J’Liyn Smith made it look easy.
The Columbia sophomore sprinted across the finish line to win the District 2-3A title in the 400m at the end of April, winning the race by more than a second. It was par for the course for Smith, who won the event for the seventh time in as many races this spring, but even after posting a new personal-best time of 58.58 seconds, head coach Lawrence Davis believed she could still run faster.
He wasn’t wrong.
“When she won the district meet, I felt like she had so much more left in the tank,” Davis said. “That’s why when she was also successful at the regional meet, I knew and I felt that there was more left that she could give.”
Smith had plenty left in the tank. She dropped her time again at the Region 1-3A meet, so low, in fact, that it set a new Columbia program record as she won another title to set the new school mark at 58.06 seconds.
While that was the highlight of her sophomore campaign, the LCR’s Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year felt she could’ve run faster. Just like Davis’ belief after the district race, Smith also thought she had more left in the tank heading into the Class 3A state meet.
“It felt really good honestly,” Smith said of the school record. “But I feel like I didn’t push myself as hard as I could have, but I just know better for next time. But it felt amazing knowing that I beat the school record.”
Smith was hoping she still had enough juice left to make it on to the medal stand at state. But she was about to face her stiffest competition yet.
Going up against the best of the best was eye opening for Smith. She just missed topping her school record, running the race in 58.34 seconds, which was only good enough for 15th and seven spots away from the medal stand.
To place eighth, she would’ve had a run a sub-57.31.
“It was one of my goals,” Smith said of making it to state, “but my number one goal was to place really high at state, like third or fifth. But it was pretty hard. I feel like I was more under pressure at state because I had a lot more competition. Throughout the year I didn’t have that much competition. But once I got to state, the pressure was really on, and I saw girls that were running like me and better than me.”
Despite performing below her expectations at state, Smith had a breakout campaign where she won the 400m at the SFHS Raiders Open Classic, SFHS Raiders Invitational, Columbia Tiger Open, Oak Hall Mini Meet #1, Columbia Jungle Open and SFHS Raiders Last Chance Meet. The underclassman was stellar in other events as well as the anchor on two relays teams, helping her 4x400 squad win a district title while also qualifying for regionals in the 4x100.
That 4x400 relay team was impressive all year too, winning at all four meets it competed in, and her 4x100 relay team won three times before placing third at districts. Smith also showed off her all-around athleticism by competing in the 200m and long jump multiple times, posting area-best marks of 26.25 seconds and 5.11m.
But it was clear the 400m was her best event, one she actually never planned on competing in as a freshman until Davis asked her to try it. He says Smith has the combination of speed, stamina, endurance and toughness that is needed to run the race.
“It takes a runner who has speed but who also has natural endurance, strength and the desire to win,” Davis said. “You’ve got to be tough to run the 400. It’s one lap running as hard as you can, as fast as you can, as long as you can. It’s an anaerobic race so it’s not like you can breathe like the 800 or the 1600 or the 3200. Your overall conditioning and your overall ability to withstand discomfort is a testament at how well you’re going to be good at the 400, and J’Liyn just has a natural ability to run that 400. She’s going to get better at it, she’s going to get stronger at it and we look forward to what she can do next year.”
While Smith says she surprised herself this year — she admits she didn’t expect to break under a minute in the 400m — that won’t be the case next season. Now that she’s set a new school record and gotten a taste of the talent level at the state meet, she plans to improve all offseason so she isn’t caught off guard next spring.
She plans to at least reach the medal stand as a junior.
“You’ve got to work hard if you want to get to where you want to be because at the end of the day there are girls out there that want it worse than you want it, so you’ve got to work really, really hard to be better than them,” Smith said.
ALL-AREA TEAM
100m: Kennedy Jennings
Suwannee, sophomore
Placed fourth in District 2-2A (13.20) and finished 19th in Region 1-2A (13.23); ran a season-best 12.93 seconds for a fourth-place finish at the SFHS Raider Invitational and had three other top-5 finishes.
200m: J’Liyn Smith
Columbia, sophomore
The LCR Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year ran a season-best 26.25 for a runner-up finish at the Oak Hall Mini Meet #1; won SFHS Raiders Mini Meet #1 and CHS Jungle Open and placed third at SFHS Raiders Last Chance Meet.
400m: J’Liyn Smith
Columbia, sophomore
The LCR’s Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year set a new school record of 58.06 seconds to win the Region 1-3A title following a District 2-3A title (58.58) and then went on to place 15th at the Class 3A state meet (58.34). Won the SFHS Open Raiders Classic, SFHS Raiders Invitational, CHS Tiger Open, Oak Hall Mini Meet #1, CHS Jungle Open and SFHS Raiders Last Chance Meet.
