Honors & Accomplishments
Cross Country
-Led Cornell women to Heptagonal Cross Country Championships in 2011, 2012
-Cornell was 13th at 2012 NCAA Championships and 23rd at 2013 NCAA Championships
-Ranked in the top 10 in the USTFCCCA National Poll in 2012 and 2013
-ECAC Team Champions in 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008
Track and Field
-Indoor Heps Team Champions in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
-Outdoor Heps Team Champions in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013
-2018 USTFCCCA Northeast Region Outdoor Coach of the Year
-2013 USTFCCCA Northeast Region Outdoor Assistant Coach of the Year
-ECAC Team Champions in 2012, 2016, 2017
Event group success as the primary middle distance/distance/cross country coach:
-13 All-Americans (3 in Cross Country, 10 in Track and Field) since 2012
-10 athletes have qualified for the NCAA Track and Field Finals on 16 occasions since 2004
-15 Individual Heps champions, 21 Heps runner-ups
-11 ECAC Champions and 11 ECAC runner-ups
-3 Penn Relays Champions and 6 Penn Relays runner-ups
-12 Cornell women earned 18 USTFCCCA All-Region Cross Country honors since 2009
-3 CoSIDA Academic All-American honorees
Coaching Experience
-Head Women’s Coach, Cornell University (2017-Present)
-Associate Head Women’s Coach, Cornell University (2014-2017)
-Assistant Women’s Coach, Cornell University (1999-2014)
-Volunteer Men’s and Women’s Coach, Duke University (1996-1999)
Education
-BA cum laude with distinction in all subjects, double major in History and Africana Studies, Cornell University (1996)
-MA (History), Duke University (1998)
-PhD (History), Duke University (2006)
Publications
Books
Lift the Chorus, Speed it Onward: A Celebration of 100 Years of Cornell Track and Field and the TransAtlantic Series with a foreword by Sir Roger Bannister (2017)
Dissertation
Coaching and Community During Jim Crow: A History of the Golden Era of the CIAA (2006)
Coaching Certifications
-USATF Level I
-USATF Level II (endurance)
At Cornell
Dr. Artie Smith ’96 was named the Alan B. ’53 and Elizabeth Heekin Harris Head Coach of Women’s Track and Field and Cross Country on September 1, 2017. The 2018-19 academic year will mark his 20th year coaching on the Hill, making him the longest tenured women’s cross country coach in the Ivy League.
Smith assumed the head track and field coaching position after 18 years as an assistant women's cross country and track coach at his alma mater, and after six years in which he led the women's cross country team. He follows in the footsteps of his mentors, past head coaches Lou Duesing and Rich Bowman, in building on the amazing legacy of Cornell women’s track and field. In his first season as head coach, Smith was recognized by the US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) as the 2018 Northeast Region Women’s Outdoor Coach of the Year.
The women’s track and field and cross country team has enjoyed remarkable success in Smith’s two decades of work with the program. Smith joined the coaching staff in 1999, and the women’s track program has won 17 Heptagonal indoor and outdoor team titles since 2002. He led the women’s cross country team to back-to-back Ivy League Heptagonal team titles in 2011 and 2012, he guided the team to three NCAA appearances, worked with six individual qualifiers to the NCAA Cross Country Championships, and oversaw four ECAC championship cross country teams. In addition, Cornell became the first Ivy women’s track and field program to win the ECAC team championships: indoors in 2012 and outdoors in 2016 and 2017.
Year One of Smith’s Leadership of the Track and Field Program
The first season of Smith’s leadership of the overall women’s track and field program saw record-setting improvements and several exciting team victories for the Big Red. In addition to an undefeated regular season that included team wins at the Upstate Challenge, at Penn State’s Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup and the Cal State Fullerton Titan Team Challenge, the Big Red women were ranked No. 1 in the Northeast Region by the USTFCCCA for the entirety of the outdoor season. 11 Cornell women qualified for the NCAA First Round in Tampa, FL in six events, including four in the 1500, which was the most in that event by any school in the East Region. Captain Shannon Hugard ’18 earned Honorable Mention All-American honors in the 1500 for the second straight year and received the prestigious Charles H. Moore Award as the Most Outstanding Senior Athlete at Cornell. At the indoor ECACs, the Big Red placed third overall and the team crowned three individual ECAC champions between the indoor and outdoor seasons. Annie Taylor ’19 in the mile and Michaela Smith ’18 in the indoor and outdoor shot put also gave Cornell three Heps individual titles for the year. In addition, four school records and a staggering 12 school freshmen records were set during the indoor and outdoor seasons. The team once again earned All-Academic Honors by the USTFCCCA, ten Cornell women received individual All-Academic recognition from the USTFCCCA, and Briar Brumley ’19 earned Third Team CoSIDA Academic All-American honors.
