By Ed Piper
Saturday at the Viking Sunset Relays Sat., March 14, wasn't warm yet, but it was promising to be a hot day. Track and weather.
Kim Smith, the mother of LJHS sprinters Payton and Olivia--the first two Black ASB presidents in the 124-year history of the school--was updating a reporter on news of the girls. He had never met her before, though covering Viking sports for 22 years.
"Payton just missed qualifying for the (indoor) NCAA Nationals," she said, in her specialty, the 400 meters for the University of Michigan. "She finished ninth, and only the top eight go on." This was at the Big 10 Finals.
She explained how in much of the rest of the country, the indoor circuit is a big deal, even though we don't have much indoor track here in the warmer states. "There is a national competition, so even though the outdoor season is the focus, you still want to compete in the indoor season," she said.
Olivia, who graduated from LJHS last year, "is going to come to the meet today." She hadn't been back at La Jolla High since graduation. (Payton graduated in 2024.) Olivia is running for Notre Dame. Their mom said they like forging different paths, even though they're close.
We talked a little about "elite" (my term) and regular, participating athletes on high school teams. "You can't just go out and run" like nothing matters, she said. For Payton, especially, setting CIF San Diego Section records, it was her meal ticket to greater glory: Michigan, and possibly beyond.
I told her my memory of Payton Smith, not really knowing who she was, her junior year. She was playing for the Viking soccer team. Coach Austin Mobley inserted her at the beginning of the second half. There was a ball in play. Payton took off from about midfield, totally out-ran her defender, and scored the goal against a dumbfounded goalkeeper for the opposing team.
Mobley subbed in another player for her, and her game was done. It was a remarkable snapshot of the kind of athlete she was and is, and the lightning impact she could have on a game.
I asked Kim how things have been going for Payton in the sprints since she left LJHS two years ago. "She has had to learn to run on an indoor track," she said. "It is banked. There is a big learning curve." She ran on banked indoor tracks in meets at Michigan and at Arkansas.
Mom grew up in Pleasanton, central California, playing high school soccer and basketball. "My dad, Tom Hansen, coached basketball," she said. "He also served as athletic director. The gym is named after him." Pleasanton plays in the North Coast Section of CIF, one of 10 sections.
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Best name at the Viking Sunset Relays: Reality Smith (female). I had a student named Reality, a boy, when I taught in the Juvenile Court and Community Schools.
Second-best: Domino (a girl).
