Columbus North’s Tucker Smith tosses a shot during the 2022 IHSAA Boys Track and Field State Finals at Indiana University’s Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex in Bloomington, Ind., Saturday, June 4, 2022. Smith won the state championship in the shot put for the second year in a row.
The Republic file photo
Columbus North graduate Tucker Smith can add one more recognition to his lucrative high school career.
On Wednesday, Smith was announced as the 2022 Gatorade Indiana Boys Track and Field Player of the Year. He also won the honor last year.
By winning the award, Smith now is a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Track & Field Player of the Year award to be announced next month.
“I’m pretty stoked about it,” Smith said. “It was about staying focused and motivated.”
Smith is the second boys track and field athlete in school history, along with Christian Wagner, to win the award, and both have done it in back-to-back years. Wagner won the award in 2003 and 2004.
This season, no one could doubt Smith was clearly the best shot thrower in the state. He shattered his own all-time state record with a throw of 72 feet, 1/2-inch in the Conference Indiana Meet, and that mark was the best in the nation this year. He easily won his second straight state title in the shot put with a throw of 66-6 3/4, just after placing second at the state finals in the discus.
Smith helped the Bull Dogs to a third-place team finish at the state finals earlier this month. He also was named named The Republic’s Boys Track Athlete of the Year for the second consecutive year and third time overall.
“Tucker is the hardest worker on the team, even though he’s the most talented athlete,” North coach Rick Sluder said in a news release. “He actually sacrificed some of his potential in the shot put this year to work even harder on his discus-throwing, because our team was in contention to win a state championship. He could have been inches or even feet further, but he chose instead to help his team.”
The Gatorade award not only recognizes outstanding athletic excellence, but it also recognizes high standards of academic achievement and excellent character on and off the field. Smith finished with a 3.44 GPA in the classroom.
In the fall, Smith will continue his academic and athletic career at the University of Oklahoma.
