Smith leads Belles in first win of season
By NOREEN GILLESPIE
Saint Mary's Editor
If the first time is a learning experience, breaststroker Lauren Smith learns well.
Entering her first collegiate swim meet, Lauren had little reason to be nervous. A four-time record breaking 100 breaststroke swimmer in high school, she knew her waters better than most.
What she may not have expected, however, was to swim twice the length. Lauren's collegiate debut did not have the veteran sprinter swimming only the 100 yard breaststroke, but the 200 yard breastroke as well.
She didn't let it faze her.
Smith's debut was more than a solid performance; the freshman clipped senior Michelle Samreta's 1999 record to 2:36.17 and edged out a University of Chicago competitor by less than two-tenths of a second for a first-place finish.
"She told me that she wasn't going to let anyone beat her in that event," said head coach Gretchen Hildebrandt.
Smith, who knew the record was in reach, was surprised to eclipse her goal so early in the season.
"I thought that the record was around 2:35; I wanted to go a 2:36," Lauren said. ÒI wasn't expecting to do it this early. When we got back from the meet, I looked at the board and realized I'd broken it."
Smith and Hildebrandt formulated a race plan prior to the event, one that Hildebrandt said the swimmer carried out.
"I had told her where to pick it up," Hildebrandt said, "and I was nervous because she looked tired and I wasn't sure if she could do it. She did. She held it the rest of the way."
It was close finishes from Lauren and the other Saint Mary's swimmers and divers that fueled the squad to another first — an opening-season victory against University of Chicago, 175-99.
"We've shown that [other teams] need to be afraid," Hildebrandt said. "We're not going to sit back. This changes our image: we've proven we are tough competitors."
The win marks Saint Mary's first season opening win this decade, as well as Hildebrandt's first victory as head coach for the Belles.
"It's awesome," Hildebrandt said. "This just reinforces what we've been doing [in practice]. They've proven they can handle hard work, and I'm going to continue to work them just as hard. I'm excited for the future of this team."
Walking into the meet trailing in the wake of University of Chicago's fourth-place finish at the Notre Dame Relays and its five-point victory over the Belles in last year's meet, the squad wasn't necessarily focused on a win, said junior captain Olivia Smith.
"We knew we had a good chance since we'd only lost by five points last year," she said. "We knew we had a good chance, but we didn't want to get cocky about it. No one expected to win this."
Saint Mary's finished on top in 10 events, led by Smith in the 200 breaststroke and triple winner Alicia Lesneskie in the 1000 freestyle (11:54.31), 200 backstroke (2:22.70) and 500 freestyle (5:47.09). Sophomore Danielle Clayton was a double winner for the Belles, claiming the 50 freestyle (26.30) and the 100 freestyle (57.30).
Other first-place finishes came from freshman Lane Herrington in the 200 freestyle (2:09.33) and Samreta in the 100 breastroke (1:11.77).
The 400 medley relay of junior Colleen Sullivan, Samreta, Herrington and Clayton won with a time of 1:59.41. The 400 freestyle relay wrapped up the meet with a first-place finish, with junior Colleen Smith, Lesneskie, Smith and Clayton posting 1:50.34.
All Sports Stories for Monday, November 8, 1999
