Jim Smith was a standout performer on the football field as a running back and on the track as a sprinter and hurdler at Knox between 1974 and 1976. “Smitty” was an all-conference and conference champion football player who also won conference championships and earned All-American status in track.
Jim helped lead the 1976 football team (Hall of Fame class of 2012) to a 7-1-1 record, a Midwest Conference championship, and a 33-0 playoff win against Lake Forest College. “Smitty” led the rushing attack for the team, becoming just the second player in school history to gain over 1,000 yards in a season. He finished the season with 1,005 yards on 213 carries for averages of 111.7 yards per game and 4.7 yards per carry. “Smitty” also scored nine touchdowns and was an All-Midwest Conference first team selection.
Jim was in the top five of virtually every all-time rushing category -- 24 of them -- at the time his career ended. He established new records for rushing attempts in a season, most games over 100 yards rushing in a season, and most games over 200 yards rushing in a season while ranking second in five other record book entries. Today, more than three decades later, “Smitty” is still among the all-time top 10 leaders in 21 rushing categories, and in eight of those he continues to be ranked in the top five of all-time.
“The numbers he compiled were very good. Since he missed a major portion of his sophomore year due to injuries and did not return to Knox for his senior year, the numbers are downright amazing,” said Tom Crabtree ’72, who has maintained the football records at Knox for decades.
Jim, who attended Kewanee Wethersfield High School, became Knox College’s first-ever All-American in track. He placed sixth in the finals of the 400 meter intermediate hurdles to garner All-American recognition at the 1975 NCAA Division III Track Meet hosted by the University of Chicago. “Smitty” broke his own school record in the 400 IH with a time of 53.7 seconds en route to the finals. The time stood as the record for 19 years and is currently the third-fastest in school history. Van Steckelberg, the Knox track coach from 1973 to 1977, pointed out that Jim defeated Edwin Moses in the preliminaries, the same Edwin Moses who was an Olympic champion for the United States in 1976.
Jim had many other track accomplishments on top of becoming an All-American and establishing a nearly 20-year old record. He had the most points scored all three years he ran track, won two Midwest Conference titles and had a second place finish in the 400 intermediate hurdles, and he was the anchor on the Knox 1975 conference champion 4x100 relay team.
“He was a hard worker, he didn’t complain, and he was a fierce competitor,” said former teammate Phil Singer ’76. He also said of Jim, “He represented the school and the sports teams with a pride and competitiveness seldom seen. ‘Smitty’ was a dominant athlete in both sports at Knox. He was clearly one of the best running backs and hurdlers/sprinters Knox has ever seen.”
