Ben Smith

Hortonville HS, New London, WI, c/o 2024
AthleticNET Bio

Ben Smith got his start participating in the throws at  the Wisconsin State Badger Games track and field meet. This annual event which started in 1985 allows Wisconsin’s amateur athletes of all ages to participate in Olympic events. In the seventh grade, he competed in the discus (136-08.5) and the shot put (40-00.5) and won both titles. 

His father, Robert(Bobby in the UW record book), got him started in the throws and has served as his coach since. He is still no 9 on the University of Wisconsin- Madison all time list with a put of 59-05(18.11m) from ‘96 and was a  letter winner from ‘96-’98. Ben recounts on how he got interested in throwing. 

“My dad would talk about his past in Madison and it sounded pretty interesting. I don't remember the  first year[‘19] he signed me up for the Badger State Games, but I just fell in love from there.”

Ben wrestled and played football ( middle linebacker and fullback/6-02 230lbs) his first three years of high school. His wrestling team has been competitive. They finished second at sectionals last year. His football team didn’t fare as well, going 2-7. The past three years, he has jumped from football to wrestling to indoor and then outdoor track. For this upcoming season, he’ll not wrestle or  play football so he is healthy when he goes off to college. It was a hard decision for him, but one he felt he needed to do.

As a sophomore, he won both the shot put(59-04) and discus(179-03) to win the Wisconsin D1 State Championships. This past season he won the indoor(67-08.25) and the outdoor (66-11.5) state shot put titles and the Nike Outdoor Nationals Showcase(68-04).

After that Nike Outdoor National Showcase win he visited the Tower at Hayward Field where he committed to the University of Oregon. He had been leaning toward becoming a Duck, but at the event, he felt it was time to complete the process.

“Looking at Oregon's history, I've always thought of them as pretty superior. Brian Blutreich is probably the best in the country right now. I talked with him for a few phone calls before meeting him to see and interact with him. I found that he was pretty chill and had the personality to make for a great coach. I got to meet Coach Schumacher too and was very happy with him. So, two good coaches for a good program.” 

He’s also had success in the discus. He threw 210-04.5 to finish second at Nike Outdoor Nationals and was second at the Wisconsin State D1 Championships both won by Bryce Ruland. Both he and Ruland are left handed throwers.

He goes back and forth on which is his favorite event.

“I feel like it's kind of back and forth every year. Usually when I’m Ioving the discus, I’m fighting with shot put or when I’m loving the shot put and I’m fighting with the discus.  I love them pretty much equally though.”

His father and he work in the fall on his technique in the gym when it gets colder. They’ve carved out a space with a net where he can throw the discus and has indoor shot put implements. This upcoming season he’ll work on speed and agility using a specialized throwing program.

He has also begun training for the hammer throw. He hasn’t had many practices to date, but plans to continue to work on it and then get a mark so he can compete in next year’s Nike Outdoor Nationals. He figures in college, his team will need more points so he is going to add it to his repertoire. 

For this upcoming season he’s hoping he can get a ten foot improvement on his personal best of 68-10.5. He’s already throwing and weightlifting to prepare for his final season.

“I'm hoping for a 10 foot jump hopefully. That'd be nice. It's gonna be hard but I'm hoping for that 75 range.”