Cross Country and Middle Distance/Distance Success
Smith took the reins of the women’s cross country team in 2011 and the first seven seasons of Smith’s leadership saw a return to national prominence for the Big Red women’s cross country and distance program. Cornell won both the 2011 and 2012 Ivy League Heptagonal cross country championships and finished second in 2013. The team earned a spot in the USTFCCCA national polls in each of those seven seasons, and at the NCAA Championships the Big Red placed 13th in 2012 and 23rd in 2013, the best finishes by Cornell teams in twenty years. The team was nationally ranked in the top ten at various points during the 2012 and 2013 seasons. Since 2012, 19 different middle distance and distance women competed on 33 occasions at NCAA Preliminary Rounds in outdoor track with five moving on to the NCAA Finals on nine occasions. In the past seven years alone, Cornell distance women earned 13 All-American honors in addition to freshmen records being set in the 800, 1000, 1500, Mile, 3K, 5K, 10K, and 3K Steeplechase along with the 4x800 and DMR.
Recent cross country seasons have produced some memorable team results. A heroic team effort on a snowy day at Princeton in 2011 brought the Big Red its first Ivy League cross country team title since 1998. The following fall, the 2012 squad swept the first three individual places (only the fifth such 1-2-3 finish in League history) en route to a commanding 60 point margin of victory at the Heps, the third largest margin in meet history. Led by a pair of All-Americans in Katie Kellner '13 (also the Heps individual champion) and Rachel Sorna '14, the 2012 women's cross country team concluded a historic season with an outstanding 13th place finish at the NCAAs, the team's best national finish since 1993 and the first time Cornell had two All-Americans in the same season in 20 years. Behind strong senior leadership and three All-Ivy performances, the 2013 squad placed second at the Heps and advanced to the NCAAs for the second straight year. Sorna’s 14th place individual finish (the best by a Cornellian in 20 years) paced a 23rd place team performance.
In the past eight seasons, 12 different Cornell women have earned 16 all-region cross country honors: Genna Hartung '13 (twice), Shannon Hugard ’18, Kelsey Karys '13, Jackie Katzman ’18 (twice), Caroline Kellner ’16 (twice), Katie Kellner ‘13 (twice), Erin McLaughlin ’18, Devin McMahon '14, Stephanie Pancoast '10, Emily Shearer '14 (twice), Rachel Sorna ‘14 (twice), and Taylor Spillane ’17. Smith's teams the past seven years have also maintained Cornell's tradition of success in the classroom, earning USTFCCA All-Academic Team honors, with more than two dozen Cornell women's cross country team members honored by inclusion in the Cornell Athletic Department's "400 Club" which recognizes student-athletes who have maintained over a 4.0 GPA. McMahon was honored by the NCAA with the Elite 89 Award for the top GPA at the 2013 NCAA Division I Women’s Cross Country Championships and Shearer earned a prestigious Marshall Scholarship to study at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. Both were recognized as CoSIDA First Team Academic All-Americans.
2017-18 was a stand-out year for the cross country and middle distance/distance women at Cornell. Freshman Gabrielle Orie earned First Team All-Ivy honors in cross country with senior co-captain Erin McLaughlin earning second team honors for the second straight year. At the Northeast Regional Championships to close out the cross country season, Shannon Hugard and Jackie Katzman earned all-region honors. At the indoor Heps, Annie Taylor won the mile (the first Big Red athlete to do so in 13 years) and Hugard earned runner-up honors in the 1000, with the 4x800 also placing a strong second. The very next week, Hugard came back to win the ECAC title and break the school record in the 1000 as the middle distance/distance group scored all of Cornell’s points en route to a third place team finish. Outdoors, Hugard again won the ECAC 1500 crown and Briar Brumley earned Second Team All-Ivy honors in the steeplechase the week before winning her second straight ECAC title in the event. As a group, the Big Red’s 1500 runners were ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation by the USTFCCCA and advanced an East-Region best four athletes to the NCAA First Round. Along with the 1500 runners, Cornell had two steeplechasers and a 10K runner to comprise one of the largest middle distance/distance contingents at the championships. To close out the season, Hugard (again the ECAC champion in the 1500), advanced to her second straight NCAA Finals in Eugene, Oregon, once again earning All-American honors to conclude one of the greatest individual careers in school history.
