Devin Smith has chance to go down as one of Ohio's all-time greats
By Chris Easterling
IndeOnline.com staff writer
Posted Jun 01, 2011
Ray Stewart
Massillon?s Devin Smith wins the 100-meter dash in a record time of 10.56 seconds Friday at the Division I Austintown Regional meet at Fitch High School. Smith followed the performance in the 100-meter dash with a regional record 7-foot leap in the high jump.
MASSILLON ?
By the time 5 p.m. rolls around Saturday, Devin Smith has a chance to etch his name in the books as one of the great track and field athletes Massillon, Stark County and the state of Ohio have seen in a long time.
Smith, the Tiger senior, will compete in three events at this weekend?s Ohio State Track and Field Championships in Columbus ? the 100-meter dash, the long jump and the high jump. He is the defending state champion in the long jump, and he carries in the state?s best marks of the season in the other two events.
A sweep of all three events ? all of which would be contested as finals on Saturday afternoon at Ohio State?s Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium ? would make Smith the first Division I athlete in Ohio to win three individual state championships in a single season since Westerville North?s Ryan Wilson did so in 1998. Wilson, who went on to compete at Southern California, won the 110- and 300-meter hurdles, along with the long jump.
Joe Horn, of Division III Waynesfield-Goshen, was the last boy to win three events in any division, sweeping the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes in 2006.
?I?ve been thinking about it a lot,? Smith said Wednesday. ?I?ve been thinking about it all year.?
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Massillon's Devin Smith just might prove to be Stark's best
By Todd Porter
CantonRep.com staff writer
Posted Jun 02, 2011
IndeOnline.com / Kevin Whitlock
Massillon?s Devin Smith comes in for a landing during Division I regional long jump competition at Austintown recently. Smith, who won the state long jump title last year, is back to defend his title while also competing in the 100-meter dash and high jump.
Long before Devin Smith?s rare athletic combination started setting records, the conversation already was taking place. Off to the side during track practice, head coach Klifton Scott and assistant Keith Herring debated the possibility.
Might Washington High School?s Devin Smith be the best athlete ever to come from Stark County?
Think about it.
Smith holds the county record in the high jump at 7 feet, 1⁄2 inch. He holds the county record in the 100-meter with a 10.56, and he?s about a foot off the county record in the long jump.
Not bad for a football player. Smith played wide receiver at Massillon and will turn his attention back to football after this weekend?s state track meet. He is heading to Ohio State University, where he could contend for playing time at receiver as a freshman.
Stark County never has had someone athletic enough to jump like a kangaroo and run like a cheetah.
?Typically, your jumpers are basketball-type of athletes,? Scott said. ?They?re jumpers, and they?re different than sprinters.?
The thing about Smith, though, is he isn?t just going to Columbus this weekend as a token track athlete just good enough to get in.
He?s good enough to win all three events. Smith holds Stark County?s top performance in each of those events this year.
The mindset to jump and run are different. Jumping, both high and long, is more relaxed. The result has more to do with technique than it does skill at this point in the season.
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Smith starts busy weekend at state track with semifinal win
By Mike Popovich
CantonRep.com staff writer
Posted Jun 03, 2011
CantonRep.com / Ray Stewart
Massillon's Devin Smith qualified to Saturday's finals in the 100 meter dash at the 2011 OHSAA Division I State Track Championships.
COLUMBUS ?
Devin Smith?s state track and field meet has only just begun.
Saturday the Massillon senior will attempt to close out his high school career as a three-time state champion.
Smith will aim for Division I titles in the 100-meter dash, high jump and long jump during the final day of competition at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. As expected, he will go into the 100 finals as the top seed after posting a top preliminary time of 10.74 seconds during today?s preliminaries.
Three finals in one day will be a grueling challenge.
?I wish we could have jumped today and ran tomorrow, but I?m used to it,? Smith said. ?I do four events every single meet.?
