Ernie Smith

CMC '56

Ernie Smith was one of the early pioneers of weight training for athletics.  He was a three-year track & field letterwinner and a two-year football letterwinner while attending Claremont Men's College.  He was the first great all-around thrower for the Stags reaching distances of 52-4.5 in the shot put, 146-8 in the discus throw and 206-10 in the javelin throw and holding the school records in all three events upon graduation.  He was a national qualifier in the javelin (1955 and 1956) and shot (1956).  He also competed in the shot in the 1956 Olympic Trials after serving as the team captain of the Pomona-Claremont Track & Field team.

As a football player, Smith was a two-way player competing on both the offensive and defensive lines.  He was a member of the first undefeated Pomona-Claremont team in 1955.