Smith is back for Waubonsie

An ankle injury suffered in indoor soccer this winter nearlyspoiled Waubonsie Valley senior Nicole Smith's last chance to competein next month's state track meet.

Smith, who finished eighth in the 200-meter dash in her firsttrip to the state meet last spring, tried to mix soccer and tracklast winter and learned it doesn't work.

"I like soccer a lot," said Smith, who started playing soccer infifth grade but did not start track until her freshman year. I wason the soccer team when it played in the fall but when the seasonchanged to spring, I quit. I have played with Sparta (a privateclub) in Wheaton since then."

Smith injured her ankle in January during a club soccer game.

"I was trapping the ball, and my foot rolled over to the side,"Smith said. "The doctor told me it was ligament damage. I missedabout a month. It was tough for me in track because when I useblocks to start a race, I push off with my left foot.

"B.J. Luke, my skill and body coach (at Waubonsie Valley), helpedme. He would put my foot on a box, and I would push down hard. Ihad three indoor (track) meets, but I reinjured my ankle at theIllinois State meet because I didn't get my foot taped. I get ittaped every time I run now."

The injury was a setback to her progression, but she is showingsigns of improvement. She has run 12.7 in the 100 and 26.6 in the200. Last spring, she did not run a better time in the 200 until theconference meet.

"I'm a little behind because of my injury," Smith said. "I ammoving up again but I need to get more endurance. I have real goodstarts, but I have to hold on through the whole race."

Smith qualified last year in the 400 and 800 relays as well asthe 200, but neither relay survived the preliminaries. She did notknow she was capable of even reaching the finals in the 200 until ithappened.

"I didn't think I would make it to the finals when I wentDownstate. In the prelims, I got third place and I surprisedmyself," Smith said. "I got third place in the semifinals and then Iknew I could place. I ran against (East St. Louis Lincoln star)Carmelita Williams in the semifinals and I am not intimidated byher."

This spring, Smith has set her sights on winning the 100 and200 in the Little Seven, then qualify for state and improve on lastseason's finish.