Janell Smith

Competing for the Fredonia Knights of Columbus, Janell Smith was AAU Champion at 400 metres in both 1964 and 1965, and won the 1964 Olympic Trials over one lap, also setting an American 400 metre record that year, her first of four American records in the event, topped by her 53.7 at a meet in Warszawa in 1965. She had made the 1963 Pan-Am team in the 80 metre hurdles while still in high school, an odd combination, but did not compete because of illness.

Smith attended Emporia State University, graduating with a degree in elementary education, and then Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas, where she earned a masters’ degree in education. After marrying and becoming Janell Carson, she raised three sons, and became a first-grade teacher in Galesburg, Kansas for over 30 years. She was a member of the Kansas Activities Association Hall of Fame, Kansas Sports Hall of Fame, and the Emporia State University Hall of Honor.

Personal Bests: 220y – 24.4 (1965); 400 – 53.7 (1965).