Uriah James And Nolan Smith Sign Track Scholarships

MADISON- With the quick swipe of a pen, two outstanding James Clemens athletes signed scholarships to extend their talents in track while proceeding to earn a college degree beginning this fall.

Both Nolan Smith and Uriah James, 2018 graduates, made their intentions known at a signing party held at Sam and Greg’s Pizzeria/Gelateria in Madison. Smith decided on signing with the University of Louisiana-Monroe (ULM) whiles James hooked up with the track program at Jacksonville State.

“While my initial visit to the campus I liked the environment as Jacksonville State felt like the right place,” said James.

For Smith, his choice of ULM came after his dream of attending college at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette came to an end as the school’s track coach resigned. Smith decided to stay in the Pelican State and made his decision to sign with ULM.

“I realized ULM had a great track program and one of the country’s top nursing schools, which I plan on attending,” said Smith.

At 6-foot-2, 170 pounds, Smith transferred to James Clemens from nearby Columbia High for his junior year of school and became a defensive back and wide receiver for the Jets’ football team. His introduction to track came from his outstanding times he placed in the 40-yard sprints during conditioning workouts. Football head coach Wade Waldrop recognized Smith’s talents and introduced the speedster to the track coaches.

“Until then I didn’t know much about track as I considered it kind of boring,” said Smith. “But, it’s turned out for the best.”

Smith hosts the school record in the 400-meter race, is second among the records in the 200-meter and third in the 100-meter distances.

For James, the 5-4, 125-pound sprinter concentrated solely on the 400-meter distance since joining the James Clemens program in the eighth grade. She is the third best in school history (57.81) in the 400-meter and was among the 4×400 relay squad that set a new all-time state record (3:38.65) at the AHSAA State Track Meet earlier this year.

“As a small girl I always raced boys on the playground and I beat most of them,” said James, who looks to study physical therapy at Jacksonville State and chose the Gamecocks over other offers from Montevallo, Birmingham Southern and UAH.

“I always watched the track races on the Olympics and decided to tryout while in the seventh grade at Liberty Middle School,” James added.

James has been nicknamed “The Assassin” by her coaches as she usually annihilates the competition.

Likewise, Smith noticed his speed at a young age playing recreational league football beginning at age seven. He always finished ahead of others during conditioning sprints.

“I still have the speed,” said Smith with a grin.