Description
His Athleticism rocketed up in 2015. At MRHS he was Most Outstanding Intermediate Boys Track and Field Athlete and during that summer was 3rd in Shot Put and 2nd in Discus at the Athletics Nova Scotia Provincial Championship. As a member of Team Nova Scotia at the Canadian Legion Track and Field Championship he placed 10th in Discus. In 2016 at the NSSAF Championship he won bronze medals in Shot Put and Discus.
Derek then turned his attention to Highland Games and Heavy Events. He climbed in the rankings in the Highland Games Junior Division reaching 1st in Canada in 2016, 2018 and 2019. In 2017 Derek became the Maritime Junior Highland Games Champion followed by a 3rd Place at the Junior Canadian Championships in Fergus, Ontario. He earned an invite to the Canadian Scottish Athletic Federation Amateur National Championship cancelled due to COVID-19.
In 2017 Derek was Nova Scotia, then Eastern Canadian Powerlifting Champion – which whetted his appetite for 2018, when he became Canadian and then World Champion. En route to his two titles he established the following Provincial records in Men’s Sub-junior Classic – Squat 250 kg, Bench 160 kg, Dead Lift 272.5 kg, and Total 675 kg with the Squat, Deadlift, and Total all being Canadian Men’s Sub-junior Classic records.
To top this off in the Fall of 2018 he was a walk-on tryout for St. Francis Xavier University Football and played until 2020. Wow!
The Sports Heritage Wall of Fame is honoured to welcome Derek Smith as a most deserving Athlete Inductee.
