GA_071218

32 | July 12, 2018 | The glencoe anchor sports
glencoeanchor.com
Alumni Spotlight
Smith overcomes injuries
to find major success
Michael Wojtychiw
Sports Editor
Going Places
Loyola graduate Boyle makes
most of senior-year opportunity
Michael Wojtychiw
Sports Editor
When moving on to play
college athletics, there will
always be an adjustment
period. Whether that be
because of new training
regimens, stiffer competition,
or just having to deal
with new surroundings,
there will most likely be a
learning curve.
That was the case for
New Trier cross-country
and track and field graduate
Mimi Smith when she
got to Wake Forest University
in the fall of 2015.
For cross-country runners,
some schools, like
New Trier, do more of
low-mileage training and
then focus on strength
training. Some other
schools do longer mileage
training, sometimes 50-60
miles a week, mimicking
the amount of miles a runner
will run in college.
“It was really hard (to
adjust),” Smith said.” I got
injured my freshman cross
country season. Probably a
month and a half in I had a
stress reaction in my shin.
I think that the increased
mileage and then also in
Illinois there are like no
hills. Our training is all
flat. I go to school out at
Wake Forest, so North
Carolina, and it’s really,
really hill-y there.”
A new training regimen
has helped Smith improve
every season she’s been at
Wake Forest, culminating
with a fifth-place finish in
the 10 kilometer race at the
Atlantic Coast Conference
Outdoor Track Championships
in May. That race
was only the second time
New Trier graduate Mimi Smith runs in a race for Wake
Forest University during the 2017-18 school year.
Submitted by Wake Forest Athletics
she had run that distance
in her college career - all
three came during this outdoor
season - and marked
her best finish. Smith
would go on to finish in
19th place at the NCAA
East Preliminaries.
After competing in primarily
the 5,000 kilometer
race during track season,
doubling the distance was
something that took getting
used to.
“I guess my coach and
I decided that I would run
the 10K outdoors because
we had another girl who
she qualified for nationals
on our team in the 10K but
we knew that she was going
to do that at regionals,
which is two weeks after
our outdoor ACC meet,”
Smith said. “The 10K is all
about tactically racing and
just staying even. For the
10K the first 5K shouldn’t
feel that hard. It should
feel hard but you should
by no means feel like you
can’t pick it up. The second
half is really where
you want to negative split
and ramp it up.”
The injury her freshman
year wasn’t the only
one she’s had during her
collegiate career, however.
In December of her
sophomore year, Smith
had a herniated disk in her
lower lumbar and suffered
sciatic pain down her right
leg. However, at the time
she was first feeling the
pain, it was thought to be
hamstring tendonitis, so
she continued to race on
it. It wasn’t until an MRI
at the end of the year that
she found out what was
wrong.
“That honestly was an
injury that was weird because
I could run on it
and I could train on it and
it wasn’t going to hurt it
anymore but it would have
flare ups and just be really,
really painful,” she said.
“It took honestly probably
a year to finally really
reduce the symptoms. To
this day I still feel lingering
effects of it sometimes
but that was kind of honestly
one of the worst injuries
I’ve ever had.”
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There’s an old adage
that good things happen to
those who wait. For recent
Loyola Academy graduate
Quinn Boyle, that came
true during his senior year
at the Wilmette school.
After serving as the varsity
football team’s backup
quarterback the last two
seasons, Boyle finally got
his chance to step into
the limelight and lead the
Ramblers to another successful
season.
“Being the backup for
two years in-a-row was
obviously frustrating, but
I did learn a lot,” he said.
“And the success that the
team had senior year, I
don’t think I would have
had as much experience.
“I think that just allowed
me to play with a
chip on my shoulder. Just
in my head thinking about
it —‘this is my time now,
I’ve been waiting for two
years now.’”
Boyle used that anger to
help lead Loyola to another
state title-game appearance
and the second consecutive
second-place finish.
His success as a senior
also allowed him to get the
opportunity to play at the
next level. The Glenview
native will be playing at the
University of St. Thomas in
Minnesota next season.
“I loved the community
there. I loved the atmosphere,
the coaches, fellow
players,” explained
Boyle on why he chose St.
Thomas.
Boyle isn’t sure whether
he’ll have the opportunity
to play next season,
but said that the coaches
have told him that the best
Loyola Academy’s Quinn Boyle stiff-arms a Marist
defender during the state quarterfinals Nov. 11, in
Chicago. 22nd Century Media File Photo
players will play so he just
needs to go out there and
play his game.
Playing for LA and coach
John Holecek has prepared
him for that, he said, because
Loyola runs its program
like a college one.
Thanks to his three years
on the varsity squad, Boyle
had the opportunity to play
in three consecutive state
title games, something
that very few players are
able to accomplish. That’s
something that isn’t lost on
him.
“It starts, No. 1, with our
coaching,” he said. “Not
even in the in-season, also
in the offseason, we have
a great strength coach who
gets us prepared, nutritionwise,
gets us healthy. Great
trainers that do really, really
well. And then obviously
our coaches on the
field who are the smartest
coaches in the state, who
know exactly what they’re
doing.
“And then, just players.
Just living up to the
expectations of getting to
that state championship
is kind of what it is now.
You have an expectation
to not only get there, but
also win. There’s just a
lot of expectations when
you’re a varsity football
player at Loyola Academy.
I think that, combined with
the unreal coaching and
expectation that they have
for us is second to none.
That’s why we’re always
so successful.”
Boyle, who had previously
considered himself
a pocket-passer style quarterback,
became more of
a weapon on the ground,
leading the Ramblers in
rushing on the season with
more than 800 yards and
seven touchdowns.
Due to a couple injuries
throughout the season,
Boyle became more lethal
on the ground, often times
leading Loyola in rushing
and always using his legs
to get him out of trouble.
“The offseason going
into my senior year,
I worked on getting a lot
faster,” he said. “Working
on my running ability.
And I knew if I was able
to add that component to
my game, then I’d be a
lot harder for defenses to
stop.”
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