John Smith enters his 18th season as the Director of Track and Field and Cross Country for the 2025 season. Smith was also an assistant coach for the Bruins from 1998-2006 under the Bruins’ Hall of Fame coach, Wes Cook.
Smith has collected 20 USTFCCCA West Region Coach of the Year awards from his teams' indoor and outdoor seasons, 16 NWC Coach of the Year awards, and an NCAA DIII National Coach of the Year award.
During his 18 years as head coach, Smith and his staff have produced 197 NCAA National Qualifying athletes, 83 All-Americans, and 13 National Champions. The Bruin women have earned two third-place indoor national finishes (2017, 2019), a third-place outdoor finish in 2019, and the school's first outdoor track & field NCAA championship in 2018.
Smith was named NCAA DIII National Coach of the Year in the 2018 season and helped the Bruins bring home their third National Championship in the school's sports history. The women's team claimed the team title at the NCAA Division III Championships after putting together a 44-point performance.
A native of Lakeside, Ore., Smith was a football and track athlete at North Bend (Ore.) high school, earning all-state and district honors in both sports and setting a school record in the triple jump which still stands. Coming to George Fox in 1992, he changed his focus from the jumps to the challenges of the decathlon. He was a national qualifier in the decathlon three times and twice in the pole vault, claiming NAIA All-America status in the decathlon in both 1994 and 1995. At the time of graduation, he held top-10 marks in eight events at George Fox, including a school record in the decathlon (7,138 points) during his junior year which still stands.
After completing his bachelor’s degree in health and human performance with an emphasis in fitness management in 1996, Smith continued to compete and earned a U.S. national ranking in the decathlon. While competing for Oregon International, he won the University of Oregon Invitational and took second at the Rocky Mountain Invitational in the decathlon before a career-ending injury sidelined him from the sport. Realizing that his true dedication to the sport would best be served coaching and mentoring athletes, he began coaching the jumps and multi-events and worked to earn a master’s degree in Sport Science, which he completed in 2003.
“The success of our program is a true testament to the athletes we have,” says Smith. “I am continually amazed by the level of dedication and work the athletes are willing to put in to reach that next level. The team is also very Christ-centered and provides a family-like atmosphere that breeds success. We work hard and have fun doing it. It is truly a blessing to be able to coach athletes in this program, and I enjoy every minute of it.”
Smith is also quick to credit his assistants as a major reason for the programs’ continued success, saying, “I believe that my staff will be the reason this program will continue to uphold the Bruin track and field tradition. I am confident that they could coach at any level, and they have the knowledge to keep us as a nationally recognized team.”
Coaching Honors
NCAA National Women’s Coach of the Year - 2018
USTFCCCA West Region Women's Track and Field Coach of the Year - 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013 (indoor), 2014 (indoor), 2015 (indoor), 2017 (indoor), 2019 (indoor), 2020, 2021, 2022 (indoor), 2022, 2023 (indoor), 2023
USTFCCCA West Region Men's Track and Field Coach of the Year - 2015 (indoor), 2017 (indoor), 2017, 2018, 2019 (indoor), 2021(indoor), 2021, 2022 (indoor), 2023 (indoor), 2023
Northwest Conference Women's Track and Field Coach of the Year - 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
Northwest Conference Men's Track and Field Coach of the Year - 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
