2006-07 Annual Report - Lehigh University Athletics

ATHLETICSAcademic Achievements“The concept of the two-sport athlete is a dinosaur,”explains Ota. “What helps Christy is that she has two headcoaches that relate to her exceptionally well. I don’t think Julieor I resent the fact that we don’t have her for half the year,because we know she’s gaining competitive experience in theoff season.”“Christy is very talented, she has all the natural gifts,” addsMazer. “She also has a very strong work ethic. Most athleteshave either the natural talent or the work ethic, but she hasboth, and that’s why she can excel.”The numbers speak for themselves: a team-best eight goalslast field hockey season, followed by 22 goals on the lacrossefield in the spring. But equally important for Christy is whatshe’s accomplished off the field.When she’s not burning opposing players with her speed,Smith has been burning pizza sauce in a lab setting, as partof her Integrated Business and Engineering (IBE) capstonecourse. As part of this six-credit, year-long course, Smith anda team of students have been working with start-up entrepreneursto develop and commercialize a new product thatwill prevent pizza sauce from burning when left cooking on astove top.The team has presented the idea of using magnetic stirrers,most commonly used in chemistry labs.“Christy and the team’s first job was to investigate thetechnology to determine if it indeed could be manufactured tomeet pre-established technical specs and then to explore themarketplace to identify potential market applications,” saysPat Costa, Christy’s professor in this IBE capstone course.The team will formally present its findings to the Ben FranklinTechnology Partners on the Goodman Campus in December.“Christy has demonstrated strong leadership skills,” notesCosta. “She was instrumental in leading the initiative to developan independent testing protocol. She burnt lots of saucelast semester in the lab, and analyzed the data for its meaningfulnessto the project. She has exhibited all the analytical skillsthat would help her become a successful engineer as well as avisionary business leader.“Costa concludes, “Christy has the kind of work ethic andpersonal integrity that has made everyone associated with herin the IBE Program a better student and better teacher becauseshe is part of our community.”In addition, Smith has spent the last two summers gainingvaluable experience interning at Synthes, a medical devicecompany out of West Chester.“I was able to get the internship through alumni contacts,”says Smith. “I’ve been there the last two summers; the firstyear I worked on the manufacturing side and this past year Iworked in product development.”In her first year, Smith worked predominantly on time studiesand the plant layout, but in product development she spenttime in cadaver labs. Among the medical devices that Synthesspecializes in are plates and screws for broken bones.With her senior year underway, Christy is keeping her postgraduation options open. As the field hockey season continues,Christy is enjoying the opportunity to play in the same midfieldline as her sister Lindsey, a sophomore, who like Christyplays both field hockey and lacrosse for Lehigh and majors inindustrial engineering.“Because of the positive experiences I had early on, I certainlyencouraged Lindsey to come to Lehigh too,” says Christy.“It’s just an added bonus to get to play along side her.”And an added bonus forLehigh to have a well-roundedstudent-athlete like ChristySmith on its playing fields andin its classrooms.Tom Gilbert ‘07 was namedthe 2007 Patriot Leaguemen’s swimming and divingScholar-Athlete of the Year,as voted on by the league’ssports information directors.Gilbert is a four-time All-Patriot League selection in thepool for the Mountain Hawks,and also carries a 3.47 cumulativegrade point average as anaccounting major.“I am very humbled to winthis award,” said Gilbert. “Ifeel our league continues toget faster and faster in the Division I realm of our sport, yet wecontinue to be tops in the classroom, and to represent that is agreat feeling.”Gilbert earned first team all-league honors after postinga pair of second place finishes at February’s Patriot LeagueChampionships. The Robesonia, Pennsylvania native broke hisown school records in both the 100 and 200 yard backstrokeevents, and added a fourth place finish in the 400 yard individualmedley. A team captain, Gilbert also was a member offour top-four finishing relay teams at the championships, andhelped lead the Lehigh men to a fourth place finish overall.In the classroom, Gilbert was twice named to the PatriotLeague’s Academic Honor Roll. As a student, Gilbert successfullymet the challenges of being an accounting major,particularly in his junior year and was unhindered in hispursuit of athletic success. Gilbert earned an internship withPricewaterhouseCoopers in the summer of 2006, and parlayedthat experience into a job which he accepted early in theacademic year.“Winning this award means a lot to me because four yearsago Lehigh gave me an opportunity and an environment tosucceed,” said Gilbert “I feel this award signifies the hard workand the challenges it took along the way. To see the work finallypay off is a great way to end my senior year.”Gilbert becomes the third Lehigh men’s swimmer to benamed Scholar-Athlete of the Year, joining Jeff Cline (1996)and Jason Boire (2000).