SE: Oscar Smith Thriving in New Environment for K-State Track and Field
Feb 12, 2020 | Track & Field, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
Oscar Smith signed with K-State track and field before he ever visited Manhattan, Kansas. That's hard for anyone. It's not any easier for someone from the Bahamas.
A native of Nassau, the Caribbean country's capital, Smith called his recruitment process a "rollercoaster ride." It certainly was fast.
He signed with the Wildcats in February last year. He first heard of K-State few months before that. Smith was introduced to K-State when his friend Kyle Alcine, a high jumper from the Bahamas, signed with the Wildcats out of Cloud County Community College in November of 2018.
"When I saw that he signed there, I was, like, 'Hmm, I should probably look into Kansas State.' We were pretty close, so I looked into that and he spoke to Coach (LaMar) Garrett as well and got me acquainted," Smith said. "I reached out to (Garrett) and, within hours, he responded to me. We got in contact. He came down to visit me, spoke about everything. I did research and became interested in K-State."
Smith's research did not start with K-State's vast history of producing All-Americans. Nor did it center on school records in the hurdle events, though he does have his eye on the latter — more on that later.
No, Smith looked into academics. K-State's computer science program attracted him, at first. He's since switched his focus to management information systems, after randomly talking with somebody in K-State's Student Union. It's just one example of why Smith's loved the transition to a new place, where the people are as diverse as the opportunities that a college atmosphere offers.
"Coming from a small island, transitioning has been pretty different. It's more a cultural shock for me, because I've never been exposed to this many people in one environment," Smith said. "But transitioning into it, it wasn't as difficult as I thought it was going to be. It's been pretty fun so far. Different, but change is good."
Smith, like most freshmen, has changed his perspective on hard work. What used to meet that standard now falls short.
"I'm a person who believes that you won't get results if you don't put the work in," he said. "The level of training I've been getting (here)…back home the most I trained was probably four times a week. I rarely did weight lifting. So, balancing that with school as well has been different for me. I feel as though the first semester really gave me sort of an introduction to all this new stuff. I'm going to use the second semester to just build off where I've started so far."
Smith ran an 8.02 in the 60-meter hurdles in his K-State debut. The next day, he posted a time of 7.87. He crossed in 7.98 in his first race of 2020. All three times would have earned K-State points at last year's Big 12 Indoor Championship.
Again, Smith credited his training.
"It was pretty intense when I first started, but as we inched into indoor season it started to settle down, started to get more specific with my event, and I think I'm handling it well now," he said. "I think I've gotten significantly faster. I've improved my form over the hurdles, especially with the hurdles going up three inches. I think I've improved in that division of it."
Smith's top time in the 60-meter hurdles of 7.81, which he ran at the Razorback Invitational on February 1, ranks fourth on K-State's top-10 list. As someone who medaled at the 2018 Carifta Games and made it to the semifinals of the 2018 IAAF World Under-20 Championships, he's far from satisfied with his start.
Smith has much bigger goals the rest of this indoor and outdoor season.
His sights are on 60-meter hurdle times in 7.6-second range, especially K-State's record of 7.69. Outdoors, Smith's goals for the 110- and 400-meter hurdles exceed the school records. Meets like the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships are on his to-do list. He'd also like to visit Nairobi, Kenya, home to this year's IAAF World Under-20 Championships in July.
For now, he added, he's focused on "scoring as many points as I can for my team" at both Big 12 meets this season, along with enjoying the opportunities offered by a new place, one he signed up for without any sort of preview. But he's glad he did.
"Coming from such a small nation in the Bahamas, making it out from there is hard, let alone to a DI college," he said. "It's pretty cool."
Oscar Smith signed with K-State track and field before he ever visited Manhattan, Kansas. That's hard for anyone. It's not any easier for someone from the Bahamas.
A native of Nassau, the Caribbean country's capital, Smith called his recruitment process a "rollercoaster ride." It certainly was fast.
He signed with the Wildcats in February last year. He first heard of K-State few months before that. Smith was introduced to K-State when his friend Kyle Alcine, a high jumper from the Bahamas, signed with the Wildcats out of Cloud County Community College in November of 2018.
"When I saw that he signed there, I was, like, 'Hmm, I should probably look into Kansas State.' We were pretty close, so I looked into that and he spoke to Coach (LaMar) Garrett as well and got me acquainted," Smith said. "I reached out to (Garrett) and, within hours, he responded to me. We got in contact. He came down to visit me, spoke about everything. I did research and became interested in K-State."
Smith's research did not start with K-State's vast history of producing All-Americans. Nor did it center on school records in the hurdle events, though he does have his eye on the latter — more on that later.
No, Smith looked into academics. K-State's computer science program attracted him, at first. He's since switched his focus to management information systems, after randomly talking with somebody in K-State's Student Union. It's just one example of why Smith's loved the transition to a new place, where the people are as diverse as the opportunities that a college atmosphere offers.
"Coming from a small island, transitioning has been pretty different. It's more a cultural shock for me, because I've never been exposed to this many people in one environment," Smith said. "But transitioning into it, it wasn't as difficult as I thought it was going to be. It's been pretty fun so far. Different, but change is good."
Smith, like most freshmen, has changed his perspective on hard work. What used to meet that standard now falls short.
"I'm a person who believes that you won't get results if you don't put the work in," he said. "The level of training I've been getting (here)…back home the most I trained was probably four times a week. I rarely did weight lifting. So, balancing that with school as well has been different for me. I feel as though the first semester really gave me sort of an introduction to all this new stuff. I'm going to use the second semester to just build off where I've started so far."
Smith ran an 8.02 in the 60-meter hurdles in his K-State debut. The next day, he posted a time of 7.87. He crossed in 7.98 in his first race of 2020. All three times would have earned K-State points at last year's Big 12 Indoor Championship.
Again, Smith credited his training.
"It was pretty intense when I first started, but as we inched into indoor season it started to settle down, started to get more specific with my event, and I think I'm handling it well now," he said. "I think I've gotten significantly faster. I've improved my form over the hurdles, especially with the hurdles going up three inches. I think I've improved in that division of it."
Smith's top time in the 60-meter hurdles of 7.81, which he ran at the Razorback Invitational on February 1, ranks fourth on K-State's top-10 list. As someone who medaled at the 2018 Carifta Games and made it to the semifinals of the 2018 IAAF World Under-20 Championships, he's far from satisfied with his start.
Smith has much bigger goals the rest of this indoor and outdoor season.
His sights are on 60-meter hurdle times in 7.6-second range, especially K-State's record of 7.69. Outdoors, Smith's goals for the 110- and 400-meter hurdles exceed the school records. Meets like the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships are on his to-do list. He'd also like to visit Nairobi, Kenya, home to this year's IAAF World Under-20 Championships in July.
For now, he added, he's focused on "scoring as many points as I can for my team" at both Big 12 meets this season, along with enjoying the opportunities offered by a new place, one he signed up for without any sort of preview. But he's glad he did.
"Coming from such a small nation in the Bahamas, making it out from there is hard, let alone to a DI college," he said. "It's pretty cool."
Players Mentioned
/ Track & Field
/ Track & Field
K-State Men's Basketball | Postgame Press Conference at Houston
Sunday, February 15
K-State Football | Stanton Weber Press Conference - Feb. 12, 2026
Thursday, February 12
K-State Football | Thad Ward Press Conference - Feb. 12, 2026
Thursday, February 12
K-State Men's Basketball | Game Replay vs Cincinnati - February 11, 2026
Thursday, February 12
