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As a junior, Richard Smith was primarily running in the shadows of South Lakes teammate Alan Webb with Webb setting national records at the mile and 1000 meter distance in 2001. However, Smith took over the spotlight as a senior in 2002 to exhibit dominance at the half mile distance which arguably has not been seen since in Virginia. Smith won 3 national titles as a high school senior at the Nike Indoor Classic, Adidas Outdoor Championships, and USATF Junior Nationals all at 800 meters. His high school best came at the USATF Junior Nationals in a time of 1:48.94, which ranks only behind state record holder Webb (1:47.74). He had some solid range as well to be an All-State cross country runner and also drop down to run a 48.22 in the 400 and 1:03.88 in the 500. He was a 1000 meter state champion indoors with a 2:28 best and ran some incredible relay legs for South Lakes in the DMR and 4x800 as a junior and senior as a setup man for Webb and closing anchor leg as a senior.