Former Miner to compete in first professional meet Jan. 21

Tyrone Smith, a three-time All-America performer for the Missouri S&T track and field team, will compete in his first professional meet Jan. 21 when he takes part in the Run for the Dream USA vs. the World meet in Fresno, Calif.

Smith will be a part of a meet that will include Olympians, national champions and record setting athletes from 13 nations. He will be representing his home country of Bermuda in the meet as a competitor in the long jump with Haiti's Narc Narcisse and Americans Tony Allmond and John Moffitt.

Moffitt, a former NCAA champion at Louisiana State University, was the silver medalist in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. Allmond finished as the runner-up at the 2004 Olympic Trials, but did not have a jump that season that could allow him to qualify for the Olympics and Narcisse was a member of Haiti's Olympic team in 2004.

Smith is looking to earn a berth to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing in the long jump for his nation. He has international experience from the 2006 North America/Central America/Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC) Under-23 Championships and the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janiero, Brazil.

While at Missouri S&T, Smith won three All-America awards in the long jump, with two national runner-up finishes, and was the Great Lakes Valley Conference and Great Lakes region's "Athlete of the Year" for the 2006 indoor season. He won three GLVC championships in the long jump during his Miner career.