Manny Phoulom-Smith

Manny Phounlom-Smith stood out on the football field and baseball games but it wasn't just for his skills in those sports.  A local track a field coach caught sight of a kid that would circle the baseball diamond with lightning-fast speed and fly past others on the football field.  Manny decided to give track a try and was immediately hooked.  "I loved the aspect of competing against myself as well as other people", said Manny.

 

Manny would continue with track through middle school and into high school where he left his mark on the program at St Augustine High School in Florida.  Coming off a season's best in the 300m hurdles (38.95) he placed 14th at the Florida state championships.  During his final high school season in 2018 Manny won the 110m hurdles (14.55 - PR) at the conference championships and took runner up in the  300m hurdles (39.09) at conference and walked away with school records in both the 110 and 300n hurdles.  Additional high school accolades include qualifying for state three times, being named all-state, two-time all-county and named all-First Coast Second-Team. He was also a Cum Laude Graduate and all-county academic football team in 2017.

​

Manny would take his track talents to the NCAA Division I program at South Dakota State University.  His proudest moment in the sport came when his 4x100 relay team broke the all-time South Dakota record and became the first team from South Dakota State to complete the race in under 40 seconds.  They punched their ticket to the 2019 NCAA Division 1 National Championships in Austin, TX where we he and his fellow Jackrabbits received an NCAA All-American Honorable Mention.