If Mike Smith didn't look happy after his throw of 55 feet 10 1/2 inches broke his own indoor school record in the shot put, there was an explanation for it. The Riverhead High School senior believed he could have thrown further had he more attempts left.
As it was, Smith's third and final throw in the Hispanic Games on Saturday at The Armory Track and Field Center in Manhattan surpassed the old mark of 54-3 3/4 that he established last year when he became the first Riverhead boy to win an indoor state title. Despite his record throw on Saturday, Smith finished second to Joshua Haghighi of Wheatley, who covered 61-9 1/2 on one of his attempts.
"It's nothing to me," Smith of his new record. "I just wanted to go further. I don't want to aim too high, but I know I can get 60, at least."
Smith said he was motivated by the encouraging words of his coaches.
"They were telling me how talented I am, how lucky I am to have all this talent," he said. "All their speeches kept playing through my head. Every single speech just made me want to get better. That's basically what was driving me."
Riverhead Coach Sal Loverde said he liked hearing Smith tell him that he has more distance in him.
"He is starting to throw some significant distances, and it looks like he is ready to explode," Loverde said.
Loverde said Smith is reaping the benefits of individual workouts he has had with the team's throwing coach, Jeff Blom. By working on his technique, Smith has been consistently throwing over 50 feet. All three of his throws on Saturday went beyond 53 feet and progressively got better.
"I felt like everything was up," Smith said. "If I would have kept going, I would have done way better than that."
Loverde said: "What makes him special automatically is just his innate ability, athletic ability. What makes him a champion is his willingness to turn the gear to competitive and to listen to coaches and to know what they're saying, and to buy into our system and believe what he is doing."
Smith said he is ramping up his training in preparation for the Molloy Stanner Games, which will be held Saturday at The Armory Track and Field Center. "He said, 'You're going to see some explosive stuff,' " Loverde said. "He's promising us possibly one of the most memorable days in the shot put event in school history."
SKINNER BREAKS MILE RECORD Riverhead senior Katie Skinner won the mile in a school-record time of 5 minutes 5.23 seconds in the Hispanic Games at The Armory Track and Field Center on Saturday. The previous record of 5:08.5 had been held by Ellen Dougherty. Speaking of Skinner's performance, Riverhead Assistant Coach Pete Hansen said: "She could have done better than that, but she got boxed in in the beginning. She had to run the first two laps, two-and-a-half laps, running catchup. She would have shattered five minutes. But that's the nature of running."