ROCHELLE — Jackson Smith first learned of the University of Dubuque when he attended one of the school’s track and field meets during his sophomore year with the Rochelle Hub track team. Smith made a more recent visit to the school, where the senior said he felt right home. 

After a successful four years with the RTHS track and field program, Smith will be continuing his academics and athletics at Dubuque, where he said he intends to study human health sciences with a minor in psychology in hopes of pursuing a career as a physical therapist. Smith recently represented the Hubs during the IHSA 2A Rochelle Sectional, where he ran the 400-meter dash and finished 11th in 55.51 seconds. Smith set his PR of 54.8 seconds at Rock Falls in April.

“I have always heard great things about Dubuque and their track program, from past graduates and people currently attending,” Smith said. “Everything was so close together and I just felt right there, and that was a heavy factor in my decision. I’m really looking forward to continuing my track and field career at Dubuque since track and field is my favorite sport. I’m also looking forward to continuing to get better and have more opportunities to be able to perform."

A two-sport athlete who played football for four years at RTHS, Smith has competed at the varsity level in track and field since his freshman season, when he set his PR of 17 feet 1 ½ inches in the long jump. Smith has taken up several events during his time at RTHS, racing in both the sprints and sprint relays while earning varsity starts in both long jump and triple jump. 

“I’m looking to bring hard work and dedication to the track team since those are skills that have been instilled in me since I was little,” Smith said. “Running track at Rochelle has prepared me for collegiate track by preparing me for what’s ahead. Practices were always made so that we would improve and sometimes that meant having a hard practice. Those kinds of practices are what helped me the most in getting a feel for what things would be like at the collegiate level.”

Smith, who holds a PR of 33 feet 6 ¾ inches in the triple jump, ran each of the three sprint relays during his time with the Hub track team. Most of Smith’s varsity races this spring were in the 400-meter dash, where he finished seventh at the Interstate 8 Conference Championships, and in the 1600-meter relay, an event Smith ran 10 times during his senior season. Smith owns PRs of 12.07 seconds in the 100-meter dash and 25.55 seconds in the 200-meter dash.

“While at Dubuque, I hope to fill a sort of captain role,” Smith said. “I really like helping others when I can and also leading people. I hope that I can use the skills that I have learned from track and football to continue to help and lead those around me. I hope to keep improving my 400 time in college since its been my main focus the past few years. My goal at some point is to be able to run a sub 50 second 400, so I want to keep improving there.”