Taunton High's Nia Mainer-Smith commits to UMass Lowell

Cameron Merritt, The Taunton Daily Gazette
·4 min read

TAUNTON — It's official: Taunton's Nia Mainer-Smith is a River Hawk.

The speedy senior sprinter put pen to paper Thursday in a ceremony held in the high school's field house where she officially signed her National Letter of Intent to commit to the University of Massachusetts Lowell as a member of the school's NCAA Division I Women's Track and Field team. She will compete for the program in the 400 meter race.

"It feels great," Mainer-Smith said. "I’m excited to start next year."

Mainer-Smith was joined by her parents Jamal and Milagros Mainer-Smith as well as brother Johnnie Mainer-Smith and sister Tatyana Mainer-Smith, former coaches Jeff Moore and Jason Torres, current coaches Michael Kelley and Kelly Barros, Athletic Director Mark Ottavianelli, Superintendent Christopher Baratta and members of the cross country and indoor track teams for the ceremony.

Nia Mainer Smith (center, front row) committed to UMass Lowell in an NLI signing ceremony Thursday. Front row, from left to right: Johnnie Mainer-Smith, Jamal Mainer-Smith, Nia Mainer-Smith, Milagros Mainer-Smith, Tatyana Mainer-Smith. Back row left to right: former Taunton track coach Jeff Moore, Athletic Director Mark Ottavianelli and former track and boys cross country coach Jason Torres.

"Today we are here to acknowledge one of our great student athletes who is fortunate enough to be signing a Division I scholarship today," Ottavianelli said opening the ceremony.

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A five-year member of the cross country, indoor track and track and field programs, Nia Mainer-Smith burst onto the scene as an eighth grader in the 2017-18 school year, finishing seventh with a time of 2:18 in the 800 meter race at the 2018 MIAA Eastern Division Championship.

"For those of you who know track, you know how ridiculous (of a time) that it is," Moore said.

Eventually transitioning more to sprints, she became a key member of the 4x400 meter relay team and helped set the school indoor track record of 4:02 with Morgan Zakrzewski, Kerla Sylvestre and Olivia Dias in 2019 and the spring track record of 4:08 also with Zakrzewski, Sylvestre and Dias in 2020. She was also part of the record-setting 4x800 meter indoor track relay team along with her sister Tatyana Mainer-Smith, Kailey Melito-Santos and Maggie Sullivan, who finished with a time of 10:03 in 2019.

She also played a role in the girls indoor track team's first ever Hockomock League title in 2020.

"We were really excited to have her when she got here and she really exceeded our expectations over time," Moore said. "Throughout her time here, she had some bumps in the road, but she’s really worked hard to persevere through them, which is a true testament to her character, her work ethic and the type of person that she really is to overcoming adversity and to finish with the Division I scholarship at the end of the day."

Taunton's Nia Mainer-Smith (center) with former Taunton track coaches Jeff Moore (left) and Jason Torres (right).
Taunton's Nia Mainer-Smith (center) with former Taunton track coaches Jeff Moore (left) and Jason Torres (right).

"It’s a labor of love," Torres said. "(I had) 13 years coaching together with coach Moore and we tried to build what we think is a pretty reputable program and seeing some of these kids actually excel to that Division I level warms our hearts and shows that some hard work is paid off and obviously it’s all on the kids, they’re the athletes that are doing all the hard work."

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For parents Jamal and Milagros Mainer-Smith, their pride in their daughter's hard work being paid off is immense.

"It makes us very proud," Milagros Mainer-Smith said. "She’s been working at it for a long time so I’m happy she reached her goals."

Taunton's Nia Mainer-Smith (center) signs her National Letter of Intent committing to UMass Lowell alongside father Jamal Mainer-Smith (left) and mother Milagros Mainer-Smith (right).
Taunton's Nia Mainer-Smith (center) signs her National Letter of Intent committing to UMass Lowell alongside father Jamal Mainer-Smith (left) and mother Milagros Mainer-Smith (right).

According to her dad, her talent has been evident from a young age.

"She’s been running since she was two years old," Jamal Mainer-Smith said. "She never walked, just ran."

Nia Mainer-Smith, who plans on majoring in accounting, will become the fourth Tiger runner to join the River Hawks in the past seven years after Jessica Maki, Brian Cherenfant and Amanda Baptiste, who currently competes for UMass Lowell as a graduate student, and the 10th student-athlete since 2007 to move on to the Division I level.

For her, UMass Lowell felt like the right fit.

"A big part of (my choice of UMass Lowell) was the culture of the team, how they get along with each other, along with how their program works," Nia Mainer-Smith said. "The coaches make you feel very welcome. It’s very similar to my Taunton High experience and I think that’s a big part in it and I just feel very comfortable there and excited to be going there."

While she's excited to be heading to Lowell next fall, she's also looking forward to her upcoming indoor track and spring track seasons and finishing off her high school career on a high note.

"I feel strong and very excited to show what I have left," Nia Mainer-Smith said.

Taunton Daily Gazette sports reporter Cameron Merritt can be reached at cmerritt@tauntongazette.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @CamMerritt_News. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to the Taunton Daily Gazette today.

This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: Taunton's Nia Mainer-Smith commits to UMass Lowell