Princeton junior Sydney Smith, middle, will attempt to qualify for the Class 6A state meet in the 100 hurdles for the second consecutive season, while also attempting to advance in the long jump. Photo by Jerry Winfrey / C&S Media
By David Wolman
“Do a little more each day than you think you possibly can.”
That is a quote that Princeton junior Sydney Smith wrote and posted to her personal X account, with an accompanying video showing her running over several hurdles during a training session last November in Princeton High School’s indoor facility.
For Smith, success came at an early age. She is an eight-time Junior Olympic All-American and nine-time USA Track & Field All-American in the long jump and 100 hurdles. But despite that success, she strives to improve on her time in the hurdles and distance in the long jump.
After transferring last offseason from Allen, where she won the district title in the hurdles, in both her freshman and sophomore seasons and placed seventh in the Class 6A state meet last season, it didn’t take long for Smith to see success with her new school.
Smith improved on her time of 13.98 seconds that she ran at state and captured first place in her first meet of this season, clocking a time of 13.8 in the Plano ISD Ron McNeill Invitational Feb. 28 at Tom Kimbrough Stadium.
But that wasn’t the only PR of the day for Smith. She shattered her previous personal best and also the school record in the long jump, recording a leap of 19-11.25. Two weeks ago, she won the prestigious Jesuit-Sheaner Relays with a mark of 19-0.
“I was so, so surprised because I wasn’t expecting my opener to be 19-11,” she said. “I was just so blessed to run that time. Now, I want to get 20 feet. That’s my main goal for this season.”
Smith currently has the No. 2 mark in Class 6A in the long jump for the Class of 2027 and the No. 1 time in the state in the 100 hurdles.
Smith attributes a lot of her success to all of the hard work that she has put in over the years. She first took up track when she was 4 years old and began competing for a club team when she was 8.
With her father Dell, a Lake Highlands alum, and her mother, Shameca, who attended Lewisville High School, both having competed in track in high school, Smith felt it was her destiny that she and her older brother, Caleb, currently a freshman with the University of Arizona’s football team, would follow in their parents’ footsteps.
Dell trained Sydney in the backyard of her family’s home when she first started before working with her at a nearby track a few years later.
“My dad was a really good coach,” she said. “He coached me in the long jump and hurdles.”
Perhaps the greatest joy that Smith has gotten out of track is the competition between her and Caleb.
Caleb was a standout sprinter for Allen but an even better football player. After he missed his junior season with an ACL tear, Caleb, whose nickname is “The Jet”, finished his senior season with 1,307 all-purpose yards, 11 total touchdowns and was named the Utility Player of the Year in District 6-6A.
But Sydney, “The Little Jet”, has earned plenty of athletic accolades over the years. In the eighth grade, she clocked a time of 14.5 in the 100 high hurdles at the regional meet. Smith said that she was pleasantly shocked by that time, but it motivated her to work even harder.
This year, Smith has broken Princeton’s school record in the 100 hurdles and long jump. And she is hitting her stride at the right time, especially with the District 6-6A meet coming up this week. At last weekend’s Texas Relays in Austin, she ran a wind-legal time of 13.7 in the hurdles. Also, she competes with fellow juniors Alanya Towers, Leah Boadi and Xaquioa Ridley in the 4×100. It’s the first time since middle school that Smith has run in the 4×100.
“It was very competitive between me and Caleb,” she said. “We would always try to fight for first place and see who would get the most medals. It was good to have him because he inspires me to do a lot, especially in track.”
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