Lara Smits

Lara has been doing track & field for several years now. However, after switching club teams she increased her training volume and made lots of progress there. Lara is currently still training with AV Hollandia, where she gets good coaching and grew as an athlete, but also on a personal level as she became stronger both physically and mentally. This talented athlete is currently ranked 3rd with discus throw and 7th in both heptathlon and shot put U20 in The Netherlands. 

At age 12, Lara engaged in multiple sports doing gymnastics, track & field and competitive swimming. In this same year she became a Dutch champion for the first time in both high jump and discus. As a young developing athlete, a couple of tough years followed with many fourth places at the Dutch National Championships. Lara pushed through and the 2021-2022 season was a breakthrough year for her as things started clicking again. She became 2nd at the Dutch National Championships U18 in 2021 with discus and 3rd U20 in 2022.  

Lara’s major strengths are motivation and self-reflection. Lara is very good in analysing herself and applying feedback in order to improve her performance. Additionally, she is a big team player who values a good team atmosphere. Lara is currently working to improve mentally as she tends to put a lot of pressure on herself when it comes down to performances. We strongly believe there is still much room for improvement as she keeps working to improve in this area. 

Her PBs are:

Heptathlon: 4226 points (2022)Pentathlon: 3006 points (2023)

Discus throw: 43,69m (2022)

Shot put: 12,77m (2023)

Javelin: 38,24m (2022)

Hammer: 37,71m (2022)

Long jump: 5,07m (2022)

High jump: 1,61m (2020)

100m: 13,1s (2021)

150m: 20,63s (2022)

100m hurdles: 16,19s (2022)60m hurdles: 9,60s (2023

800m: 2:40,76 (2022)

Lara’s major collegiate athletic goals are to get the most out of her athletic career, keep developing herself as an athlete, PB in each event and ultimately, make it into Nationals. She would like to perform at her absolute best for her college track team and after her collegiate career she would like to pursue athletics and compete at major championships like Europeans. 

She is currently enrolled in Dutch High School and is expected to graduate in the Spring of 2023. Moreover, she would like to graduate cum laude next school year. Lara is interested in doing a major in Nursing, education or something related to sports. For more information about her academics, please check out the details section below.