Justin Kloc could have used Tom Hanks a few years ago. But instead of yelling at female baseball player in “A League Of Their Own,” Hanks would have told Carlee Smith, “There’s no crying in track and field!”
As humorous as it is now, there was a time where Smith just couldn’t control her tear ducts. She eventually resolved it, having reached the Meet of Champions in high jump for the first time last spring, and then tying for eighth in the MOC this past winter to take home a medal.
As the senior gears up for her final season, she can laugh at the old days, as can Kloc, the Hamilton West girls’ coach.
“It was her sophomore year, and she had a bad jump,” Kloc said. “She just started bawling, and I told her, ‘I’m not gonna coach you if you cry,’ and I walked away and she kept crying. It’s been an ongoing thing with the coaches that she used to wear it on her sleeve. Now she’s been able to keep it in check a little bit more.”
Smith didn’t even try to deny it.
“Yeah, he’d just walk away,” she said with a laugh. “He wouldn’t even deal with it anymore. I was the biggest crybaby ever. My sophomore year I had the potential to be good, but I had a bad high jump and just bawled my eyes out.”
The obvious question is, why?
Smith said it was disappointment in herself.
“(My teammates) used to try to comfort me at first, and it happened so often it became like a team joke,” she said.
The past year-and-a-half, however, Smith has dried her eyes and become one of the top high jumpers in Mercer County.
As a junior, she finished sixth with a jump of 4-10 in the Central Jersey Group III indoor meet to advance to the NJSIAA state meet. She stayed at 4-10 and finished 13th in Group III.
In the spring season, she was one of five girls to jump 5-0 and finished second on fewer misses. She won CJ III in 5-2, took fifth in Group III at the same height and was 23rd in the Meet of Champions, again going 5-2. She also combined with Yohanny Rodriguez to win the Mercer Relays with a combined jump of 9-6.
This past winter Smith won CJ III in 5-4, took fourth in Group III at 5-2 and was able to gain a medal in the MoC with another jump of 5-4. She also qualified for Indoor Nationals and jumped 5-2.
“I was super nervous the first time I went to the Meet of Champs,” she said. “The second time I wasn’t as nervous. I was a little scared, but I kind of knew what to expect. It helped a lot.”
Smith started out as a softball player and was urged to switch sports by one of her freshman basketball coaches. When she showed up at her first track and field practice as a freshman, Carlee never knew the “field” part existed.
“I didn’t even know what jumping was,” she said. “I honestly thought track was just running.”
She initially tried the pole vault until one day Kloc asked her to jump over a hurdle. She did that so well that he asked her to clear the high jump. From there, she began doing all three jumping events while also running the 200 meters and 400 hurdles.
“My freshman year I didn’t understand what high jump was,” Smith said. “I had to watch a lot of YouTube to see what it actually was supposed to look like. After my first meet of my sophomore year, the first time I jumped 4-10, I was like, ‘Wow, I actually have to be serious now.’ I think I improved technique-wise. My form is getting a lot better. I’m trying to improve and learn from watching other jumpers.”
As a sophomore and junior, she led the Hornets in team points from dual meets, amassing nearly 20 percent of Hamilton’s total.
It’s a testament to how much she has grown since her freshman year, said Kloc.
“She went from crying on the field if she did bad to, now she knows if she doesn’t get 5-4, she’s still in the event so she has to stay focused,” he said. “She’s done a lot better with that. And she’s grown in terms of being a leader on the team.”
Once she cleared her mental hurdles, Smith started working on her technique. While it has improved, it still needs to get better.
Smith has powerful leg strength, enabling her to get tremendous lift. But some slight flaws will knock the bar down. Smith said she is not exceptionally flexible, so her arch in the air isn’t as good as what it could be. She works with what she has, she said.
Other coaches often comment on how high Smith can jump, but Kloc thinks she can get even higher—he’d like to see her reach 5-6 this spring.
“We need to work on technique,” Kloc said. “But when colleges see her, they can see so much potential in her. At meets, the crowd always reacts because she gets so much height. It’s just some little things she needs to tweak that can put her over. And at 5-6, you’re right there.”
Kloc hopes Smith can also get in the mid-30s this year in triple jump and around 16 in the long jump. The Hornets will need her in those events for dual meets. She will also do a few running events as well.
When it comes to college, however, the coach feels it is high jump that has the recruiters interested. Kloc noted that one specialty was enough to get some other Hornet graduates into college.
“Tyree Adams’ long jump got him into Rider, Malik Snead’s triple jump took him to UConn, and he’s also doing other jumps there,” Kloc said. “I think the high jump can get Carlee in the door, and I think she can do other jumps as well.”
Smith also appeals to colleges for her academics and leadership abilities. She has a 3.2 grade point average and has been her class president all four years of high school. Smith plans on majoring in broadcast communications with a minor in political science.
Until then, she will continue to try and soar to new heights.
“There will be good competition this year in the county meet so I’m pretty excited for that,” Smith said. “I plan on jumping 5-6, hopefully. I think I’ll definitely place at the Meet of Champions.”
In other words, the only tears she expects to have this spring are tears of joy.
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