David Smith Position: Assistant Coach/Head Cross Country Coach Experience: 2nd Year at Tech

David Smith enters his second year with the Texas Tech track team specializing in coaching the distance events.

In addition to his duties with the Tech track team, Smith is the head coach of the men's and women's cross country teams. Smith was appointed as head cross country coach in 1998.

Smith made his first mark on the Red Raider program in the 1998 cross country season. He implemented a rigorous workout program and challenged both the men and women to work harder and achieve more than in the past. Under his guidance, a majority of the team posted career highs during the season. Kristen Koppes was in the top-25 in all four regular season meets she competed in . David Leigh set a personal best time at the Big 12 championships and finished in the top 30. Both runners advanced to the NCAA Regional championships. Smith also had two other women, Tara Hangge and Courtney Nolen advance to Regionals.

During the track and field season, Smith's training regimen paid off in a big way as Leigh Daniel became the first Tech athlete to win a national championship in track and field, winning the indoor 5,000 and outdoor 10,000 meter races. Daniel was also the Big 12 Champion in the indoor 5,000 and set a new Big 12 record in the event when she ran a time of 16:31.35. Smith also helped to coach David Leigh to a top 10 finish outdoors in the 5,000 at the Big 12 Championships.

Smith entered into coaching after an outstanding collegiate career as a distance runner. At Michigan State University, Smith was a top performer for the Spartans from 1990-93. He was the Big Ten champion in the 10,000 meters and runner-up in the 1,500 meters in 1993. Smith was also a three-time all-Big Ten performer and three-time academic All-America as well as seven-time academic all-Big Ten.

After leaving East Lansing, Smith moved to Washington where he was the competitive manager and women's distance coach for Club Northwest. At Northwest, he led the women's cross country team to a second place finish at the USATF National Cross Championships. Smith also organized several major distance races in the Seattle area.

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