Feb. 20, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
By Astrid Diaz, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Freshman year of college is an anticipated, yet slightly feared, time when you finally leave the nest of your hometown and soar into the world of independent living, unknown roommates, and questionable dining hall meals.
If you're a student-athlete, on top of it all, you're thrown into the world of division I athletics full of 20-40 hour training weeks, hours of traveling, and top level opponents - what can be fairly described as intimidating.
Freshman Xavier Smith joined the Nittany Lions in August as a one of the nation's top competitors and among the top three track athletes in his district and county. He is a football player turned sprinter from the small town of Douglasville, Pennsylvania who is drawing a lot of attention this season.
The population in Douglasville is 448 - about five percent of Penn State's total incoming freshman and just about half of the entire body of Penn State student-athletes.
So, to say his move from Douglasville to Happy Valley was intimidating is an understatement.
However, with the support of his family, which has been strong since his first day on the rubber, Smith has submerged fiercely into the life of a full-time division I sprinter with no signs of slowing down.
"In high school, I did it for fun my junior year and then senior year I started to get more serious," said Smith. "[Collegiate training is] a new experience and I was trying different things. I had never really had workouts this hard. It was kind of different....[but] I started to get the hang of it. I had to take it day by day."
His teammates also play a huge role in his success acting as another direct source of support.
"I didn't know what to expect but they were there for me if I had any questions. There are here to help me and show me the ropes and help [me] work toward our goals," he said. "I use my teammates' energy to help me go out there and do the best that I can. If I do well, I know that might help someone else do well and it's a chain reaction."
On various occasions you'll hear the team describe itself as a family - a very competitive, very ambitious family.
"Alex Shisler actually told me, `It doesn't matter what kind of work out you had yesterday. It could have been the best work out you've ever had or the worst work out you've ever had but, today is a different day so try and make today the best work out that you can get out of it'," he said.
To his teammates, Smith is respectful, laid back, and focused. To his coaches he is the definition of a true competitor. But, you don't have to take their word for it.
In his four outings in the 60-meter dash this year, Smith has improved his time every single race. In December, Smith posted a time of 6.91 seconds during the Blue and White Intrasquad Meet. In his last time out, he ran at a season-best performance of 6.87 seconds.
In the 200-meter dash, Smith is consistent with his improvement as well and is dancing dangerously on the edge of a personal record. Last weekend, Smith posted a season best time of 21.54 seconds, .04 of a second from his personal best.
He's also an important fourth of the men's 4x400-meter relay quartet that ran a season best time of 3:12.61 last weekend at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
"I'm doing a good job so far but I know there is still room for improvement. There are expectations that still can be reached but...it's alright so far. It can be better," said Smith.
As Smith looks towards the competition to come, he looks forward to the challenges and reflects on all that has changed within the last few months when he stepped onto Happy Valley grounds for the first time.
No one can predict where he or she will end up but Smith is confident that he's headed in the right direction.
"[I'm going to] keep trying new things," he said. "Whenever you try new things there's more that's good that can come out of it than bad. You never know where you're going to end up."
As they say, the best is yet to come.