Shelby Bradley | Sports Co-Editor

Martina Smith is a senior Education Major from Sheffield, Iowa. During her years at Buena Vista University (BVU), she has been apart of both the track and field and cross country programs.

Being Smith’s senior season she has three main expectations for herself: become faster in every meet, every workout and also become a better teammate every day. Smith also has high personal goals set to accomplish during the remainder of the season.

“In the past year I have set really “easy” goals where I break them in the first meet and then set new ones to break a week later. However, this season I decided to set my goals very high, and I have not accomplished them yet but I will soon crush them,” Smith said.

One goal of hers is to capture a school record. Last year she came close to multiple records including the 800 meter run, just being a tenth of a second away.

“This year I will put my name on it,” Smith said.

Not only does Smith hold high expectations for herself, but Head Coach Ryan Schroeder also holds these expectations.

“Martina has an outstanding work ethic. I know every day she’s going to come to practice with a great attitude and willingness to do the extra little things to be the best runner she can,” Schroeder said.

Schroeder also noted that one of Smith’s greatest motivators is her teammates. She not only wants to do well for herself and set personal records, but is also inclined to do well because she knows her teammates are counting on her.

“Sometimes our sport isn’t any fun, but you can count on her to be positive!” Schroeder said.

While track just seems like a sport of running around, it is much more than that to Smith. She rehashed on countless memories she has made throughout the years from winning the 1500 meter run to “killing” hard workouts with her running partner, Katie. However, there is one memory in particular that reins above all.

“My all-time favorite memory was at the Viking Classic and Steven Smith was running the 5k and he was on pace for a HUGE personal record. A few of the guys requested the song Uptown Funk on his last few laps of the race. We were all around the track cheering as loud as we could and singing along to the music. Steven finished first and the whole team was at the finish line dancing to the song alongside of him, even the coaches,” Smith said

Photo by: Kyle Wiebers