OLIVIA SMITH, Senior-Outdoor track

• All-state, first-team

• Class C state champion, discus

• Class C state champion, javelin

• SMAA all-star, first-team, discus

• SMAA all-star, first-team, javelin

• SMAA all-star, second-team, shot put

Smith is well known for her basketball excellence, but did she ever make a mark with her powerful right arm this spring on various tracks across the state.

Smith has anchored three straight championship teams on the hardwood. Track, however, wasn’t even on her radar until her junior season. Smith, who also played soccer (as a goalie at Yarmouth High as a freshman and in the field as a sophomore at McAuley), got invited to join the outdoor track team by her friend, Elsa Curran, and it proved to be a perfect marriage.

“The team needed athletes,” Smith said. “I liked throwing. It’s a lot different than any other sport.”

As a junior, Smith took quickly to the discus, while throwing the javelin and shot put more for fun. This season, Smith had few peers, excelling from start to finish.

She was at her best in the postseason.

At Southwesterns, Smith won the discus (121 feet, 2 inches) and the javelin (116-3), while coming in second in the shot put (35-1.25).

That was a mere tune-up for the Class C state meet, where Smith, the unlikely star, took home two individual championships, winning the discus in 122-3 (a slight improvement from Southwesterns) and the javelin in 121-3 (an improvement of five feet from the previous week). Smith also came in runner-up in the shot put (35-8), scoring 28 points all by herself and helping the Lions tie for fifth as a “team.”

“I want to be the best version of myself,” Smith said. “I want to get better as an individual. I know I’m the only one who can control that.”

Smith, who took part in Key Club, Ambassador Club, French Club and Math team at McAuley, will take her skills to Division I Dartmouth College next year, where she plans to play basketball.

If the Big Green need some help on the throwing end of things, they might just want to take a look at her too. Olivia Smith, McAuley’s Spring Athlete of the Year, is a natural talent, a winner and one of finest talents around, regardless of the sport or season.

Coach Tim Donovan’s comment: “I’ve been coaching for over 25 years and Olivia is one of the most coachable kids I’ve ever worked with. I’d have to say she’s one of the most down-to-earth kids. She’s like a sponge. She’s willing to try anything. You only have to tell her once something to change or that she’s doing something wrong and she’ll correct it. She brings an energy to whatever she’s doing. She’s been a complete joy to work with. We’ll truly miss her.”

Previous winners:

2013 Katherine Lake (lacrosse)

2012 Addie Devine (tennis)

2011 Shelby Bryant (softball)

2010 Shelby Bryant (softball)

2009 Erin Woodbury (tennis)

2008 Katelyn Call (softball)

2007 Abby Iselborn (track)

2006 Abby Iselborn (track)

2005 Abby Iselborn (track)

2004 Maureen Wark (lacrosse and track)

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.