Collegiate congrats: Smith hits course's' with a focus

Payton Smith, the son of Kyle and Layne Smith of Carrington, is in his third year competing for the North Dakota State University Bison cross country and track and field teams.

This last spring, Payton learned a new event on the track, the 3,000-meter steeplechase, and it soon became his specialty race for the outdoor season.

He finished first in the steeplechase at the NDSU Spring Classic, and also won the event at the Kip Janvrin Open in Iowa in a time of 9:22.61. Smith also took sixth at the Rock Chalk Classic at Kansas University in Lawrence, Kan., and earned All-Conference honors for the Bison, finishing seventh in the steeplechase at the Summit League Outdoor Championships last May.

In cross country this past fall, Payton scored for the Bison in every meet of the season, turning in his best performance as NDSU's #1 runner at the SDSU Classic. He finished 21st overall in the Summit League Cross Country Championships, and was the Bison's number two runner at the NCAA Midwest Regional Cross Country Championships at the University of Iowa in Iowa City.

Payton also has a 3.8 grade point average (GPA) while majoring in Exercise Science at NDSU.