Lacrosse means tradition in the Smith family. Seven close family members of Jonah’s have college lacrosse on their resume. His father Jeff Smith played at the University of Maryland, while his uncle, Jason, suited up for the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
Jason’s sons Jamie (Christopher Newport) and Jack (Randolph-Macon) took up the sport in college, too.
Jeff’s oldest son Jude plays at High Point, while daughter Joey at Saint Vincent. So, it’s not surprising that Jeff’s youngest son, Jonah, a senior and three-sport athlete at Gunston School, has also fallen in love with lacrosse.
Jonah, a Kent Island resident, will play at Flagler University in Florida next season on an academic and athletic scholarship. He carries a 3.8 grade-point average.
“I was raised into it,” Smith says. “I knew I was going to play in college. It was just a matter of where I would play. Just being in a lacrosse family helped me love the game. I have learned so much from them.”
The 6-foot-1, 165-pound Smith wanted to be like his older brother Jude, currently a sophomore goalie at the North Carolina school High Point. So, he decided to play between the pipes at a young age after a couple of years of participating in Kent Island’s Chesapeake Storm.
At Gunston, the brothers alternated between goalie and field positions in both 2021 and 2022. “We have a little bit of a rivalry,” says Smith, who also plays for Brotherly Love Lacrosse Club in Delaware. “And we appreciate each other’s game.”
Smith appreciated earning New Balance All-America honors last year, playing on a Baltimore team called The Burn. The process of making the team started in June with tryouts involving hundreds of players. Smith made the team in July and played in a tournament the same month against teams from across the country.
A lot of kids [on the team] were from big-name schools like Calvert Hall and St. Mary’s,” Smith says. “I thought it was really cool to make it, being from Gunston—which isn’t a big-name high school team.”
Gunston Boys Lacrosse Coach Millicent Sheets was thrilled for Smith to receive All-America honors.
“He is probably one of the most impressive athletes that I have coached in more than 20 years,” Sheets says. “It was amazing for him to make the team. There were 50 goalies from our region and two were selected. He beat out all other MIAA teams’ goalies.”
Soon, Smith’s focus will be on college lacrosse. He signed a National Letter of Intent in November for Flagler. He plans to major in finance.
It’s ironic that Flagler Men’s Lacrosse Coach Brian Duncan played with Smith’s uncle Jason at UMBC. Duncan is excited to coach him.
“He just has an ‘it’ factor,” Duncan says. “He is such a student of the game and is just a really good player. He made the New Balance All-America team, which used to be the Under Armour team. That’s pretty prestigious.”
This spring’s lacrosse season marks Smith’s third year as a starter. The Eastern Shore Independent Athletic Conference named him to its All-League team as a sophomore and junior. The two-time co-captain recorded 200 saves last year in 14 games and produced some excellent performances. Smith was especially stellar against Salisbury School, making 20 and 21 saves in two different games.
“He is the complete package,” Sheets says. “He has a really high lacrosse IQ and does an outstanding job commanding the defense. He is an incredibly positive leader. And has such a commitment to be the best he can be.”
Smith also plays attack in a specialized role—man-advantage situations when the opponent gets a penalty. And good with the extra man, scoring eight goals last year.
“He is one of our best shooters,” Sheets says.
Smith is a standout in basketball and soccer, too. He started in soccer for three years and two in basketball. The two-time basketball captain and point guard averaged 13 points and eight assists per game last season.
Obviously, his future is in lacrosse. Sheets got a glimpse of Smith’s potential as a freshman against Delaware’s Lake Forest High. Smith’s brother Jude got a four-minute penalty and went to the penalty box. So, Smith replaced him in goal.
“Size-wise, Jonah was much smaller than now,” Sheets says. “He walked out to the goal. Lake Forest is going wild. Look at this tiny goalie. They really came at him, but he stopped five shots in a row. Lake Forest’s players were dumbfounded. Silent. I thought, ‘Holy cow, this is him as a freshman. I can’t wait to see him mature.’”
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