From the way he explodes off the block, you'd think Talan Smith has run track his whole life.

"This has been such a flip on its head kind of thing," Smith said.

Really, it's only been three years.

"When I wasn't running, I did not have any hope of playing collegiate athletics."

His journey with track began in high school with a phone call from his dad.

"My dad was like 'Hey, your track coach at your high school thinks you can do really well at the para-ambulatory division,'" Smith said.

While he's been diagnosed with a mild form of cerebral palsy that's led to limited mobility on the left side of his body, Smith never thought of competing in that division.

"I'd been playing baseball, and I'd been playing other able-bodied sports that everybody else was playing. So, the word disabled

See Full Page