The performance of Caroline Smith, a sophomore distance runner on the track and cross-country teams, merits her selection as this week’s Athlete of the Week. Since August, Smith has been competing against and besting fields filled with Division I competitors.
In November, she helped lead the Jays to a fourth-place finish at the cross-country National Championships en route to an All-American selection. She has become one of the top runners in the country after a freshman year that saw her still getting adjusted to the college running game.
Smith has brought her success over to the track season, winning the 3,000 meter at the Metro Holiday Classic early in the season and claiming victory in the mile run at the Father Diamond Invitational. Last week Smith won the 3,000 meter race, finishing with a personal best time of 9:59. She was named Centennial Conference Runner of the Week. We sat down with Caroline Smith to talk about her successes.
The News-Letter: How do you explain your personal success this year as opposed to freshman year?
CS: I really only started running junior year of high school, so for the first couple of years I was still getting used to the sport and trying to figure out how many miles my body could handle a week. This summer I stopped tracking my mileage, and I never worried about what pace I was going. I ran everyday based on feel. I think that once I stopped worrying about numbers and times and just paid attention to how my legs felt each day I started to gradually run much faster and became able to endure longer runs at that faster pace.
N-L: How does the team look at this point in the season?
CS: Right now the team is a bit beaten up from cross-country. We have more injuries than we would like to have at this point in the season but everyone is putting in the work. All the girls that are nursing injuries have been cross training and visiting the trainer everyday and everyone who is healthy has been doing all the little things to stay that way. The snowstorm set us a bit off schedule, but I know we will be ready to go for conferences.
N-L: What are your personal goals for the rest of the season?
CS: Personally, my goal is to keep improving. As long as I keep improving, everything else will fall into place. Right now, I’m focused on staying healthy to make sure all those goals are possible.
N-L: What is your favorite race and why?
CS: If you asked me what my favorite race was a year ago I’d tell you the 800 meter without hesitation. I really didn’t know any other race until this year. Right now I have the most fun running the 3k. I think it’s the perfect combination of endurance and speed for me. I like the idea of running right behind one of my competitors, letting them set the pace for most of the race and then making it a 400 sprint to the finish.
N-L: What is the vibe in the locker room at this point in the season?
CS: At this point in the season everyone is very motivated. Everyone has a goal for conferences and is looking to achieve it. It’s exciting to walk into the locker room each day and see my teammates excited and ready to go whether it’s a long run through the snow or a workout in the rain.
N-L: Have you looked to any of your teammates’ current or past success for inspiration or guidance? If so, who?
CS: I’ve found inspiration through all of my teammates in different ways. [seniors] Jordan Delane and Hannah Oneda have guided me a lot this year. Running is definitely a tough sport mentally, and they’ve always been there to push me through hard workouts and make me feel better when workouts or races don’t go quite as planned. Also, Annie Monagle and Maggie Shelton are two girls who graduated before I got here but have been an inspiration for me. They were both incredible middle-distance runners but also held their own in cross country and just loved every aspect of running. My coaches always refer to them in our conversations, and it always gets me excited to run.
Best of luck to Caroline and the rest of the women’s track team for the rest of the season! They return to action on Saturday, Feb. 6 in Collegeville, Pa. for the Frank Colden Invitational.
