LAKEVILLE, IN. - His goal was always to do his best. With a lot of support from teammates, family and friends, Owen Smith's goal was to always give his best effort no matter what he was doing. Smith has been selected the Dale E. Cox Male Athlete of the Year for 2023. Smith participated in three sports - football, basketball and Track and Field - during his prep career, earning 10 varsity letters. "I am greatly honored to be chosen as the Dale Cox Male Athlete of the Year," Smith said when asked about how he felt when he heard about being the 2023 recipient. "It felt really good. It is really a better representation of a good support system. I had great teammates, family and friends that supported me." The 6 foot 1 inch wideout finished his football career with 832 yards on 37 catches and 13 touchdowns. Smith was a very athletic receiver, who learned to use his body to position himself against the defender. "I always felt it was a sense of how to go get the ball," explained Smith, who led the Lancer receiving corps with 14 catches 386 yards and 27.6 yards per catch his senior season . "I knew where and how to position myself and was able to go out and out jump the other player." Not only was Smith a threat on offense, he also played on the Lancer special teams unit, including kick and punt return. He averaged nearly 34 yards per kick return as a senior. And, over the last two years he used his elusiveness to avoid would-be tacklers and speed to break away in highlighting 88 and 91 yards kick returns for touchdowns. "I made a lot of improvement from junior year to my senior year," said Smith. "I always thought I could do better. At the end of the day, I always tried to do my job and put the team in the best position possible to be successful." Among his most memorable moments during football season, Smith turned back to the North Judson-San Pierre game during his senior season. The infamous 'Push' to the end zone on LaVille's first play of the overtime to defeat the Blue Jays and clinch a share of the 2023 Hoosier North football championship. "That play was the most surprising thing," Smith said when asked about the running play that will be known in the history of LaVille football. "I really just kind of did my own thing. I was supposed to make sure that I tried to make the defender think I was going to get the ball. When I realized that the pile was still moving, I just did what I could to help push the pile as hard as I could." During the winter season, Smith moved indoors for basketball. Owen was a key cog as the LaVille basketball team showed great determination and grit in making the eighth largest improvement from four wins in 2021-22 to 15 victories in 2022-23. Among the most memorable moments was winning the TCU Bi-County Basketball Tournament over defending champion John Glenn, ending the four-year championship run by JG. "It was a huge step from the previous year," said Smith about the second TCU title for LaVille in six years. "Everyone improved. It was a great moment for LaVille basketball, especially after watching the girls win." Smith averaged 9.0 points per game, 4.1 rebounds per outing and was second on the team in assists during his senior season on the basketball team. Following basketball, Smith moved to track and field, where he was able to showcase his quickness. He participated in the 100m, 200m, long jump, 4X100 relay and 300m hurdles, for which he earned a spot at the 2023 IHSAA state finals at Indiana University Bloomington. Over the last couple of years, Smith showed his versatility on the track. Just some of his accomplishments include the Hoosier North Athletic Conference champion in the 100m and 200m. Smith also won the 200m and 300m hurdles at the Dennis Rippy Invitational in Walkerton, the 4x200 relay at the Goshen Relays, along with HNAC blue ribbons in the 300m hurdles and as part of the 4x400 relay team. Although we was a 100m and 200m dash man, Owen's final event of the 2023 season ended up being in the 300m hurdles at the IHSAA state championships. "It was huge," Smith said when asked about going to Bloomington. "I've always wanted to go to state. I never thought it would be in the 300m hurdles. I thought it would be more in the 100m or 200m dash. I didn't feel like I was going to get much better in those events, so I tried something new. I tried the 300m hurdles and it worked out great. "It started at the end of my junior year," explained Smith. "I was talking to (LaVille coach) Kathe (Beehler). I told her that I was not sure how much more I could improve in the 100 and 200 dash. She suggested I try hurdles. Then at the Plymouth meet, I tried it out and won that race. I kind of knew I wasn't too far off (on time). Then at South Central I broke the (school 300m hurdle) record. I just kept pushing." Pushing so much that he not only broke the LaVille track and field record in the 300m hurdles once, but a total of four times during his senior season. "I think it's just will power," assessed Smith. "I always want to be better. If I have the potential to be better, I want to go get it. Another part is I don't want to let people down. My teammates are out there. I'm running for coaches, family, friends. I don't want to go out knowing I could have pushed myself a little harder." In the end, that want, that desire, that goal of doing the best that he could helped him finish in the top 15 of the 300m hurdles at the end of the IHSAA state meet to close his high school career. "I just want to thank my coaches, family, teammates, the whole LaVille Community," concluded Smith. "If I didn't have some teammates and support it would have been a lot tougher. I had a couple of motivating conversations with a couple of people. It's been a lot of mental toughness and I tried to persevere. My goal is to do the best I can . . . I want to give every last drop of energy I can." And that, Owen did.