Dancing on air: Dutch Fork senior excels in the triple jump

Rebekah Smith is used to performing on a big stage.

Growing up, the Dutch Fork senior was a dancer who glided through the air doing a variety of different routines. These days, Smith does her performing on the track and has become one of the top track and field athletes in the Midlands.

Smith is the defending state champion in the Class 4A 100 meters and also qualified in the 200, triple jump and is part of the Silver Foxes’ 4x100 meter relay team.

Smith got her weekend off to a good start Friday by taking first in the triple jump.

“My friends got me out here freshman year. They said they thought I would be good but I was always a dancer,” Smith said Thursday at practice. “Coming out here was different. It was hard going from ballerina mode to aggressive mode. It was hard to adjust. I was new and didn’t know I was doing.”

Smith quickly caught on and earned a spot as the anchor on Dutch Fork’s 4x100 relay when an injury forced one of the girls out of the lineup. Two years later, Smith was a state champion in the 100 meters when she edged James Island’s Makayla Stanley by .04 to win the title.

“We knew she was going to be fast but didn’t know how fast. Junior year surprised us and now we are looking at her to bring home three or four state championships,” Dutch Fork girls track coach Brian Mincel said. “She got a wonderful, charismatic attitude and you see her stuff on the track excels. She is a great overall person.”

Smith has had a strong senior season. She won the 100 in the Bob Jenkins Classic and region championships in the 100, 200 and triple jump.

Smith finished first in the triple jump at last week’s 4A qualifier and says her background in dance helps her in that event.

“I feel like I’m dancing when I am doing the triple jump,” Smith said.

Smith also isn’t afraid of competing against the boys either. She goes up against the freshman and sophomore runners and warms up alongside junior Austin Connor, who is going for state championships in the 100 and 200 this weekend.

“The fact that she won state in the 100 and I always wanted to win state. That pushes me to try and win,” Connor said. “We kind of push each other to do better.”

Connor, one of the state’s top football recruits, has put aside his recruiting and focused on track over the past month. He has qualified for state for the fourth straight year and was fifth in the 100 and second in the 200 last year behind Spartanburg’s Tavien Feaster.

With Feaster not competing this year, Connor has to contend with West Ashley’s Darrell Singleton, who finished first in the 100 and 200 at last week’s 4A state qualifier.

Connor also is a member of the team’s 4x400 relay team. The Foxes also have a good chance in bringing home titles with Rory Gallman, who finished first in the shot put and second in discus at last week’s qualifier.

“We have a good chance to win state as a boys’ team and hopefully we put the points together,” Connor said.

This story was originally published May 13, 2016 at 3:39 PM with the headline "Dancing on air: Dutch Fork senior excels in the triple jump."