Smock chasing different kind of glory

LISBON -- He has the medals.

Now, Conner Smock wants a trophy.

"I really, really want for us to make a push for a state team title (in boys' track)," he said. "We've been the hunt before, but it would be so much fun if we could get there."

Track is an individual sport, and it's a team sport. Smock got a whiff of team glory when Lisbon reached the boys' state basketball tournament -- he came off the bench and averaged 5.1 points per game -- and would like to put an exclamation point on a remarkable athletics year at the school.

Lisbon won the Class A state football title in November.

Smock will be the focal point of the Lions' success. He is a five-time state champion, winning three titles in the 3,200-meter run and two in the 1,600.

Little wonder that it seems he's been around for a long, long while.

"Everybody asks me, 'Is Conner a senior yet?,' " said Shane Amundson, the head track coach. "When a kid comes in and wins state titles as a freshman, it seems to make it seem he's there a long time."

Smock began his running career in middle school and quickly vaulted in to elite class. He was a 14-and-under 1,500-meter champion in the AAU and USATF national meets in 2008.

So he had a reputation even before he got to high school. But he didn't have much form. Even today, Smock runs tight through his arms and shoulders.

"It's still not perfect, but it's a lot better than it was," Amundson said. "Oh, it was ugly."

The results, on the other hand, have been quite lovely. Smock has scored 79 points in three state meets, including 23.75 of Lisbon's 26 points last May.

His state-meet schedule has run like clockwork the last three years -- the 3,200, 1,600 and 800, along with the anchor leg of the medley relay.

That might change this year. Smock and Amundson are experimenting with -- drum roll, please -- the 400-meter hurdles.

"I'm excited to try something new, a change of pace," Smock said. "I've worked on it two or three times. Right now, it's not pretty."

"I think Conner's mom might kill me," Amundson said. "But he's a 6-foot basketball kid. He can bunny-hop over them and he'll find a way to win."

Win or not, he'll put on a smile and shake hands with his competitors.

It's a gesture that Amundson expects from his athletes, one that Smock embraces. After a race -- track or cross country, win or lose -- Smock doesn't leave the finish line until all the runners are through.

"Coach preached it to us, and it makes sense," Smock said. "Everybody is putting in the same effort."

Smock is an Eagle Scout and a band member. But his identity is running.

He intends to decide on his college -- Bradley University and Division-II Lewis University are the frontrunners -- in the next week or two.

"It will be a rough, rough day at the end of the year when he's done," Amundson said.