Competitive excellence was the hallmark of the 2016-17 academic year for the middle distance and distance women. With a top-five finish at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships, the Big Red had a pair of All-Northeast Region honorees in Erin McLaughlin and Jackie Katzman. McLaughlin also earned an All-Ivy nod as the team once again spent most of the season in the national polls. Shannon Hugard captured the Big Red’s first indoor Heps 800 title in 10 years and outdoors went on to win the ECAC title in the 1500 and advanced to the NCAA Finals in the same event, the first Cornellian to do so in the 1500 in 25 years. Briar Brumley was an ECAC champion in the steeple, and the Big Red distance group played a key role in Cornell’s ECAC team championship.
The 2015-16 academic year was another strong one for Smith’s group. The cross country team was in the national rankings yet again after finishing as the top NCAA team at the highly competitive Paul Short Run. Taylor Spillane and Caroline Kellner earned All-Ivy honors for the second straight year with Kellner earning All-Northeast Region honors. In track, the middle distance and distance teams were key cogs in the Big Red’s second place indoor and third place outdoor Heps finishes. A Heps title from Caroline Kellner in the 10K was the fourth title in that event in six years for Cornell. At the ECAC Championships freshman Eve Glasergreen won the 5K. The middle distance and distance group, led by a 1-4-6 showing in the 5K to go along with scoring efforts in the 800, 1500 and 3K steeplechase, accounted for 27 points in leading Cornell to the ECAC team title, the first ever by an Ivy League team.
The 2014-15 school year boasted a cross country season in which two school records were set by Taylor Spillane. The young team saw considerable improvement with Spillane and Caroline Kellner earning All-Ivy and All-Northeast Region honors. During the track seasons, freshmen records in the 800 and 4x800 as well as All-Ivy showings from Caroline Kellner and the 4x800 and All-East performances from Claire DeVoe and Kristen Niedrach highlighted another successful campaign.
In 2014 on the track, Sorna set outdoor school records in the 3K, 5K, and 3K steeplechase (the latter an Ivy Record) en route to a fantastic fourth place First Team All-American performance at the NCAAs in the steeplechase. She was also honored as the Charles Moore Outstanding Senior Athlete of the Year at Cornell. Indoors, Emily Shearer and Sorna finised 1-2 in the ECAC Indoor 3000 meters, with Shearer breaking Sorna’s indoor school record.
In 2013 on the track, Smith’s women’s distance runners were a powerful force at the Ivy Championships, both indoors and outdoors, going 1-2-3 in the indoor 3K, 2-3 in the indoor 5K, 1-3-4-6 in the 10K, 1-2-4 in the 3K steeplechase, 2-4 in the outdoor 5K and 2-5 in the outdoor 3K. At the 2013 NCAA Outdoor Championships, both Sorna (3K Steeplechase) and Kellner (10K) earned First Team All-American honors while Hartung (3K Steeplechase) earned an Honorable Mention citation. Indoors in 2013, Sorna earned Second Team All-American honors in the 5000 after setting Cornell school records in both the 3000 and 5000.
In 2012 on the track, Kellner and Hartung both qualified for the NCAA Finals in Des Moines, Iowa, with Hartung taking Second-Team All-America status in the steeplechase and Kellner claiming honorable mention honors in the 10K.
Since 2004, the Cornell women’s distance runners have had significant success at the national level. Four steeplechasers (Robyn Ellerbrock ’07 in 2007, Pancoast in 2009 and 2010, Hartung in 2012 and 2013, and Sorna in 2013 and 2014), four 5,000-meter runners (Kate Boyles ’05, Emily McCabe ’06, and Toni-Lynn Salucci ’07, and Sorna in 2013), two 10K runners (Katie Kellner in 2012 and 2013 and Caroline Kellner in 2016), and a 1500 runner (Shannon Hugard in 2017 and 2018) have competed at the NCAA Finals.
