Gators getting Tampa Bay area's fastest sprinter

LAND O'LAKES, Fla. - There's not a faster pair of feet in the Tampa Bay area when it comes to sprinting this past season. Nate Smith was the fastest 200-meter runner in the Bay Area, a runner-up in the state championships. 

The former Academy of the Lakes sprinter has the need for speed.

"When you get there down on the line, ready to start at the beginning of the race, everything goes quiet," Smith said. "All the pressure seems to lift off of you. You're just out there competing against not only yourself, but the other racers."

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Smith is on the fast track. A former swimmer who has quickly found himself ahead of the pack after just running track for two years.

"It didn't surprise me, but it inspired me and inspired others how far he wanted to go in track and field," Smith's club coach BB Roberts said. "He became, I believe, and everybody else believes, he's the fastest kid in the Tampa Bay area."

Smith is also a 4.0 student who also manages his own lawn care company while competing at the highest level in track.

"It's a lot to juggle, but it keeps me balanced," Smith said. "Keeps me in a regimented routine. It kept me focused throughout high school and through the summers. I wouldn't trade it for anything."

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Graduated from high school, Smith is ready to take track to the next level. He just committed to running at the University of Florida – the top track and field program in the country. The Gators men's team are the reigning back to back Division I National Champions.

"Super excited to be part of such a prestigious program," Smith said. "I just want to see how far I can go with this."

"They're going to develop him to being a great athlete," Roberts said. "The one thing about great college programs. They coach them physically and they coach them mentally. I truly believe they are going to turn him out with his body frame, put muscles on him. Make him into an Olympic athlete while running college."

Getting a chance to go for gold is on Smith's list of goals.

"There's always the end goal, which is being in the Olympics would be a wonderful opportunity, but just personally, for myself, I just want to see that personal growth and learn what I've done in the past," Smith said.

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