Baylor’s Smith poised for freshman breakout

The Chattanooga area has a recent history of freshman female athletes announcing themselves as the state’s next big track star at the Spring Fling meet.

Former Howard sprinter LaQuisha Jackson and current Signal Mountain sprinter McKenzie Ethridge won multiple championships during their first appearances on the state’s biggest stage, and now Baylor’s Rachel Smith is poised to add her name to that list.

In her first full season of track, Smith qualified for the Division II state meet in five events. She competed in Monday’s pentathlon and will now challenge the state’s more experienced athletes for championships in the pole vault, 100-meter hurdles and 300-meter hurdles. She had the second-best qualifying vault and third-best times in both hurdles events, and she will also run on Baylor’s 4×200 relay at today’s girls’ state meet at Middle Tennessee State University.

The boys’ events are Friday.

“I’m more excited than nervous,” Smith said. “It helped having already been up there for the pentathlon so I have an idea of what to expect now.

“I never thought I would want to run track, but then I thought the hurdles looked fun, so I tried them and picked that up pretty quick. Coach (Bill) McMahan wanted me to try pole vault and that came naturally to me too, and now I think if I keep working I can have a future in track.”

Smith grew up competing in gymnastics and soccer, but during a middle school workout she approached track coach McMahan and asked if she could try the hurdles.

“She’s about 5-foot-2, and all I knew was that she could do all kinds of backflips and I thought she was a cheerleader,” McMahan said. “I’ve never had anybody catch on to the hurdles faster, and then I had her try the pole vault and she cleared 8 feet on her first try. It usually takes a year to really be good in the pole vault and she had it within two practices.

“You hate to put pressure on such a young kid, but she’s already one of the five best female athletes I’ve ever coached.”

Last winter Smith began working with Baylor vault coach Eric Burnette, a former Red Raiders pole vaulter who has coached athletes at his alma mater the last four years. In her first competition, a winter meet in Jonesboro, Ark., Smith cleared 9 feet the first day and later vaulted a personal-best height of 9 feet, 6 inches.

“That’s just unheard of for someone to do that in their first weekend of competition,” Burnette said. “I knew on the way back that she has things we couldn’t teach. She is just such a naturally strong and gifted athlete who picks up on things much faster than most kids.

“The hardest thing about coaching her is that I have to remind myself she is a freshman and not to push her too hard despite knowing what she’s capable of.”

During another indoor meet, Smith had spectators shaking their heads in disbelief when a bird flew into her path as she was vaulting. Both Smith and the bird made mid-air adjustments to miss each other and Smith was able to clear the bar despite the distraction.

The undersized freshman began the season by vaulting 10 feet, 3 inches in Baylor’s first competition, which made her the second athlete in program history to clear 10 feet. She now routinely clears 10-9, which was her state-qualifying vault and is also one of the top 10 vaults nationally for a freshman.

“What she does, I’ve never seen it before from a boy or girl athlete here,” Burnette said. “You tell her to correct something and she does it instantly. She’s already really good, but if she continues working, she’s going to be a great hurdler and vaulter. She’s got the chance to be something really special to watch.”

Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293.