Science Hill High School
1509 John Exum Parkway
Johnson City, TN 37604
David M . Chupa, Principal
Todd Smalling Signs with North Carolina State University
(Johnson City) - Science Hill senior distance runner Todd Smalling has decided who he will be competing for next fall. Smalling is signing with ACC Cross Country powerhouse North Carolina State University on Thursday, April 20, at 1:00 PM at Science Hill High School. Smalling also took official visits to the University of Colorado, Georgetown University, and the University of Virginia. He decided on NC State after weighing the location, the cross country and track programs, and academics.
The North Carolina State University "Wolfpack" cross country team has won 9 of the last 11 ACC conference championships and has competed in numerous NCAA Championships. Coach Rollie Geiger enters his 25th season at the helm of the N.C. State program next fall. Coach Geiger has won 29 ACC championships in men's and women's cross country. Geiger has been named the ACC coach of the year an unprecedented 24 times. N.C. State returns their entire varsity lineup and hopes to challenge for the 2006 NCAA Cross Country Championship.
Smalling is a three-time conference and region champion and a three-time All-State performer and the defending sectional champion in the 3200 M. As a freshman, he won the AAU National Cross Country Championship. An injury during his sophomore year prevented him from possibly winning four conference and region titles. Smalling made a major breakthrough this fall, winning several big invitational meets and dropping his times by close to a minute at every course from his junior season after overcoming a severe iron deficiency. Smalling was ranked in the top 10 in the South during the 2005 cross country season and was selected as an All-American by "The Harrier" magazine. He ran 15:16 for 5-kilometers and beat the eventual Tennessee state champion and national qualifier Rob Sorrell by 29 and 27 seconds during the season before suffering with tendonitis near the end of the 2005 cross country season, costing him a chance to win state and to qualify for the Foot Locker National Championships.
After missing 6 weeks of running following the cross country season, Smalling returned to run 25:24 for five miles at the 2006 U.S. Junior National Cross Country Championships in New York City in February. Smalling, who had set his sights on winning a state title in the track for 3200 M, injured his Achilles tendon shortly before the track season began and has missed two months with the injury. "I have very little speed, but I have great endurance. I hope to make the U.S. Olympic marathon team some day," says Smalling who thinks the 10K or marathon may be his best events.
Smalling also excels in the classroom, maintained a 4.0 GPA while taking Advanced Placement courses. He scored a 1580 out of 1600 on his SAT and is a National Merit Scholar. Last fall he won the Wendy's High School Heisman Award winner which is awarded to the top male scholar-athlete in Tennessee. "The icing on the cake for selecting N.C. State was being one of 15 out-of-state recipients of the Park Scholarship," Smalling stated. The Park Scholarship is one of the most prestigious undergraduate scholarship programs in the country offering research and study abroad opportunities in addition to faculty mentoring and leadership building activities. Park Scholars are chosen based on scholarship, leadership, character, and service.
Smalling credits Science Hill High School cross country coach Buddy Thomas with instilling in him a passion for running and credits his family and God for supporting him along the way. Smalling hopes to help the Wolfpack team in whatever way he can as a freshman.