Last fall as a sophomore at Palisades High School, Brent Smith finished a close fourth in the City Section finals in cross country, and then competed in the state meet, placing 102 among 200 runners.
He looks to have another stellar campaign this year, having started the season by placing third among 215 runners at the Seaside Invite at San Buenaventura.
Smith was then sidelined for several weeks after a fluke accident required stitches in his foot, but he led his injury-plagued team at the Bell-Jeff meet by finishing 13th out of 99 runners on September 30 in Griffith Park.
During the cross-country season, Smith is usually up by 6:15 a.m. to make the trip to school from his home near The Grove. Going home it can take him up to an hour and a half.
He runs six times a week with the Pali team. When they don’t have a meet, the boys usually run in Santa Monica on Montana, San Vicente and along Palisades Park, doing mile repeats.
They also have the “long” run, which starts at PaliHi, goes along Sunset to Paul Revere Middle School, then back along San Vicente, down West Channel, through the
Chautauqua tunnel and along the beach, finishing uphill on Temescal Canyon Road. “It takes about two hours,” said Smith, who started running at Revere under Coach Paul Foxson.
Running about 60 miles a week means that Smith is constantly eating small meals throughout the day.
He lettered in three sports last year: first in cross country, then in soccer (he plays right back), and finally in track, where he was a distance runner. In the City finals, he finished seventh in the 1600-meter run and sixth in the 3200.
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