1 U.S. 10,000 meters, 1968, Track & Field News NCAA Cross-Country Championships, 6-mile, 2nd (1966) AAU Indoor 3-Mile Champion (1966, 1967, 1973) AAU Outdoor 6-Mile Champion (1966) AAU Outdoor 10,000 Meter Champion (1968) 1,500 m: 3:43.6 (1972) 2 mi: 8:29.4 (1975) 3,000 m: 7:55 (1968) 3 mi (Indoor): 13:07.2 (1973) 5,000 m: 13:39 (1972) 6 mi: 28:02 (1966) Bronze, Representing the United States, 1966 International Cross Country Championships, Rabat, Morocco Tracy Evans Smith (born March 15, 1945, in Altadena, California) is a former American distance runner.
1 U.S. 5,000- and 10,000-meter runner in the mid- to late 1960s, and was a six-time AAU National Champion from 1966 to 1973, winning outdoors in the 3-mile, 6-mile and 10,000 meters, and three times in the indoor 3-mile.
[4] On July 4, 1963, University of Oregon track coach Bill Bowerman hosted an all-star high school mile race at Hayward Field, Eugene, OR, that was intended to pit Tracy Smith, the California state champion miler, against Dave Wilborn, Oregon's state champion miler.
In a sprint to the finish, Smith made a desperate dive, while Lindgren leaned at the tape for a narrow win in 4:12.9.
Smith graduated from Arcadia High in 1963 and attended Oregon State University,[6] finishing sixth in the 3-mile at the 1965 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
The following season, he finished second to rival Lindgren, now of Washington State University, over a six-mile course in 29:11,[7] at the 1966 NCAA Cross Country Championships, at Lawrence, KS, Nov. 21, 1966.
[8] Smith burst onto the international running scene March 20, 1966, becoming the first American to ever medal in the International Cross Country Championships, finishing third that year on the 7.5-mile course at Rabat, Morocco, with a time of 36:32.2,[9] behind gold medalist Ben Assou El Ghazi of Morocco and silver medalist Derek Graham of Ireland.
He faded badly, however, with just over a lap remaining before gathering himself for a sprint over the final 200 meters to win, notably, over 1964 Tokyo Olympics 10,000-meter gold medalist Billy Mills in a time of 30:00.4.
In addition to Smith, a number of world-class track and field stars had joined the ITA, including Bob Seagren, Lee Evans, Jim Ryun, Brian Oldfield, Kip Keino, Ben Jipcho and Marty Liquori.
In 1994, he moved his family to Bend, OR, where he served as head coach of the Crook County High School (Prineville, OR) cross country and track teams, as well as a special education teacher.