Lilly SmithLilly Smith had no high school running career, which makes her sensational Covenant College career even more remarkable.
The two-time USA South cross country runner of the year and three-time all-conference honoree will compete Saturday in cold Winneconne, Wisconsin, at the 2018 NCAA Division III meet. After winning her first four races this season and finishing second in the conference meet, which she led until the last 50 meters, Smith finished ninth in the South/Southeast regional last Saturday at Berry College.
That made the 21-year-old senior the first all-region runner and national qualifier in the Lookout Mountain school's NCAA era. Covenant's Anna Garriott qualified for the NAIA national meet in 2004.
"I'm really excited, but I think it's just starting to sink in now," Smith said Tuesday afternoon. "It probably won't fully sink in until we're on the plane or when we get to Wisconsin."
Today's flight will be her first trip to the Badger State. Same for coach Katie Stanford.
Three and a half years ago, they had no idea they ever would make such a journey together. Speaking briefly to the coach during Scholarship Weekend in February 2015, Smith said something like, "I like to run. Can I try out?"
She was a home-schooled student in Weaverville, North Carolina, near Asheville.
"She didn't run on a high school team. She just ran for fun on her own," Stanford said. "But I told her I'd call her, so I did. Actually, I called her a couple of times before I got her. She just talked about what training was like. I told her if she wanted to try, come on and do it."
Stanford told Smith to run "a 5k or two at home" and tell her the times. A guy in a similar situation that same year, Micah Sneller , "won conference as a freshman," said the coach, who apparently works her magic quickly. Sneller by the way, ran for Covenant for three years and is now at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in an engineering program.
Although Smith didn't blossom quite as quickly, "her first race I knew she could help us," Stanford said. "But I still had no idea how good she would be."
Now Smith owns the six best 6-kilometer times in Covenant history, and she won the 1500- and 5000-meter events at the conference-like meet staged last spring by the USA South's track-sponsoring schools. Track will be official in the league this year.
She considered "a lot of other schools, but Covenant was the only place I thought about running for," said the biology major who wants to go to veterinary school. She's a two-time USAS all-academic honoree.
Covenant is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in America, and Smith belonged to a PCA congregation and had friends who went to Covenant - and relatives with connections to the school. Her older sister transferred from a community college and enrolled with her, and two younger sisters attend now.
But Lilly is the only runner in the family.
"She's a very determined, hard-working person. I think she would be good at several things," Stanford said. "She has coaching now - she didn't in high school - and she is very dedicated to the offseason training program I suggest.
"It's really just a mileage thing. Because of NCAA rules I can't monitor (the runners) in the offseason, so it's up to them if they do it or not, but Lilly does. And we've worked a lot on her form the past couple of years."
Covenant leads USAS
Smith and both sets of runners helped Covenant lead the 18-school USAS Presidents Cup standings after the fall sports season, 49 points to 48 for Maryville. Covenant heads the women's list and is third behind leader Maryville and North Carolina Wesleyan in the men's.
Contact Ron Bush at rbush@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6291.
Lilly Smith is all alone as a Covenant College runner who has qualified for an NCAA national meet. She will compete Saturday in Wisconsin.