UNB rookie Shaniece Smikle breaks 60-metre school record

Shaniece Smikle says that growing up, she didn’t always want to compete in track, having dealt with some anxiety before running. Now 19 and in her first year at the University of New Brunswick, the kinesiology student is one of the fastest women in program history, having tied and then broken the school record in the 60 metres this season.

“That was a pretty cool feeling,” she said. 

Track has been part of Smikle’s life since middle school, but it wasn’t until Grade 9 that she began taking it seriously. She discovered there were clubs she could join outside of school after seeing a friend’s post from practice.

“In grade nine, I actually saw one of my friend’s stories, and he was recording himself out of practice,” she said. 

“And so I had asked if this was a club and a thing that I could actually do outside, and that’s how I started doing track.”

Smikle stuck with it, navigating the learning curve of structured practices and gym work. By Grade 12, she began lifting on her own five times a week and noticed significant improvement in her speed.

That work laid the foundation for a breakthrough final year of high school and a confident start to her university career.

Last year, she ran her first provincial record at 7.77 seconds in the 60 metres.

She believed she could go even faster but had her wisdom teeth removed before her next opportunity to race.

This season, she left little doubt.

In her opener, Smikle shocked herself by matching the existing UNB school record. Soon after, she beat it.

“I was pretty shocked to have ran exactly the school record, but I was hoping I would be around that point,” she said 

“Breaking it … that was a pretty cool feeling.”

The record-breaking race came on a familiar track, the same facility where she competed with her club team. She knew the surface, the starting blocks and the rhythm of the venue.

When she settled into the blocks, her focus was simple.

“I always try to focus on my breathing,” she said.

“I take a really deep breath right before I think they’re gonna say or shoot the gun or something. And then I just kind of go as hard as I can.”

The clock initially flashed a slower mark. Then it adjusted.

“When I crossed the line, it didn’t say that time, but then it went down and it said that I had broken it,” she said.

“And so that was pretty awesome for me.”

Her support system was there to see it.

Smikle is from Moncton, N.B., and chose UNB in part to stay close to home. 

“I’m a really anxious person and moving so far away on my own, I didn’t know how it would go for me,” she said.

Her mother attends nearly every competition. High school teachers also show up when meets are in town.

“My mom is, like, my number one supporter,” Smikle said. 

“She’s always posting anything that I do run.”

That presence matters.

“I really like to know that there’s someone right there that I can go see in person,” she said 

“It feels better, almost, to be able to see some people in person and have them there right with you when you need them.”

Smikle speaks openly about anxiety and mental health, which are topics she believes are critical in university sport.

“You never know what someone is going through,” she said.

“You can be like the happiest person showing up to practice, but sometimes it doesn’t look like that when you’re at home.”

On difficult days, she grounds herself, sometimes literally.

“I’ll lay on the ground and just breathe slowly, and it kind of just makes me feel calm,” she said.

“I did it at nationals this year.”

That mindfulness carries into her training. Smikle has worked diligently on her start, crediting block work for her improvement in the 60 metres.

“Once I started training my blocks more, that came out better for me,” she said 

She is also refining her posture, focusing on bringing her hips up after driving low out of the blocks. She says video analysis has become a key tool.

“I do like to record myself so I can look back and compare. It’s much better to be able to compare something.”

Smikle says her biggest advice for others is to take your journey as a student-athlete one stride and one breath at a time.

“I would honestly say, like, take it like a day at a time,” she said. 

“It’s going to be a few fun years of your life, so try to enjoy it.”