Smith holds Stark County records in the 100 (10.56) and high jump (7- 1/2), and is the defending state champ in the long jump.
Smith finished seven one-hundredths of a second ahead of Cleveland Heights? Shelton Gibson in his 100 heat today. He also was not fazed by a false start that forced the runners to be called back.
?I felt pretty good,? Smith said. ?I came off a little too quick, but I?m not too worried about it.
?I came out hard, but I tried to slow it down toward the end and try to just get through. I didn?t want to bring it all today, so I have enough for tomorrow.
?I?m just focusing on tomorrow. Focusing on my start, opening it up a little quicker and getting my legs going.?
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?I was upset about the high jump, but my coach told me to shake it off and get back in this 100,? Smith said. ?I took the high jump as motivation to win the 100.
?Today didn?t really go like I wanted it to. The high jump was wide open for me, but I didn?t do what I wanted to. But not too many kids make it out here, so I am proud to win the two state titles.?
The 100 is the only event of the three Smith did not reach state in last season. The Ohio State football recruit ran the event in only two meets in 2010 and did not dive head first into it this season until the Stark County Championships.
?When I ran it, I said ?This is the event I?m going to come out in,?? Smith said.
Smith?s day began successfully at the long jump pit. He cleared 24 feet, 7 inches on his first attempt of the prelims to break the county and stadium records set by McKinley?s Joe Morgan at the 2006 state meet.
The crowd near the pit cheered Smith?s jump. It was obvious he was going to be tough to beat.
?When they went crazy, I knew it was a good jump,? Smith said. ?I didn?t know what it was until they said it.?
Smith?s jump was so good, he chose to pass his last two prelim attempts. He fouled on his first two finals jumps and ended the day with a 24-5 1⁄4.
Springfield?s Josh Bass, the 2009 state champion, came in second at 23-11 3⁄4.
?I got a good jump on my first one, and you need to get out there like that,? Smith said. ?I was able to rest up and got to cruise through.?
The long jump win appeared to give Smith plenty of momentum going into the high jump. His run there, however, was short. Smith went out at 6-6.
?I guess it just wasn?t my day,? Smith said. ?I was surprised. I felt good all day. Going to the high jump and warming up, I was fine. When I got my first miss, I was kind of shocked because last week I got all the way to 7 feet without missing.?
Smith realizes the big picture was still pretty bright.
?I am happy,? he said. ?Not a lot of guys come out here and win two state titles.?
Three-sport standout Devin Smith reflects on record-setting career
By Chris Easterling
IndeOnline.com staff writer
Posted Jun 06, 2011
Ray Stewart
Massillon?s Devin Smith edges Northmont?s Jared Walker in the 100-meter dash at the Division I state track meet Saturday in Columbus. Smith also won the long jump and was eighth in the high jump.
MASSILLON ?
Devin Smith accomplished almost everything he had hoped for at this past weekend?s Ohio State Track and Field Championships.
The recently graduated Massillon senior earned trips to the podium in all three events in which he competed. That included state championships in both the long jump ? his second in the event ? and the 100-meter dash, setting yet another Stark County record in the process, this one in the long jump.
So, two days removed from his memorable Saturday in Columbus, Smith decided it was time to take a break.
?I?m out here swimming with my family,? Smith said Monday evening. ?Today and yesterday (Sunday) is pretty much a good day off for me.?
It certainly is a well-deserved break for Smith, who departs Massillon after a two-year Tiger career as one of the school?s more decorated all-around athletes.
His two-title day on Saturday gives him three state championships for his track career, making him Massillon?s most decorated track athlete. No other Tiger track standout ? and only four other Stark County athletes ? had won three state track titles in their careers.
?I did want to walk out of there with three gold medals,? said Smith, who finished eighth in the high jump last weekend as well. ?I?m very fortunate to leave with two. ... I think just leaving there with two state
titles, it means a lot to me. I was verfortunate that I was able to do that.?
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