Indiana State has had a long tradition of quality jumpers on the track & field team but few have excelled the way Steve Smith did during his four-year career as a Sycamore from 1991-1994.
Smith was named an All-American four times in high jump and won two Missouri Valley Conference championships. He placed second at the 1994 NCAA Outdoor Championship, second at the 1991 and 1992 NCAA Indoor Championships, and fifth at the 1993 NCAA Outdoor Championship.
A three-time All-Conference Outdoor selection (1991, 1993, 1994), Smith was ranked third in the United States in 1994 and 10th in the United States in 1993. He was also named the recipient of the 1994 Hillman Outstanding Senior Athlete award.
Smith set the Indiana State indoor high jump record at 7’-4.5” (2.25 meters) in 1991 and set the ISU outdoor high jump record at 7’-7” (2.31 meters) in 1994. A three-time All-Missouri Valley Conference selection, he was named the MVC Outdoor Championship Field MVP in 1994. Smith is also a member of the Missouri Valley Conference All-Centennial Team.
He competed on the national and international scene for nearly a decade after signing with Nike International after graduation from Indiana State. Smith won the high jump competition at the 1999 Melrose Games in Madison Square Garden in New York, won silver at the 1994 Pan American Games, was second at the 1994 USA vs. Great Britain meet, placed second at the 1994 U.S. Outdoor Track & Field Championships, second at the 1995 and 1999 U.S. Indoor Track & Field Championship, and placed fifth at the 1995 World Indoor Championships. He also competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials in 1992, 1996, and 2000, and in the United States Olympic Festival in 1991, 1993, and 1994.
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Three time NCAA All-American in the high jump
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Two time Missouri Valley Conference champion in high jump
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Holds Indiana State indoor high jump record at 7’-4.5” (2.25 meters) set in 1991
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Holds Indiana State outdoor high jump record at 7’-7” (2.31 meters) set in 1994.
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Placed second at the 1994 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship and the 1991 NCAA Indoor Championship.
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Finished fifth at the 1993 NCAA Outdoor Championship.
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Placed second in the high jump at the 1994 USA Championships.
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Participated at the Olympic Trials in 1992, 1996, and 2000.
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Won Silver Medal at 1995 Pan-American Games.
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Placed seventh at the 1995 Indoor World Championships in Barcelona, Spain.
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Named to Missouri Valley Conference All-Centennial Team
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Inducted into Hall of Fame October 9, 2010