As an Assistant Coach
Also during his time at Cornell, Smith helped Coach Lou Duesing develop the Big Red middle distance program, and took over the coaching of the group in 2015. Three Cornell athletes (Jessica Brown ’05, Morgan Uceny ’07, and Kim Standridge ’11) competed at the NCAA Finals in the 800 from 2005-2010, earning five All-American awards. Since 2005, the Big Red women have won seven Heps titles in the 800 and set several Ivy League records in the middle distance events. After graduation, Uceny went on to win USATF titles in the 1500 in 2011 and 2012, was ranked No. 1 in the world in 2011 by Track and Field News, and advanced to the finals of the IAAF World Championships in 2011 and the London Olympic Games of 2012.
Notable students that worked with Coach Smith
Kate Boyles ’05 - The 2003 ECAC cross country champion, Boyles twice earned First-Team All-Ivy honors and three times earned all-region honors in cross country. She qualified individually for the NCAA Outdoor Finals in the 5000 (2004) and in cross country (2004).
Emily McCabe ’06 - The 2006 ECAC Champion at 3000 meters, McCabe qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Finals in the 5000.
Morgan Uceny ’07 - A 2012 United States Olympian, Uceny is in the Cornell Athletic Hall of Fame and won the Charles H. Moore Award in 2007 as the Outstanding Senior Athlete at Cornell. Under the direction of Lou Duesing, Uceny broke Cornell’s school record holder at 800 meters, and was a four-time All-American and a six-time Heps champion at 800 meters. A two-time USA champion as a post-collegiate athlete (including the 2012 Olympic Trials), Uceny was ranked No. 1 in the world in the 1500 in 2011.
Toni Salucci ’07 - A two-time Heps champion at 5000 meters, Salucci qualified individually for the 2006 NCAA cross country championships as well as the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Finals in the 5000. A two-time Penn Relays champion and two time Penn Relays runner-up, Salucci also earned two career silver medals at the ECAC Championships and set several school records. Working with Smith as a post-collegiate athlete, Salucci posted a life-time best of 15:45.65 for 5000 meters in 2010.
Robyn Ellerbrock ’07 - The 2007 Heps and ECAC Champion in the 3000 steeplechase, Ellerbrock was the first in a long line of national caliber women’s steeplers at Cornell. A school record-holder, she qualified for the 2007 NCAA Finals and was All-Ivy in cross country
Stephanie Pancoast ’10 - A two-time qualifier for the NCAA Finals in the 3000 steeplechase, Pancoast was the 2009 Penn Relays Champion and a school record-holder in the event. Pancoast was also twice All-Ivy and twice All-Region in cross country.
Kim Standridge ’11 - A standout leader for the Big Red, Standridge was an ECAC champion on the DMR and earned All-American honors in the 800 meters in 2010. Standridge has gone on to national level success as a coach at Johns Hopkins and the Naval Academy.
Katie Kellner ’13 - A three-time Heps champion and a three-time All-American, Kellner was the 2012 Heps cross country champion and twice captured the conference crown in the 10K – each time she won a Heps individual title, her team won as well. Twice All-Ivy and twice all-region in cross country, she led the Big Red to two Heps team titles in cross country and three in track. The greatest female long distance runner in school history, she holds the school record at 10K and finished 7th at the 2013 NCAA Finals. Kellner won the Athletic Department’s prestigious Mario St. George Boiardi Award her senior year.
Genna Hartung ’13 - An ECAC Champion, two-time All-American, and school record-holder in the 3000 steeplechase, Hartung was also twice All-Ivy and twice All-Region in cross country, helping the Big Red to a pair of Heps team titles in cross country and three team titles in track. Hartung has served as a volunteer assistant coach for the Big Red since 2015.
Rachel Sorna ’14 - One of the most decorated athletes in Cornell’s history, Sorna was a five-time All-American and a three-time Heps champion. The Ivy League record-holder in the 3000 steeplechase, Sorna also holds school records in the 3000 and 5000 and is among the best in school and League history in the 10K. Her 14th place finish at the 2013 NCAA Cross Country Championships was the best by a Cornellian in 20 years. A Penn Relays champion, she also earned a pair of runner-up finishes at the ECACs and twice was all-region in cross country. She earned the 2014 Charles H. Moore Award as the Outstanding Senior Athlete at Cornell.
