Glory Days Girls Track Athlete of the Year: Atlantic City’s Claudine Smith saved her best for final season

By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
There are gold medals, and then there are GOLD medals. Every high school track and field athlete wants to win gold medals, even if it’s just at the county level. But the ultimate gold medal is won at the NJSIAA Meet of Champions, and they are not easily earned.
Claudine Smith, a recent Atlantic City High School graduate, Rutgers University recruit and Glory Days Girls Track Athlete of the Year, will be carefully packing her shiny MOC gold medal into her luggage when she departs for Piscataway in late August. Smith finished off a tremendous high school track career in June with her best performance at the Meet of Champions at Northern Burlington High School. She took second in the 100-meter hurdles and won gold in the triple jump, setting a Cape-Atlantic League record in the process. In both events she set personal bests.

“This season couldn’t have gone better,” Smith said. “Everyone, as a senior, wants to end their season the right way and some seniors just get worn out after four years of pushing themselves to their peak. But I was glad I was able to do that and get two PRs in my best events.”
Smith came in as the favorite to win the 100-meter hurdle event, but finished less than a quarter of a second behind champion Grace O’Shea of Ramapo. O’Shea clocked in at 13.58 in the finals with Smith right on her heels at 13.67. They were the only two in the finals to break 14 seconds.
“I knew it was going to be a close race because going into the Meet of Champions I had the fasted seed time, but it was only a few milliseconds faster than Grace, so I knew I would have to lay it all out there,” Smith said. “I did PR, which was good, and finished second. I wasn’t really disappointed because I knew I had another event coming up. I got top three, which I was aiming for, and a personal record. I had enough time after the hurdles to get ready for the triple jump because they were still doing the boys triple jump when I finished hurdles. So, I had time to get my composure, relax, hydrate and be ready for the triple.”
In the triple jump, Smith cleared 42 feet, going 42-02 to beat out Mahogany Jenkins of Watchung Hills and Tiffany Bautista of Paramus Catholic and earn her first MOC gold medal. That performance capped a career that saw her win three state titles, seven South Jersey championships, six CAL golds and six Atlantic County titles. She also won a gold medal in the 55-meter hurdles at this past winter’s indoor MOC.
“This year I did get some big-time records. My junior year, with the triple jump, I got the record at the Rowan Open, but this year was the year for me to go out and get big records to where I could make a name for myself. My thing when I’m competing, though, is just making my goals. For triple jump, I knew I wanted to make 42 feet, because once you hit that you’re out there in terms of being able to place well at nationals. Hopefully, in college, I can continue to improve and make it to the Big 10 Championships and NCAAs. At Rutgers, I’ll probably just let long jump go and concentrate primarily on the hurdles and triple jump. I’ll always remain a hurdler,” she said. “My technique is pretty good, but I need to work on my speed and getting down, and running really fast through the hurdles. Running like the hurdles aren’t even there is something I need to work on. I’ve run track for a long time, but hurdles and triple jump are two events that I really didn’t get exposed to until high school.”
Smith, who said she plans to major in history with a minor in sports management, said she believes her best is yet to come at Rutgers.
“I’m really excited. I think that kind of training and exposure will make me a better athlete,” Smith said. “We have summer workouts, so in August that will be my biggest training. I’ve mostly been taking a break and laying off of track, but August will be time to pick it up and in September I’ll be with the team. I feel like I’m strong and will be able to handle (college track), and even if things get tough I know I can persevere.”
Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullsays