Unionville senior Courtney Smith entered her third year of XC with a resume that has been growing season-to-season. As a sophomore, she was 4th in AAA at Hershey. Then last year, she won her first state title, setting a meet and course record. In the winter, she broke the state record in the 3000 meter run, but had to settle for 2nd place. She more than made up for it by twice outsprinting the same competitor, first for 3rd place in the Girls 3000 Invitational at the Penn Relays, and then in the finals of the AAA 3200 meter run at the PIAA State Championships. Smith led her team to a qualifying spot and trip to NXN after winning the Northeast Regional. But in the first 1000 meters in Portland, she fell and was spiked. She recovered for 10th. Then during indoor, and despite an injury, Smith captured 3rd in an incredible 3000 at PTFCA Indoor States, and anchored her DMR to a state title. Two weeks later, she anchored that DMR to a 6th place finish in the New Balance Nationals Indoor champs in a time ten seconds better than their state title... and anchored the 4xmile the next day to a 3rd place finish - both earning all-American recognition. But the injury endured. She went through PT, and returned to racing at the Henderson Invitational on May 2nd. Beyond happy to be back.
Outdoor Track:
Indoor Track:
Cross Country:
Entry #1 9/2 | Entry #2 9/30 | Entry #3 10/7 | Entry #4 10/14 | Entry #5 10/28 | Entry #6 11/10 | Entry #7 12/5 | Entry #8 12/10
Courtney Smith
SR. Unionville HS, PA
Journal Entry #3 (October 7, 2013)
College Visits - Tough Choice!
Hi again!
I wanted to do a separate journal entry to share my experience on my college visits during the last couple of weeks. I visited three schools and loved them all a lot.
Before my visits, I was a little nervous because I had no idea what to expect and I wanted to leave a good impression because I knew that the girls I met could be my future teammates! My first visit was to Duke University and I went down on the first Thursday of September. My grandfather attended Duke and always spoke very highly of it! I arrived around 2 and met with Coach Jermyn then joined the team for strength in the weight room. After that we moved all of my luggage to my host's (Holly Bischof) room and then cross trained. We went to dinner and met all of the other recruits. I really enjoyed meeting other runners from all over the country. Everyone was so nice! Friday morning we did a distance run and then went back to the locker room. At some point during the visit I became addicted to Quenchers, a store in the same building as the locker room that had all kinds of fruit and the best mango I have ever tasted in my life. I love fruit so every time I went there I was in heaven:). I went to a linear algebra class and also got to see Erinn Menniger, a sophomore who ran cross country for Unionville her senior year in high school. On Friday we all switched to the other side of campus to move into our freshman host's room (Hannah Meier was my host). When Saturday came the other recruits and I were really sad that it was our last day and we realized how fast the weekend went by! I ran in the morning then we went to a team picnic before heading home. It was sad leaving because I had made so many new friends, especially my hosts and the other recruits, but I was excited to get back with my team and get caught up with school work.
A week later I took the train up to Harvard and arrived Saturday around 5. It was my first time traveling alone but everything went well. My host, Emma Payne, picked me up at the train station and then we went back to campus, dropped off the luggage and went to a team barbecue and pizza social. On Sunday we went on a long run and then brunch. We studied in Widener Library before heading to Boston to walk around and go to dinner. Monday was a very busy morning; we met in Annenburg dining hall for breakfast, (which basically looks like Hogwortz), then I worked out, did an admissions interview, met with the coaches, ate lunch and went to a human anatomy and physiology class at 1! Again, I was really sad to leave because I loved the team and school so much, but after class I had to go to the train station and head back to PA.
The following week was my last visit because I ended up canceling my fourth one that I had scheduled for the weekend of McQuaid. I left the Cherokee Invitational and went to a family friend's house to shower before my parents dropped me off at Princeton. I had been to Princeotn many times before, but every time the beauty of the campus still impresses me! We went to a team barbecue and watched a football game for a little bit, but we all were pretty hungry so we left early and went to the dining hall for dinner. My host was Jessica Ackerman, who has a twin sister also named Courtney! On Sunday we went on a long run and then to brunch. In the afternoon, we switched hosts and my next host was Maria Seykora, a PA girl! We studied in the library, then went to dinner with the team in town. On Monday, we went to breakfast in the dining hall then a group of us went to an Environmental Science class because there were a lot of track people in the class. Afterwards, all of the other recruits and I met in the McGraw Center for an information session and to talk with the coaches. We went to lunch then had to say sad good byes to everyone again. On the bright side, Princeton is only an hour and a half from my house so it was close but I made it back in time to see the team at practice!
All in all, I enjoyed every school so much and I could really see myself at any of them. The schools themselves were all really special in their own ways and I loved all three teams and coaches. That being said, hopefully in the next week or so I'll be able to announce my college choice!
Good luck to all the other seniors with their decisions and keep running fast PA!
Courtney