Emmy Shearer ’14 - The 2014 ECAC 3K champion, Shearer was three times All-Ivy and twice All-Region in cross country, and was second at the cross country Heps to teammate Katie Kellner ’13 in 2012. The indoor 3000 school record holder, Shearer was recognized by the Cornell Daily Sun as the 2014 Senior Athlete of the Year at Cornell. Shearer earned First-Team CoSIDA Academic All-American honors in 2014 and earned a prestigious Marshall Scholarship for two years of post-graduate study in the United Kingdom.
Devin McMahon ’14 - Three times All-Ivy in cross country, McMahon qualified individually for the NCAA cross country championships in 2010 and helped the team qualify in 2012 and 2013. She qualified three times for the NCAA First Round in the 10K. She was awarded the Elite 89 at the 2013 NCAA Cross Country Championships, given to the student with the highest GPA at the national championships. In addition, she earned First Team CoSIDA Academic All-American honors in 2014.
Caroline Kellner ’16 - The Heps champion and an All-American in the 10K in 2016, Kellner was twice All-Ivy and twice all-region in cross country. Additionally, she was the fifth runner on a pair of Big Red teams that finished in the top 25 at the NCAAs in cross country (13th, 2012 and 23rd, 2013). The Heps runner-up at 5000 meters indoors in 2016, she also earned a silver medal in the 3000 at the ECACs in 2013.
Shannon Hugard ’18 - The Heps champion at 800 meters in 2017, and a three-time ECAC champion (1000 meters in 2018 and 1500 meters in 2017 and 2018), Hugard qualified for the NCAA Finals in the 1500 in 2017 and 2018, where she twice earned All-American honors. She scored over 100 points at Heps and ECAC championship meets during her career. The school record-holder at 1000 meters, Hugard graduated with a personal best of 4:14.99 for 1500. She earned the 2018 Charles H. Moore Award as the Outstanding Senior Athlete at Cornell.
Prior to Cornell
Before returning to Cornell, Smith spent three years as a graduate assistant coach at Duke University, where he worked with the men’s and women’s cross country and track teams. In 1998, Smith’s third season as an assistant, the Duke men qualified for the NCAA cross country championships for the first time since 1971 and saw their first-ever individual NCAA qualifier on the women’s side. During the track season, Smith worked with the middle distance and distance groups at Duke.
Other Roles at Cornell
Still a faculty advisor in the College of Arts and Sciences, Smith served as an assistant dean in the College from 2008-2011. In his role as a dean, Smith worked closely with undergraduate students in shaping their curricula and in navigating the academic environment at Cornell as well as overseeing other academic administrative duties. Smith is also the author of a book chronicling Cornell track and field’s nearly century-long involvement in the TransAtlantic Series with Oxford and Cambridge. Entitled Lift The Chorus, Speed it Onward: A Celebration of 100 Years of Cornell Track and Field and the TransAtlantic Series, the book was published in April 2017.
From 1997 through 2005, Smith served as a consultant with CBS, NBC, USA and ESPN in the coverage of the Penn Relays, the NCAA championships, the USATF championships and the Olympic Trials, among other meets. Smith also helps administer the Big Red’s summer cross country and track and field camps and is the meet director for Cornell’s home cross country and track meets. Smith also holds USATF Level I and Level II (endurance) coaching certificates.
While an Undergraduate at Cornell
A 1996 cum laude graduate of Cornell with a double major in history and Africana studies, Smith captained the Big Red cross country squad his senior year and was president of the Red Key Athletic Honorary Society. As an athlete for the Big Red cross country and track teams, he was the recipient of the John Reif Memorial Award, the John Moakley Award and the Clarence Spindler Award while competing in the distance events. A Dean’s List student, he won the Cornell History department’s Cornelis de Kiewiet Prize for the outstanding junior in the history department in 1994-95 and the George S. Lustiz Prize in 1996.
Personal
A native of Oak Park, Illinois, Smith resides in Ithaca. A fourth-generation Cornellian, his great-grandparents, his grandfather, and his parents (Arthur B. Smith, Jr. ’66 and Marya Smith ’67) are all Cornell graduates.
