Senior is top seed in 400 meters in Class 3A track meet
He’s been a trailblazer at Apple Valley and a record-breaker in Minnesota, but there is one more thing for Dwyne Smith Jr. to accomplish before he’s done with high school track and field.
Become a state champion.
This week, the Eagles senior competes in the 400 meters at the state meet for the fourth year in a row. Smith, who has broken the all-time state record in the event twice this spring, goes into the state meet as the favorite. There’s a chance for three state medals as he’s also a high seed in the 100 and 200 at the Class 3A state meet Thursday and Saturday at St. Michael-Albertville High School.
But the 400 is top priority.
“I feel like it’s always been my best event, so I’m going for the win there,” Smith said. “I think I’m the No. 2 seed in the 200, and I’d like to finish at least that high. Anything I can do in the 100 would be great because that’s nowhere near my best event.”
Irondale senior Juriad Hughes Jr. has the best qualifying times in the 100 and 200 and also is favored in the long jump. He’s not in the 400, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be a victory lap for Smith. Also running the 400 is defending champion Harlow Tong of St. Paul Central, who is the only athlete other than Smith to break 47 seconds in a Minnesota high school meet.
Smith recalls competing in his first state meet as a freshman, saying the moment got a little too big for him and he didn’t run his best race. That isn’t a problem now, according to his father and off-season coach, Dwyne Smith Sr.
Before competing in the Hamline Elite Meet in late April, Dwyne Sr. said his son looked around at a star-studded field. “He said, ‘Wow, all the fast guys are here. OK, let’s run fast,’” Dwyne Sr. said.
And he did. Running in cold, rainy weather, he won the event easily in 46.93 seconds, breaking a 17-year-old all-time state record and becoming the first Minnesota athlete to go under 47 seconds. He broke his personal record by more than half a second.
At last week’s Class 3A, Section 3 meet, Smith Jr. lowered his all-time state mark, winning in 46.87. Tong also cracked 47 seconds last week at the Section 4 finals. The third-best qualifying time for state belongs to another South Suburban Conference athlete – Burnsville junior Albert Ongwenyi, who ran 48.10 at the Section 3 finals, finishing runner-up to Smith Jr.
The Hamline Elite Meet was where Smith Jr.’s coaches could see the possibilities for a special season. “He had really high hopes for the 400,” Apple Valley head coach Zack Roble said. “No one had ever run 46 seconds in the state of Minnesota. That was one of his goals. And he was healthy for the first time in a while. He had some problems physically last year.”
Smith Jr. said he didn’t know what time to expect in the 400 at Hamline because of the weather. “It was pretty rough, but I remember feeling really good that day,” he said. “The last 100 yards were tough because it was into the wind, but when I finished I knew it was a good time.”
As a sophomore, he finished at state in the 400 to Farmington’s Ramy Ayoub. Ayoub’s time of 47.34 is the Minnesota State High School League meet record and could be threatened by Smith Jr., Tong and others.
Last year was difficult. A hamstring injury kept Smith Jr. out of competition until the South Suburban Conference meet in late May. He did make it to state in the three sprints but missed the finals in the 100 and 200 and placed third in the 400.
“In the summer, I went to the Junior Olympics in Des Moines and ran 48.36, even though I wasn’t close to 100 percent,” he said. “But by the indoor season, I was 100 percent.”
In January, Smith said a Minnesota boys 400 indoor record at a USA Track and Field all-comers meet, proving he was healthy again.
“I think God was testing him,” Dwyne Sr. said. “It was like, ‘Do you realize the gift I’ve given you, and are you willing to work to keep it?’”
Apple Valley’s coaches collaborate with Dwyne Sr. on Dwyne Jr.’s training. Dwyne Sr., who competed in track and field at St. Mary’s University, is the founder and head coach of Fitmecca Track Club. The team members are his sons – Dwyne Jr. and 9-year-old Leo, who hopes to qualify for the Junior Olympics this summer.
Every since Dwyne Jr. started winning medals and ribbons in Eagan Athletic Association meets, Dwyne Sr. has taken a detailed, structured approach to his sons’ track and field training. He got Dwyne Jr. a curved treadmill with the hope it would lessen stress on his joints. His oldest son is disciplined about what and when he eats – with the possible exception of the customary night-before-meet meal of spaghetti.
Dwyne Jr. will travel to a invitational meet in Seattle next week and is likely to do the Junior Olympics in preparation for college track at the University of Minnesota. He signed with the Gophers in April. His father said he believes Dwyne Jr. can come out of the summer faster than he was when he went in.
If that happens, “Minnesota is going to be even happier they signed him,” his father said.
Section highlights
• Although section meets are primarily about getting athletes through to the state meet individually, team trophies are awarded. Teams winning section championships last week included the Lakeville South girls (Class 3A, Section 1), Rosemount boys (Class 3A, Section 3) and Eagan girls (Class 3A, Section 3).
• Among the top seeds in the Class 3A state meet are Lakeville South senior Trinity Wilson, who has the best qualifying throw in the girls shot put, and the Panthers’ Tyler Christianson, who has the top seed time in the 300 hurdles. Rosemount’s Noah Rodenwald won the Class 3A, Section 3 pole vault at 13 feet, 8 inches but cleared 15-0 in the regular season.
• Class 3A preliminaries are Thursday morning at St. Michael-Albertville High School, although the first two races of the day will be finals – the 3,200 meters for girls and boys. Class 3A finals begin at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
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