A Rapid Ascent : Nikki Smith Restructures Work Ethic to Realize Potential in the Long Jump

When the high school track season began in March, Nicole Smith had one goal: to qualify for the state track and field championships at Cerritos College in Norwalk.

Smith did more than just make the state meet in the long jump, however. Given little chance of challenging for the title, she wound up second with a jump of 19 feet--then a personal best.

“I was determined to get there somehow,” Smith said. “But I never expected to do as well as I did.”

Even after winning the Southern Section 1-A Division championships and the Southern Section Masters meet with a leap of 18-6, the Montclair Prep sophomore, known to friends as Nikki, had her doubts.

“There were a lot of girls who had better marks than I did,” she said. “I figured I’d just try and make the state finals. I was shocked when I finished second. I’d never imagined myself doing that well.”

Her father, Reggie Smith, wasn’t fazed by his daughter’s performance. The one-time Los Angeles Dodger outfielder expected it.

“I wasn’t surprised because she was committed to doing well,” he said. “I saw how hard she had been working all season. I knew it was only a matter of time before she jumped far.”

Coach Malek Mansour of Montclair Prep had almost predicted Smith’s success. His preseason goal for her? 19 feet.

“From the standpoint of physical ability, I wasn’t surprised,” Mansour said. “Once she started to work hard, I knew she would be fine.”

Jumping well in the bigger meets also improved Smith’s work ethic.

“She began to gain confidence in herself and work even harder,” Mansour said.

Smith hasn’t limited her talents to high school competition.

Competing for the West Valley Eagles track club this summer, Smith won the girls’ intermediate division (for athletes born in 1972-73) at the West Coast Classic in Modesto in June and The Athletics Congress Youth Nationals at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut on July 1.

Smith’s jump of 19-10 3/4 at Modesto was just shy of the national age-group record of 20-2 set by Kathy Harrison of East Point, Ga., in 1980.

“She’s only about this far away from the national record,” said her father, holding two fingers about three inches apart. “She’s starting to realize her potential.”

Reggie Smith always knew his daughter had athletic ability, but until two years ago, he wasn’t sure if it would ever develop. Nikki was talented, but she also was less than enthusiastic.

“She’s always had the ability, that hasn’t changed,” Reggie said. “It’s her work habits that have changed.”

Nikki agreed.

“I ran track to be with my friends,” she said. “I wasn’t serious about workouts. I was lazy.”

According to Reggie, that changed in 1986 after a disappointing season in which Nikki failed to qualify for the Valley Conference Individual Event championships at UCLA.

“I think that hurt her,” Reggie said. “She realized that she wasn’t improving. That she was going backwards.”

In an effort to reverse the slide, Nikki asked her father to become her coach. He agreed, with one condition--that she train seriously.

“I told her that she had to be willing to work,” he said. “I told her that I didn’t want to coach her if she was going to fool around.”

That decision not only turned Nikki’s career around, it also broke with a tradition well established around the Smith household. Well aware of the expectations that would be placed on his son, Reggie, Jr., and daughter, Nikki, Reggie elected not to coach his children when they started competing in organized sports.

“I didn’t want them to feel that they had to compete for me,” he said. “I told them, ‘You have your own identity. You don’t have to compare yourself to me because I don’t compare myself to you.’

“I wanted them to learn as much as possible in their chosen sport and still have fun in it.”

Nikki, powerfully built at 5-7, 130 pounds, improved to 18 feet last year and then began her ascent towards the 20-foot barrier this season.

“One thing just led to another,” Reggie said. “She kept getting better and better and her confidence kept going up and up.”

As Nikki’s distances have increased, so have expectations. But dealing with pressure is nothing new to the daughter of a former big league star.

“It’s never bothered me,” she said. “I love my father because of who he is . Not because of what he was . He had his time in the sun and now I’m having mine.”

His children’s academic future was of paramount importance to Reggie, which is why he sent them to Montclair Prep.

“I thought they would get a better education there than in a public school,” he said.

“I knew it would be harder to get recognition if they pursued an athletic career, but a good education is something that can never be taken away from you. Athletics can be taken away from you at any moment by injury or illness.

“I figured that if they had athletic talent, someone would recognize it, whether they were at a small school or a big school.”

Nikki Smith enjoys school at Montclair Prep, but admits that the school’s diminutive size has some drawbacks.

“It was hard to get into big meets this year because some people didn’t know where Montclair Prep was,” she said. “They had never heard of it. So I wasn’t able to get into some of the big invitationals.”

Smith should be a hot commodity at invitational meets next year, though, especially if she reaches the new goal Mansour has established for her.

“She’s capable of going 21 feet as a junior,” he said. “By the time she’s a senior, she can challenge the national record.”

The national high school record of 22-3 was set in 1976 by Kathy McMillan of Hoke County High in Raeford, N. C. McMillan was the 1976 Olympic silver medalist in the long jump.

The only record on Smith’s mind right now, however, is Harrison’s 20-2.

“I have thought about the national record,” she said. “But that hurt me at the Nationals. I pressed too hard and only jumped 18-10. I just have to do what my dad said--let it come naturally.”