Alumni Award News

Dan Smith was a multi-sport athlete during his time at Thornton Academy, excelling in football as well as indoor and outdoor track and field.

On the gridiron, Dan started on both sides of the line during his junior and senior years. As a junior, he was selected as a 1st team all-star by both York County and the SMAA as an offensive tackle. Despite having his senior year cut short because of a mid-season injury, Dan was still selected 1st team as a defensive end to the Journal Tribune, York County and SMAA teams. He was 2nd team York County offensive tackle and was also on the SMAA All-Academic team.

Despite all these football honors, track and field was where Dan shined brightest. In indoor track, Dan won the shot put his junior year and would have been the frontrunner to win it his senior year had he not been sidelined all season because of the injury he sustained in football. In his junior year he also placed in the New England Championship meet then threw on back-to- back days and placed in national invitational meets held in New York City and Washington D.C.

In outdoor track, Dan won the state championship in the discus in his freshman year. In his junior year, he won the shot put and discus, helping to lead the way to a team state championship in 2008. He was also 2nd in the discus and 3rd in the shot put in the New England Championship meet held here at TA.

Because of his injury Dan started his senior season late and many people doubted that he could return to his high level of previous performances. After missing the first meet of the season, Dan returned to the circle and won the shot put by 6 feet and the discus by 30 feet, letting the state know that he was back. In the York County meet, Dan threw the discus 180 feet and 3 inches, becoming the first Maine schoolboy to throw the discus more than 180 feet. In the state meet, he broke the state record in the shot put becoming only the third Maine schoolboy, and first in more than 30 years, to break the 60 foot barrier. He then won the discus, tying the state record. The following week, Dan placed in both the shot put and discus. To this day, Dan is still the school record holder in the discus and co-record holder in the outdoor shot put.

Among Maine high school athletes, Dan’s performances land him in the top 10 all-time in the indoor shot put and top five all- time in both the outdoor shot put and discus.

Lastly, when his sister Brynn won the state championship in the shot put her junior year, he won the state championship in the discus his freshman year, making them one of only a handful of siblings to win an individual state championship on the same day.