Hall of Fame
One of Towson’s most decorated student-athletes of all-time and the 17th gymnast to enter the Tigers’ Hall of Fame, Christina Ghani Smith’s gymnastics career spanned 16 years as she collected numerous titles and honors along the way.
“My parents put my siblings and I in gymnastics and soccer,” said Christina, recalling the early years. “I was the one doing cartwheels on the soccer field. They were like, okay, soccer isn’t for this girl. I started gymnastics classes when I was six-years-old and stayed with it right through college.”
Christina chose the club path as her skills increased, earning a spot on the coveted Junior National Team when she was 13-years-old. She competed only one year at Lake Braddock High School in Northern Virginia. She led the Bruins to the Virginia State Class AAA team championship while capturing the individual all-around title with an impressive score of 39.15, the best all-around score at that meet in 31 years. She was heavily recruited, narrowing her college choice down to Maryland, NC State and Towson.
“Towson coaches Dick and Lynda Filbert came to visit me and they were just so welcoming,” said Christina. “I really hit it off with them. I made my first recruiting trip to Towson. I met the team; the girls were awesome. It just felt like the right fit. I didn’t bother going on my other recruiting trips.”
Christina made an immediate impact on the college scene. During her collegiate career she was honored twice (2005, 2006) as the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Gymnast of the Year. She was named ECAC Gymnast of the Week six times. In 2006 she was chosen Towson’s Female Athlete of the Year. She ranks fourth on Towson’s all-time scoring list with 1,847 points. She holds program records for most vault titles (11) in a season and career (30). Her nine floor exercise titles in 2006 ties the program season record. Over her career she won five individual ECAC championship titles in the vault, all-around and floor competitions. Christina was an ECAC first team selection 10 times. In 2007 she led the Tigers to the USA Gymnastics National Collegiate championship, winning the all-around title, the individual vault title and sharing top laurels on the floor exercise. She was a two-time NCAA Southeast Regional qualifier.
A Sports Management major, Christina stayed on with the Tigers, joining Dick Filbert’s coaching staff for a year. She eventually left for a position with Hilton Hotels. After seven years with that group she made her way back to Baltimore. At the time of her induction she was the Director of Sports Sales for Visit Baltimore. Her husband, Alex Smith, was an All-American midfielder at Delaware and one of the top faceoff specialists of all-time. He is in the Blue Hens’ Hall of Fame.
