Over the past couple of years, the Florida-based high school program Montverde Academy (FL) has become known as one of the top teams when it comes to producing top-tier track and field athletes.

This year's senior class is led by Adaejah Hodge and Michelle Smith, MileSplit's No. 2 and No. 3 girls recruits in the Class of 2024, respectively. Both girls have received interest from college coaches across the U.S.

Hodge made her final official visit over the weekend when she headed to LSU. She has also visited USC, Texas and Georgia. Smith is scheduled to take her final visit this coming weekend in Georgia. She has also been to Florida and Texas A&M.

While the National Letter of Intent period begins on Nov. 8, Hodge and Smith plan on announcing their decisions around Thanksgiving, according to Montverde coach Gerald Phiri

Montverde made a major splash last year when several of its athletes signed with major colleges. The school's Class of 2023 included sprinter Micayah Holland, who is now a freshman at Texas, as well as sprinter Issam Asinga (Texas A&M), sprinter/jumper Micah Larry (Georgia), sprinter Zyaire Nuriddin (Tennessee) and hurdler Kai Graves-Blanks (Iowa).

Those athletes all sat out the FHSAA state postseason meets during the outdoor season so they could focus on national and international events.

Asinga, in particular, was impressive, setting the national high school outdoor record (19.97 seconds) in the 200m and breaking the World U20 record in the 100m (9.89). He was scheduled to represent Suriname in the World Championships, but he was provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit in early August.

Hodge, meanwhile, did compete in the 200m at the World Championships, representing the British Virgin Islands. Hodge, 17, ran 22.82 in the first round and advanced to the semifinals, where she ran 22.96 but didn't make the finals. Hodge was the youngest competitor in the field, about 11 months younger than Alexa Sulyan of Hungary, who didn't make it out of the first round.

During her junior year, Hodge set the national high school indoor 200m record (22.33). She was also U.S. No. 3 in both the outdoor 100m (11.11) and outdoor 200m (22.60), only trailing Shawnti Jackson, MileSplit's top recruit in the Class of 2023 and Mia Brahe-Pedersen, who is in the Class of 2024.

Smith, a native of the U.S. Virgin Islands, is accustomed to international competitions, too. At the CARIFTA Games in April, Smith won U20 titles in both the 800m (2:09.71) and 400m hurdles (57.69).

During the outdoor season, she was U.S. No. 1 in the 400m hurdles (56.66), and then won that event at New Balance Nationals Outdoor (58.28). Although she's the best hurdler in her class and that's where she'll compete in college, Smith was also U.S. No. 7 in the Class of 2024 in the 800m (2:07.95).

Smith's father, Keith Smith, Sr., competed in the 200m for the U.S. Virgin Islands at the 1992 Summer Olympics, while her mother, Mireille Sankatsing-Smith, won the 800m at the 1992 NCAA Indoor Championships while running for Eastern Michigan University.

Just like her mom, Smith could some day be in the mix for an NCAA title, as could Hodge.

Georgia is the only school that both Hodge and Smith have on their college lists. Under coach Caryl Smith Gilbert, Georgia has been aggressive and successful recruiters.

MileSplit reported last month that Georgia spent $220,000 on recruiting during the 2021-22 school year, tied with LSU for the most in the Southeastern Conference.

Georgia had a major girls recruiting haul in the high school Class of 2022, led by sprinters Autumn Wilson and Kaila Jackson. Signing Hodge and Smith would be a similar coup, although the Bulldogs have competition when it comes to signing those girls.

Hodge is also considering LSU, Texas and USC, which all invest heavily in recruiting and have top-notch coaches and facilities. At the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships, Texas was first, LSU was seventh, Georgia was tied for 10th and USC was tied for 15th.

Smith's other options are impressive, as well: Florida was second at the NCAA outdoor meet, while Texas A&M was fifth.

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