what a good time is. The best thing is that he's only a sophomore."

Eles and Smith both credit a modified version of Baylor University's training program for helping Smith improve and giving the Lakers depth in the 400. Sophomore DJ Battistella placed fifth in the GLIAC 400-meter dash, and the Lakers 4x400-meter relay team of Battistella, Evan Williams, Anthony Pavicic and Smith placed fourth in a school-record time of 3:20.02.

"Baylor supposedly has 10 sub-:45 guys in the 400," Smith said. "They are like a 400-meter legend school. There's no reason to make up something new if you can use something that works."

"We pushed Adam and DJ pretty hard," Eles said. "Adam's work ethic is phenomenal, whether it's in the classroom or on the track. Adam is also an NCAA Academic All-American in indoor and outdoor track."

Smith is a mechanical engineering major with a 3.3 GPA.

When Smith clocked a :48.07 on a fast Hillsdale track a few days before the GLIAC Championships, he was in seventh place with 100 meters to go and wound up third thanks to a strong finish. In the GLIAC meet at Ferris State, he led from start to finish.

"He can run the second half of the race faster than anyone in the field," Eles said. "He is the fittest guy in the race. We are trying to get him through the first 200 a bit faster, but you can only go out so fast."

"I think I throw up after just about every race," said Smith, who focused on the 100 and 200-meter races in high school. "During the last 100 meters, everyone is tired. The guy who wins is the guy who can push himself harder than the other guys. I didn't expect to do this well this soon. I've dropped more than three seconds since high school."

Eles is recruiting more quarter milers to give the Lakers more depth in that event. LSSU was surprised by its third-place finish in the GLIAC indoor 4x400-meter relay, and placed fourth in the outdoor race despite competing without Ross Malatinsky, who was injured.

"Ross could have given us another second (off our time), but Evan and Anthony (a 1,500-meter specialist) have never ran that fast," Eles said. "Everyone was running so much better than anticipated. They didn't want to let each other down. Now we have a chance to be a legitimate `podium' team every season."

"I got first in a meet, which was nice and all," Smith said. "But to have four guys who can run fast enough to get fourth in a conference as good as ours, and to place third during indoor - it's great to know we have a group of guys who can run that well."

Battistella (400-meters and 400 hurdles), Pavicic (1,500) and Chris Winkler (shot put and discus throw) will compete with Smith at North Central.