Track & Field | November 24, 2017

Junior Mikaela Smith is in her third season of running for the USC Track and Field team. Smith is a distance runner from Fresno, CA, competing in the 800m. Smith has a PR of 2:05.17 which she ran in placing second in the USC-UCLA Dual meet during her sophomore year. Last season, she placed 8^th in the Pac-12 Championships and 16^th in the NCAA Prelims in the event. She also runs cross country in the fall. Smith currently has the fastest 800m time on Trojan's team and has high aspirations for her future. Here is a Q and A with the junior:
 
Q: In your time at USC, what has been your favorite part about the whole experience?
 
MS: There have been a lot of things, but it has definitely been the family feel of our team and how close we are.  No matter the dramas we have going on, we are always a team and always work for each other. That is my favorite part.
 
Q: What has been the toughest part about being a student-athlete, and how do you balance that in your life?
 
MS: The toughest part is making sure your academics are up to par. Obviously, if your academics aren't good, you aren't going to be running on the track. I was thankful to get a really strict coach. It may seem as if it's a plus and a negative, but for me, it is a plus. She keeps me on my gradesm, and when I am on my grades, I am able to run track. So if your grades aren't good, she won't have you out on the track.
 
Q: What about the USC Track and Field team, or USC in general, has allowed you to succeed athletically? Team atmosphere, coaches?
 
MS: They hold us accountable for everything. I think the rules that Coach Caryl (Smith Gilbert) and the whole coaching staff have established give everyone a chance to see beyond track and field.  She gives us these rules where she is like our boss.  It is our job to be out here, it's our job to run track.  It is our job to say if we are sick, to let people know. You kind of look at it like, if something were to happen, you will let your boss know what is happening. They have been treating it like a job, so it is nice to be able to see what in the future I can take from track and it is pretty much everything.
 
Q: This year, what are your goals for yourself, and for the team?
 
MS: For myself, track and academic wise, I want to keep my grades, as many A's as possible obviously, but I want to get a 3.5 GPA this semester, actually both semesters. For track, I want to score at Pac-12's, make it to regionals and nationals, both indoor and outdoor. Since we have a new coach this year, I've had a different coach the past two years, so I am excited to see what he has in store for all of us. Our training has been going really, really, well so hopefully I can drop to 2:02 in the 800 (meter). For the team, I definitely think we have a chance at winning the National Championship. We just have to focus on ourselves, and our individual groups, and holding each other accountable and doing what we need to get there. We have all the talent on this team and you look at our team compared to any other team in the conference and you just have to show it.
 
Q: So I know you had an experience where you helped a girl off the track in the middle of the race. Could you tell me a little bit about that and what you were thinking at the time?
 
MS: So I had a race at Mt. Sac Invitational. I was in the heat before her, so I had already run the 800 (meter). I didn't have the best day, I did okay. But when I got off the track, I was watching the heat after me, which one of my teammates was in and my teammate made it past me and a girl in the front of the heat got tripped and rolled her ankle pretty bad, and all the trainers were just standing there. In my head it felt like a couple minutes, but maybe it was 15 seconds where they left her on the track. There were trainers honestly standing right there and I was like I am dead, but I might as well like help her off the track. They are coming back around and she is obviously not getting up, so I went over, picked her up and took her to the trainers that were standing there. My mind was thinking so quickly and my mind was like if she really did hurt herself, she needs to get to the trainers as soon as possible, but then again there is still a race going on so I might as well just take her off the track.
 
Q: How has running cross country helped you in other aspects of your running career?
 
MS: I don't prefer running long distance. I really, really don't. You have to have a strict mindset to do stuff like that and man, I give the girls on my team props for doing cross country. It is a really hard sport, along with track, but I know for me having that distance background, being able to run mileage, I don't like it, but I'm able to do it.  Being able to do it gives me that endurance part.  I come from the 4(400m) and the 8(800m) background, so I am a more of a speed runner and need that endurance to be able to get through the 800 race. So it has helped me with the endurance. There are races where I finish and I am not dying when I get back up. I'm like okay, I feel good.
 
Q: What are your career aspirations for after college?
 
MS: Well, first academically I am working towards becoming a nurse. I want to go to nursing school so I am doing health and human sciences as my major and then doing my prerequisites in nursing as well. Definitely, obviously for track I want to go pro. I need to get my time down a little, but if I run a 2:02 this year then I should be okay in being able to sign a contract, but I also have my senior year. So I am excited for what I have then but definitely pro for track, doesn't matter who sponsors me. I could care less. It's just that I have the ability to do what I love outside of school and get paid for it. And then nursing school.
 
Q: If you were talking to a track and field recruit, what separates USC from other schools?
 
MS: Other schools focus on track and field. It is not just about track, it is about your future. When you go to USC, and it says USC on your degree, and you go to apply to a job, that is something very special and some people look for. Some high private schools look really nice. And besides the fact, track. Our coach holds us to the highest standards ever. You could never imagine some of the stuff that she expects you to do, but then again, it helps us in our future.
 
Q: Finally, growing up, what was your inspiration for running? What made you start running competitively?
 
MS: I didn't really want to actually. I started out playing soccer, wrestling, any other sport you could really imagine, I did it. I came to track kind of late, and I'm an athlete all around so I can play soccer, I can do anything else, but when I found track, I was like wow, I can do this, I love this. But with track, I was like I love this, I can definitely see myself continuing. Then I got to high school and had a coach that was invested in me. His name is Josh Norman. He was super invested in me. Super invested in what he thought I could do. He took me under his wing. Trained me, I mean every day. Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. In  high school it was kind of unthought-of to lift weights as much as I did. He brought me to an elite level before I even knew I was at an elite level to even race. It happened so quickly, but sophomore year is really when I did well in high school. He was there when I got to state and then I ended up winning state. That is when I was the underdog.