Tony Smoragiewicz (Photo Kevin Cox)
EDITOR’S NOTE: What qualities do we value in athletes? God given physical talent? A passion for competition? A relentless dedication to hard work? Good sportsmanship? Yes, each of these, and more. But there are a few truly great athletes who find a way to extend the discipline of their athletic lives into their everyday lives.
Exceptional people live at these intersections between sport and real life. Among young athletes, one of the best indicators of “balance” is the relationship between grades in class and performance on the field of play.
To honor those unique individuals InsideDakotaSports will begin selecting a Student Athlete of the Month. This award is not for the ‘A’ student who is part of the team. Nor is it for the great athlete with a steady 3.0 GPA. This award is for those rare young men and women who live at the highest level accomplishment in both worlds.
No one sneaks into this award. There is no backdoor, no fudge factor. It is fitting that the first selection goes to Central High School’s Tony Smoragiewicz. Barely six weeks ago, Tony won the state cross country championship and left the field in his dust. Two weeks later he won the Nike Heartland Regional race in Sioux Falls, qualifying him to compete next weekend in the national championship in Portland. Last week he came in third in the Midwest Regional Qualifier for the Foot Locker National Championship, which will take place in San Diego on December 11. Meanwhile, Tony keeps a 4.0 GPA with the hardest class schedule any high school junior can take.
Tony sets an impossibly high standard. Our hope is that other student-athletes will go out a meet his challenge.
Smoragiewicz won the Nike Regional Cross Country Meet two weeks ago in Sioux Falls and competes nationally in the triathlon. (Photo Julie Smoragiewicz)
Discipline Breeds Discipline Breeds Discipline.
Tony Smoragiewicz stayed late after his AP Chemistry class on Tuesday afternoon and told his teacher, Dr. Beth Farrar, that he was going to be gone for a few days and needed his homework assignments. “I said, ‘Oh, Tony, how are you going to miss four days of AP Chem and Organic Chem, and keep up?’” Farrar told IDS. “He said, ‘Don’t worry. I’ll be all right.’ And you know what…he will be.”
With homework tucked in his backpack, Tony Smoragiewicz flew off for Portland, Oregon Wednesday morning to the Mecca of American long distance running, to compete in the Nike Cross Country National Championship. A week later, he will fly to San Diego to compete in the Foot Locker National Championship.
All the while, Tony has kept a 4.0 GPA in the hardest sequence of classes a high school student can take anywhere in the country: Honors English 11, Spanish-3, AP U.S. History, AP Chemistry and Organic Chemistry.
“I think that AP Chemistry is the hardest course that any student can take.” Says Farrar. “It’s a year of college chemistry in eight months. Some kids can do it, but they really have to be dedicated. Tony never complains. In his case, the A’s are a combination of being smart and working hard. He works really hard. I see an overlap between the mental toughness it takes to make yourself run and the toughness it takes to study chemistry.”
“Have you ever gotten a ‘B’?” I ask Smoragiewicz.
“Yes. I got a ‘B’ in middle school. And this year it’s really hard to get A’s. It’s so much work.”
“Do you ever feel pressure to keep a 4.0?”
“My mother feels it more than me. I met the cross-country coach from the University of Colorado when I was in Wisconsin for the Foot Locker race last weekend. He asked me about my grades. I told him I had a 4.0 and a bunch of AP classes. He laughed and said, ‘Tony. Just go get one ‘B’ so you won’t have to think about it anymore.”
How does Tony keep a balance between his academic work and running? “Sometimes it’s really nice to have a break from school.”
There is a silver lining to all of his travel over the last month. It is too early for college coaches to reach out and recruit Tony, he’s only a high school junior, but he has been visiting different campuses and, at his own initiative, meeting coaches. This week, he’ll visit the University of Washington before he heads to Portland.
It is wonderful to see Inside Dakota sports giving credit to the positives in high school sports vs. the negative situations and challenges which are typical of this site. Tony is an outstanding young man and will have profound impact on whatever area he chooses in the future. Congratulations Tony for all you have accomplished and here’s to all that is yet to come. We are lucky to be able to watch from the sidelines!!!