Georgetown's Smith ready for NCAAs
By Chris Burgess , Staff Writer
Daily News of Newburyport
Don't ask Georgetown's Corilynn Smith about her next meet. She
doesn't even want to think about it.
It's not like Smith, a junior sprinter on the UMass Lowell women's
track and field team, doesn't want to compete. She loves to.
She just runs better when she doesn't have to think about it.
Smith is a member of UMass Lowell's 4x400 meter relay team which
will compete in the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field
Championship today and tomorrow at the Reggie Lewis Track and
Athletic Center.
In light of Smith's quirks about competing, she is in the right
event because usually she runs her split in under a minute. Not
much time to think.
"For me, it's just better if I go out there and run," Smith said.
"It's better if I don't even think about it because at times I
psych myself out and don't do well."
Smith's approach is working. She is enjoying her best season so far
at UML, even earning a little hardware.
"One of the things in which she has gotten better this year is
being more confident in her races," said UML head coach Gary
Gardner. "When she was a freshman and sophomore, she always got out
a little to slow. This year, she is a little more confident and has
gotten out harder."
Getting to the NCAAs - by accident
The best part about this weekend's appearance in the NCAA
championships is that it was borderline accidental. Just days
before the New England Indoor Track and Field Championship on Feb.
24 at Boston University, Gardner decided to enter UML in the 4x400
relay in a last gasp effort to qualify for the NCAAs.
Some of the runners were beat up, suffering nagging tweaks, which
led to mediocre times in the first half of the season. Running the
4x400 also meant pulling Smith out of the 500 meters.
"All the kids were healthy at that point, which hadn't happened all
year," Gardner said. "One of the big factors was Cori coming along
and running so well. Without Cori, we would not have qualified. She
had the second-fastest split."
The UML foursome provisionally qualified at the New England
Championship with a time of 3:54.11, with Smith running her leg in
57.3 seconds. When the NCAA Championship field was announced the
following Monday, UML had earned the 10th and final spot.
Smith admits to feeling a degree of apprehension entering the
NCAAs, but it won't be her first appearance at a national meet. As
a sophomore at Georgetown High (she ran in a combined program with
nearby Ipswich High), Smith advanced to the nationals and placed
sixth in the 4x400 meter relay, earning All-American honors.
Smith would welcome a similar result this weekend. "We just barely
got in with that time," she noted. "We were lucky. But we're hoping
to do a lot better."
The top eight places at the NCAAs earn All-American honors.
Distance running for speed
During the season, Smith is coached by Mike Ekstrand, UML's sprints
coach who is regarded as one of the best in New England. But
Gardner, a former All-American distance runner, took her under his
wing during the summer and outlined her daily workouts: five to
seven miles per day - every day.
Smith ran the annual Yankee Homecoming 10-mile race this summer,
held on one of the most humid days of the year. "We didn't tell her
to do that," Gardner quipped.
Her results are remarkably better, something not lost on Gardner
and his coaching staff.
"We only give that type of workout to our kids who can handle it,"
Gardner said. "By working her hard over the summer, we can give her
a greater workload during the year. We were really impressed with
her fitness entering this year. She came back fitter than she ever
was."
Smith won the 500 meters at the Northeast-10 Conference
championship with a time of 1:17.96. She also posted the top time
among Division II athletes in the 500 at the Boston University
FasTrack Classic (1:17.51) and is inching upon the school record of
1:16.58.
"Cori should break that record next year," said Gardner. "I think
she would have broken it at New Englands this year if we didn't
pull her to the run the 4x400. That's one of the goals we will set
for her next year."
But don't tell Smith. She doesn't want to think about it.
Around Campus
