North Fayette's Smith: A calm, cool champ

BY ROB GRAY

DES MOINES - Lauren Smith stayed calm.

 Her dad, Mark, shouldered the anxiety.

 “He was more nervous than me this morning,” said Smith, who entered Thursday's girls' state track and field meet with one state title already in tow. “I was pretty chill coming in and he was just shaking.”

 Hugs, hand shakes and smiles abounded later as Smith hoisted the shot 40 feet, 9 inches to win her second girls' title. 

 She won the discus crown last season and will compete in that event at 9 a.m. Friday. 

 “Everything was just there; technically where I was supposed to be,” said Smith, who endured middling indoor efforts that fell short of 35 feet. “I didn't have a bad day, so that's what I'm happy about.”

 Jesup, despite being narrowly clipped at the finish of the 3,200 relay, also produced smile-worthy results.

 Freshman Sammi Sproul surged to a second-place finish in the girls 3,000 meters with a time of 10:41.11.

 She slashed 27 seconds off her previous best time in the event this season -- an 11:08.35 achieved in a meet early this month at Hudson.

 “I was just hoping to get top eight, so I was really happy,” Sproul said.

 Jesup stood second in the team standings through five events with 16 points. Hudson leads with 21.

 Smith said her 2A state-best toss Thursday contrasted sharply with early-season shot attempts.

 “I would just throw my stuff down,” Smith said. “It upset me, but then it finally started to move up.”

 All the way to the top again - with a lot of support from dad, a former standout at Independence. 

 “I (threw the) second one 39 (feet) and I was leading it from there,” Smith said. “I came over with a smile on my face - I got one in, made the finals, and he was like, ‘All right, that's not where we're going to stop. We've got to keep moving up.' ”