Sports

Xaverian’s Smith earns All-American track honors, set to visit ‘Cuse

The USATF Junior Olympics was just another chance for Laray Smith to prove himself.

“A lot of people realized I wasn’t only good at football,” the Xaverian running back said. “I could do track, too.”

Smith said the athletes from across the country were wondering who the kid from New York was, especially after he reached the finals in the 400 and 200 meters at Morgan State University last weekend. He then proceeded to earn All-American honors in both races by placing third in the 400 with a time of 47.67 and seventh in the 200 in 21.86.

“They were surprised,” Smith said.

His performance further boosted his profile as a track athlete. Smith, who wants to run track and play football in college, now has interest from Auburn and Miami as a runner and has spoken with the Oregon track coaches. The Pac-12 school is already recruiting him for football and is now giving him a serious look on the track as well.

“It gave me a confidence boost with that school because now they got me for two sports,” Smith said.

He already has offers from Syracuse, UConn and Tennessee for football and can run track at those schools as well. Smith is hoping to get the same from West Virginia and Oregon. He is in no rush to pick a school.

The 6-foot-1, 175-pound back will visit Syracuse this weekend after his first attempt to head there was cancelled when his father Lawrence fell ill and was hospitalized in early July.

“I’m looking forward to having a good time and talk to them and look around the campus,” he said.

Smith is well aware of the Orange and head coach Doug Marone’s prowess for recruiting New York City players. They recently added Tottenville running back Augustus Edwards, who played on the same Staten Island Hurricanes Pop Warner team as Smith. Syracuse is also in the mix to land Jefferson defensive end/outside linebacker Ebenezer Ogundeko, New York State’s top prospect.

Smith wants to let people know his decision will be his own and not based on who is on the Orange roster. Also, he has no favorite at this time after it was reported that Syracuse, who he is considering, is an emerging leader. Last year he ran for 993 yards and 10 touchdowns while averaging over seven yards a carry as Xaverian reached the CHSFL Class AAA semifinals.

“I wouldn’t base my decision on friends going to the same school,” he said. “It makes me feel more comfortable. If I would go to that school I know I’ll have people. I know I wouldn’t feel left out.”

jstaszewski@nypost.com