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wilmettebeacon.com SPORTS
the wilmette beacon | July 12, 2018 | 45
Alumni Spotlight
Smith overcomes injuries
to find major success
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 lowmileage
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.
“I think that a combination
of those two factors
and me not really understanding
what I need to do
to get rest kind of ... It was
just new and I got injured
on it. I think that now that
I’ve been able ... I also
add in two swims. Two to
New Trier graduate Mimi Smith runs in a race for Wake
Forest University during the 2017-18 school year.
Submitted by Wake Forest Athletics
three swimming workouts
a week. I know that some
girls do higher mileage than
I do. Like maybe seven to
10 miles more than I do so
they can get up around 70
but I do swim workouts.
Instead of running a three
mile run I’ll do a 30 or 40
minute swim.”
That new training 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 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
Please see Smith, 43
Going Places
Loyola graduate Boyle makes
most of senior-year opportunity
Michael Wojtychiw
Sports Editor
There’s an old adage
that good things happen to
those who wait. For recent
Loyola Academy graduate
Quinn Boyle, that adage
played out 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 led 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.’ Just that
build up to when I was finally
able to start, kind of
pushed me even more to
play my best during my senior
year. Gave me a little
bit of a reason to be angry.
Football’s an angry game.”
Boyle, the Catholic
League’s 2017 Tony Lawless
Player of the Year,
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. “Really just
the atmosphere all around
at that school. I’ve only
heard great things about it.
I loved my visit there. And
I’m hoping to get a shot to
play eventually. Just looking
to go there and compete.”
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
players will play so he just
needs to go out there and
play his game.
Playing for Loyola 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 con-
Please see BOYLE, 43
Loyola Academy’s Quinn Boyle stiff-arms a Marist defender during the state
quarterfinals Nov. 11, in Chicago. 22nd Century Media File Photo