Jackson Progress-Argus

Special Photo///Jasmine Smith won four state championships for Jackson High School, and is now proving a force to be reckoned with at the collegiate level.

In Robert Frost’s poem, “The Road Not Traveled,” he wrote, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -- I took the one less traveled by.”

Jasmine Smith can surely identify with those words.

Last Spring, the former Jackson High School softball, basketball and track star was all ready to go to the University of Georgia. She had committed to the school’s scholarship offer, and in her mind, her future was set. She was going to be a Bulldog.

But Florida A&M University head women’s track coach Darlene Moore caught a glimpse of Smith last May, when she was scouting potential recruits at Georgia’s state championship meet in Jefferson, Ga. She could see the tremendous potential that Smith possessed, and even though she was told she was committed to UGA, decided to extend an olive branch in case she had a change of plans.

“When I went to the state championships in May, I just saw her and asked a complete stranger sitting next to me, ‘Who is this girl?’” said Moore. “When I saw her I just visualized how much she could help my program here at Florida A&M University.”

Fast forward to August, when Smith’s standing with UGA was in doubt. Smith said the school’s stringent academic requirements may have been a factor in her eventual decommitment from her scholarship offer, even though she said she graduated with a 3.1 GPA.

Moore said that August, she received a call from Smith’s summer coach telling her that Smith was now seeking a school to attend after her previous commitment to UGA fell through. Moore said that due to FAMU’s academic schedule, which began two weeks later than UGA’s, Moore was able to have Smith enrolled in school on a full scholarship in time for the start of the fall semester.

Moore said that Smith dealt tremendously with the whirlwind of events that surrounded her around that time.

“From the very beginning, she was rushed. Because what the [typical] incoming freshman has three months to prepare for, Jasmine only had about two weeks,” said Moore. “She had to get used to the adjustment that she was going from a school that was an hour and a half away to one that was four and a half hours away. She had some slight frustrations, initially getting housing and registration taken care of, but she could always handle her own on the track.”

Smith said she is very happy with the decision she made, even though it was difficult at the time.

“It was a tough decision, because at first I was going to go to Georgia, but then Florida A&M came and offered me,” Smith explained. “I was just thinking that FAMU might be a better place for me, and they offered me a great opportunity. But I am missing home 24/7.”

Smith, nicknamed “Fast Jazz” by her high school cohorts, was a four-time state champion in high school, winning both the 100 and 200 meter championships during her junior and senior seasons. She carried that form into the season in her first start with the FAMU team at the Birmingham Icebreaker in December, placing second in the 60-meter dash and fourth in the 200-meter race.

Moore said that Smith’s performances in meets and in practice has seen her rise to her No. 1 runner in both the 60- and 200-meter races, the latter of which Moore has the conference’s runner-up from last season.

Smith said she is enjoying her new routine of going to class and studying -- she is a physical education major -- in her new setting at FAMU. One aspect of collegiate athletics she is having a more difficult time adjusting to is the nutrition requirements.

“In high school, I could eat fried chicken every day if I wanted to,” joked Smith. “Now, I get weighed in every week, I have to eat certain things, I have to do weight training and drink protein shakes three times a week. It’s difficult, but it pays off because I win my races.”

Even Smith is surprised by how well her career has started, and said the sky is the limit on what she can achieve in the future.

“When I first got here, I was like ‘These girls are gonna blow me out of the water,’” recalled Smith. “I had never even run in an indoor track before, and now, I already have two trophies.

“I plan on taking it all out [in the future]. I’m really looking toward the Olympics. I work hard for it and when I’m practicing, I’m always thinking, ‘I got to get this, this is where I want to be.’ I know that if I don’t make it to the Olympics, I will still have an education to help me.”

While Smith’s route to FAMU may not have been typical, she would probably agree with the last line of Frost’s famous poem.

“I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”