The Hopkins women’s track team has continued a recent hot streak into the cold months and fought the snow and deep freeze.
At the Boston University Valentine Invitational, the Lady Jays showed they have the talent to compete for a national championship with many strong performances in a D-I dominated field.
The Lady Jays have climbed to No. 5 in the D-III national rankings (per USTFCCCA) and showed they have the potential to compete with anyone in the country this weekend at BU; several Lady Jays turned in competitive performances.
After yet another national championship during their cross country season, Hopkins women’s track has understandably high goals for their indoor and outdoor seasons.
One of the standouts at the BU Invitational was freshman distance runner Caroline Smith, who set a Hopkins freshman record in the 800-meter run with an outstanding time of 2:14.74.
The Connecticut native has high hopes both for the team and her own performance for the rest of her first season as a Lady Jay and is excited to be a valued part of such a storied women’s running program.
The three-season athlete sat down with The News-Letter after being named Athlete of the Week.
News-Letter: Firstly, congrats on being named Athlete of the Week! You have enjoyed a very successful freshman campaign at Hopkins. How have you adjusted to college track? What has been the biggest improvement you have made?
Caroline Smith: I am very lucky that my coaches from high school prepared me well for college track. The biggest difference here is that I do less running and more cross training, which is great for injury prevention. The biggest improvement I have made is learning to enjoy the sport. I’ve become more invested in it than I was in high school.
N-L: What made you choose Hopkins?
CS: When I started looking at colleges, I didn’t plan on running. I filled out a few recruiting forms just to see where it would take me. I came on a recruiting visit, and I really loved the coaches. Academically, I knew Hopkins was the school that would challenge me the most, and being able to run here definitely helped make my decision.
N-L: You also compete on the cross country team. How is the training different? How have you coped with being a three-season athlete?
CS: The training isn’t much different between cross country and track. Since I run shorter races during track season, my mileage is a bit less, but only by 10 miles or so. Our coach does a great job of making sure that our training is tailored to us, so my cross country training was less than the long distance girls’.
Being a three-season athlete is definitely challenging, but I’ve been doing it since middle school, so I’ve gotten used to it. I like having a sport to break up the long days of going to class and studying. I think it’s important to have an activity during the day that can get your mind off of school and all the stresses that comes with it.
N-L: You recently broke the freshman record for the 800-meter run (2:14.74). How does it feel to etch your name into the Hopkins record book?
CS: I’m honored to be among the other names in the record books here at Hopkins. I’ve been working towards a 2:14 for over a year, so it’s great to finally see all the hard work pay off. I’m ready to set a new goal to break.
N-L: What are your expectations, both as a team and individually, for the rest of the season?
CS: Individually, I just want to keep improving. As a team, I believe the sky is the limit. We have a great group of girls that have a lot of potential. I’m excited to see what we can do in the next few months.
Smith and the No. 5 Lady Jays will take their next step toward a national championship Feb. 28 and Mar. 1 in the Centennial Conference Championships.
