GOLD RIVER, Calif. – Senior Kaess Smit has been named the Pac-12 Scholar Athlete of the Year.
“It is an honor,” said Smit. “I was happy to get recognized. It is nice having so many great teammates and classmates that help you excel.”
Smit is on track to graduate in a few weeks with a degree in mechanical engineering. A two-time Pac-12 All-Academic team selection, he has done work with impact testing on glass for Amazon and Corning. During ME 203, a design and manufacturing class in the engineering department, he built a drift trike from scratch.
He has also worked with an app development team at Comcast Silicon Valley and was an intern with swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
A great athlete as well, Smit has been chosen for the Team USA National Team Selection Camp for the U-23 World Championships. He has earned bronze medals at the U-23 World Championships each of the last two years. He has been named to the All-Pac-12 team two times and is a two-year team captain.
He was recently involved in a study on “super athletes” within the Stanford cardiology department as they look at genomes to see if any characteristics can be used to help improve general public overall health.
After graduation Smit is planning on continuing his rowing career and eventually working in the automotive industry.
With this honor, Stanford has claimed Pac-12 Scholar Athlete of the Year in back-to-back years and for the fourth time in school history. Austin Hack was the recipient a year ago, joining Alex Syverson (2011) and Mark Murphy (2009).
Smit is one of five Stanford student-athletes to earn Scholar Athlete of the Year honors this year. He joins Chasson Randle (men’s basketball), Naomi Cornman (women’s rowing), Luke Lefebure (men’s track & field) and Jessica Tonn (women’s track & field).