SFA Adds Distance Runner
6/18/2010 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
June 18, 2010
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Stephen F. Austin cross country coach Lou Snelling announced Friday the addition of Lauren Smith for the 2010 season. Smith, a Lake Jackson, Texas, native, will join the Ladyjack distance program as a transfer after spending the 2009-10 season competing at Arizona.
"I'm excited to welcome Lauren to the team," Snelling said. "We recruited her hard out of high school because we felt she would be a really good fit for our program, so it's exciting to get the chance to see her join the team."
During her prep career at Brazoswood High School, Smith medaled three times at the state cross country championships and won the Class 5A title in 2007. She also qualified for the Footlocker National Championships in both 2007 and 2008, finishing 17th the first year and 23rd in her second appearance. On the track, Smith medaled twice in the 3,200 meters at the state championships and set school records in the 3,200, 1,600 and 5,000 meters.
As a freshman at Arizona, Smith was second on the team at both the Notre Dame Invitational and the NCAA Pre-Nationals meet. The Wildcats took sixth in the Blue Race at Pre-Nationals with Smith finishing 39th overall. The performance helped the team climb to 17th in the national rankings. She finished 27th at the PAC 10 Championships and had the sixth-best time among league freshmen. The Wildcats went on to finish fifth at the regional championships and qualify for the NCAA Championships, where they were 30th. An infection in her foot kept Smith off the course for those two meets.
Smith competed in one meet during the indoor season and went on to post personal records in both the 5,000 and 10,000 during the outdoor campaign. She ran a time of 17:17.03 in the 5,000 during a meet at Stanford and posted a 10k time of 35:51.75 at the PAC 10 Championships.
"Lauren will be an immediate impact in the conference," Snelling said. "She brings some extremely impressive results from her time at Arizona, especially in cross country, and what she did in her high school career."
Smith joins a 2010 recruiting class that includes three state high school medalists, two of whom were prep distance "Triple Crown" winners. Becca Blubaugh, a Bossier City, La., native, won the Class 5A state championship in the 1,600 meters, 3,200 meters and cross country this past year. Laury Byrd accomplished an identical feat at the Class A level in Texas, competing at Round Top Carmine. East Bernard's Amanda Walters medaled in the 3,200 at the 2010 Class 2A State Championships.
"Lauren is the final piece in a strong recruiting class that should be able to impact the conference in a big way this season," Snelling said. "I'm really excited to add this class to the group of accomplished returners we have and see what they can do together."
-- SFA --
