The day of the Class A state track meet was a day of celebration in the Smith household in Weleetka as sisters Riley and Ambree brought home five medals that day.
In addition to track, both sisters play softball and basketball for the Lady Outlaws and they’re constantly trying to one-up each other in any sport as competitive siblings tend to do. They got started in sports early thanks to a dad who was a multi-sport athlete in high school himself.
Ambree just completed her junior year at Weleetka and won a fourth-place medal in the 100-meter hurdles at state and was part of the 4X100 relay team that finished second and the 4X200 relay team that finished fourth.
“I went to state my freshman year but didn’t do very well because I never really learned the mechanics of running the hurdles and then I was hurt my sophomore year, so I’ve worked hard on technique for two years with the goal of returning to state this year. I did okay in the meets during the season and then was first in regionals with a time of 17.48 (Ironically the same time she registered in the finals at state). I was really, really nervous all day at state but that turned to excitement when I got to go on the podium for my medals,” said Ambree who plays shortstop during softball season and is the point guard on the basketball team.
Riley just finished up her sophomore year in school and also had a good day at state finishing eighth in the 100-meter sprint as well as running a leg on the medal-winning relay teams.
Between her team sports of basketball and softball, Riley says she enjoys softball more because she’s better at it.
“During the track season I placed 1,2, or 3 in all my events. We won regionals in the 4X100 and were third in the 4X200 relays and I was fourth in the 100 dash. Being at state was pretty nerve-racking for me but I was pretty excited when I got up on the podium. We ran pretty well in the relays, but I think I could have done better in the 100. This next year I’m going to work a lot on getting out of the blocks quicker,” said Riley who plays wherever needed in basketball and plays catcher and outfield in softball.
