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BY JOHN O'MALLEY
jomalley@nwitimes.com
219.548.4355 | Thursday, January 31, 2008 | (No comments posted.)
John Smith has fond memories of the back yard at his family's old home in Portage.
It was there, where his father, also John, built two sets of rings.
One was for the shot put. There were also two discus rings going in different directions -- one of those for the hammer.
The backyard of Smith's home is where his brother, Dave, trained en route to winning shot and discus state titles in 1987 for Portage.
The backyard is where John Smith trained prep athletes in the weight events from 1980-93.
The backyard is where Smith trained 20 Indiana state champions and five Track and Field News High School All-Americans. Two of his student-athletes were national champs and five were named to the U.S. Junior National Team.
"I miss the backyard,'' Smith said. "It was the perfect coaching situation. It was coaching at its purest. You didn't have to fight athletic administrators or political correctness. If a kid came over and didn't work hard, you'd tell him to go home and don't come back. It was the way it should be. It was a special place.''
Smith, a 1979 Portage grad and former Southern Illinois University All-American, will be inducted into the Indiana Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches (IATCCC) Hall of Fame during a ceremony at the Sheraton Hotel in Indianapolis on Friday night.
Ironically, Smith, the throws coach at SIU, won't be in attendance.
He and his wife, Connie Price-Smith -- a four-time Olympian, and SIU's men's and women's head track coach -- will be coaching at the Indiana University Relays on Friday night and Saturday.
"It's an honor, but I've never really been too much for stuff like that,'' Smith said. "I'd rather have my athletes do well, than be inducted into the Hall of Fame.''
Smith said he'll speak at the IATCCC's clinic Saturday morning, because he'd like to help coaches help other kids.
"I want to help them any way I can, because there's only so many kids I can coach,'' he said.
Local inductees into the IATCCC Hall of Fame
Michelle de la Vina, Wheeler
Was a four-time Indiana High School Athletic Association state champion. She won the 3,200-meter run twice -- in 1999 (10:48) and 2000 (10:37). She set a personal record of 10:31 in the 3,200 at the Golden West Invitational in California in 2000. She also captured the 1,600 title at the state track meet in 1999 (4:55.22) and won the 1999 state cross country title.
Collette Douglas-Liss, Valparaiso
A two-time IHSAA state champion, Douglas-Liss won the 1,600 in 1991 (4:56.97) and had a personal record of 4:53.50. She also won the 3,200 in 1991 (10:56.25) and established a personal record of 10:49.18. She also captured the USA Fall Cross Country Championships (6 K) in 1999 and was runner-up in 2001. She won the USA Indoor National Championship in the mile in 2001 and finished second in 2000.
Chandra Goodman, Roosevelt
She was a five-time IHSAA State Champion. The former Panthers star captured state titles in the 100 and 200 dashes in 1989 with times of 11.98 and 25.51, respectively. In 1990, she won the 200 (24.50) before winning the 100 (12.12) and 200 (24.51) at the state meet again in 1991. Goodman's personal records were 11.91 in the 100 and 24.11 in the 200.
John Smith, Portage
Smith coached 18 Big Ten champions, 19 All-Americans, 12 National Qualifiers and 2 NCAA champions at Ohio State. He coached his wife, Connie Price-Smith, a four-time Olympian, to 25 USA national titles combined in the shot put and discus. Smith has coached nine All-Americans at SIU.
As a track and field and strength and conditioning coach at SIU, Smith coaches four NCAA All-Americans and nine Missouri Valley Conference champions. Smith was a member of two Olympic Festival teams and a part of the USA vs. Great Britain national team.
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