800m: Abigail Candler
Columbia, senior
Ran a season-best 2:28.84 to place fourth in District 2-3A before finishing 16th in Region 1-3A (2:33.06); won the CHS Jungle Open and SFHS Raiders Last Chance Meet while posting three other top-5 finishes.
1600m: Ryleigh Hermanson
Suwannee, sophomore
Won the District 2-2A title (5:22.32) before setting a new school record of 5:15.92 for a fifth-place finish in Region 1-2A to punch her ticket to state, where she finished 11th in Class 2A (5:18.18); also won the CHS Jungle Open and SFHS Raiders Last Chance Meet while posting four other top-5 finishes.
3200m: Ryleigh Hermanson
Suwannee, sophomore
Won the District 2-2A title (11:50.45) before setting a new school record of 11:33.47 for a 10th-place finish in Region 1-2A to punch her ticket to state, where she finished 17th in Class 2A (12:05.37); also had three other top-5 finishes.
100m hurdles: Samantha Ray
Branford, sophomore
Ran a season-best 19.27 seconds to win the District 5-1A title before finishing 13th in Region 2-1A (19.64); won Lafayette Home Meet #3 and had two more top-5 finishes.
400m hurdles: Delilah Poore
Branford, freshman
Ran a season-best 1:18.13 for a runner-up finish in District 5-1A before finishing 14th in Region 2-1A (1:18.74); won Branford Meet #1 and #2, Bell Home Meet #1 and Lafayette Home Meet #3.
4x100 relay: Columbia (Kensi Shaw, Omari-Briana Foster, Jaliyah Montgomery, J’Liyn Smith)
Set a new school record of 48.71 seconds to place third in District 2-3A before finishing eighth in Region 1-3A (49.99); won CHS Tiger Open and SFHS Raiders Last Chance Meet.
4x400 relay: Columbia (Omari-Briana Foster, Abigail Candler, Jaliyah Montgomery, J’Liyn Smith, Kensi Shaw)
Set a new school record of 4:07.18 to win the District 2-3A title before finishing fifth in Region 1-3A (4:08.72); won SFHS Raiders Invitational, SFHS Raiders Last Chance Meet and CHS Tiger Open.
4x800 relay: Suwannee (Montana Lewis, Madison McMillan, Arwen Haley, Ryleigh Hermanson)
Set a new school record of 10:32.67 for a runner-up finish in District 2-2A before finishing seventh in Region 1-2A (10:34.50); placed third at SFHS Raiders Invitational.
High jump: Sophia Kendrick
Lafayette, freshman
Set a new school record of 1.47m twice to win the District 3-1A title and to place fourth in Region 1-1A; finished 15th at the Class 1A state meet (1.42m); won Branford Meet #1, Chiefland Home Meet #1, and Lafayette Home Meet #1, #2 and #3.
Pole vault: Mya Proesl
Branford, 8th grade
Posted a season-best 2.25m to win the District 5-1A title before finishing fifth in Region 2-1A (2.15m); won Branford Meet #1 and #2 while posting four runner-up finishes.
Long jump: J’Liyn Smith
Columbia, sophomore
The LCR’s Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year set a new school record with a jump of 5.11m at the Raider Invitational and later leapt 5.03m to place sixth in District 2-3A; had three top-5 finishes including a runner-up finish at the CHS Tiger Open.
Triple jump: Alli Jenkins
Columbia, freshman
Leapt a season-best 10.19m to win the CHS Tiger Open and also won the SFHS Raider Invitational; runner-up at SFHS Raiders Last Chance Meet and CHS Jungle Open and placed eighth in District 2-3A (9.70m).
Shot put: Kyndall Norris
Columbia, junior
Had a season-best throw of 9.40m to place sixth in District 2-3A before finishing 21st in Region 1-3A (8.50m); won CHS Tiger Open and was runner-up at CHS Jungle Open, SFHS Raiders Invitational and SFHS Raiders Open Classic.
Discus: Hannah Williams
Columbia, senior
Had a season-best throw of 28.54m for a runner-up finish at the SFHS Last Chance meet before placing sixth in District 2-3A (25.44m) and 22nd in Region 1-3A (26.26m); won the CHS Tiger Open and was also runner-up at the CHS Jungle Open and Oak Hall Mini Meet #1.
Javelin: Kyndall Norris
Columbia, junior
Set a new school record with a throw of 32.61m to win the SFHS Last Chance Meet and went on to place fourth in District 2-3A (28.10m) before placing seventh in Region 1-3A (32.30m) to qualify for state, where she finished 14th in Class 3A (30.59m); also won the CHS Jungle Open and was runner-up at the SFHS Raiders Invitational and SFHS Raiders Open Classic.
COACH OF THE YEAR
Brian Bullock, Suwannee
Led the Bulldogs to a runner-up finish in District 2-2A and sent nine athletes to regionals across 10 individual events as well two relay teams. From there, Ryleigh Hermanson qualified for state in both the 1600m and 3200m.