Summit High Senior Competes for Team USA
Published August 15, 2014
Samantha Smith – get used to that name – you might be hearing it in the 2016 Olympics.
The high school senior and member of Summit High’s Clay Target Team, earned a coveted spot on USA’s World Cup Championships Team in Olympic Bunker Trap in March.
As the newest member of Team USA, she recently retuned from Suhl, Germany wearing medals after representing the USA shooting international trap and skeet teams at the Inaugural International Shooting Federation (ISSF) Junior World Cup event. Samantha was among more than 1,200 athletes representing 46 countries. She ended the ISSF Junior World Cup event tied for seventh overall and earned a bronze medal with the women’s trap team.
“Competing for Team USA has been incredible and more than I expected it to be,” said Samantha. “I love the team atmosphere it provides.”
Though Samantha has only been shooting for four years, her coach is more than positive about how far she has come, and how far she has to go.
“She’s always dreamed of being an Olympian, but just didn’t know in what sports – she played softball and soccer and ice skater – fell in love with shooting and became really good at it,” said Chad Whittenburg, Summit Clay Target Team Head Coach and Director at USA Shooting Certified Olympic Training Center-Tennessee. “We started pursuing the Olympic disciplines of the sports she continued to fall in love with it.”
Along with that love for the sport, Samantha also has the drive and passion to compete and do well.
“First thing she credits her success to is her Faith, which builds a good foundation for her,” said Whittenburg. “Then she credits her mental game to getting her where she is today. We read a lot of mental wellness books; read a lot of books by former champions and medalists on mental strategies and toughness; and work on self talk and positive thinking.”
Being an Olympic hopeful requires dedication and a very busy schedule.
“Practice happens on and off the field,” said Samantha. “I go to the range in Nashville and shoot four days a week. Outside of that, I practice doing my mounts and dismounts, eye exercises and self talk.”
“Mental rehearsals for Samantha include running mentally through a round of competition, envisioning the whole process,” said Whittenburg. “We do a lot of eye exercises with different apparatuses working on focusing near and far, each working to strengthen her eye muscles.”
Despite her busy schedule, time for family and friends is important to Samantha.
“I have a pretty busy schedule, but I have that schedule so that I have time for school and practice,” said Samantha. “I see my family when I am home, and we try to have large family dinners once a month. Other than that, I spend a lot of time at church and some time with friends here and there.”
In September 2014, Samantha will travel to Granada, Spain, for the 51st Annual ISSF World Shooting Championships, where the world’s most talented trap and skeet athletes will vie for the first quota slots available for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janerio, Brazil. She will compete in both individual and team competitions.
From there, Samantha is excited and hopeful for what her future holds.
“I see myself multiple places in the future,” said Samantha. “I hope that my future holds the 2016 Olympics in Rio, or in Tokyo in 2020. I also plan on attending college along the way. I would love to become a resident athlete in the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs as well.”