Illinois Wesleyan University senior Mariah Smith (Frankfort, Ill., Lincoln Way-East HS) was chosen as the 2018 "Defensive Player of the Year" in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin and was elected to first team of all-CCIW squads for the third straight season.
In her career she was named CCIW Player of the Week six times and was chosen as the Titans' "Most Valuable Defensive Player" in 2016. As of May 10, 2018, she is second all-time at IWU in ground balls (182) and draw controls (178).
Majoring in psychology with a minor in Spanish at Illinois Wesleyan, she is the daughter of Jeana and Jeffrey Smith.
Why you chose to attend Illinois Wesleyan: My older brother went here, my parents and my sister all went to Illinois State, (my little brother will be coming to IWU)… BloNo just made sense. Also in coming here, I was able to pick up a new sport, so that’s a fun added bonus.
IWU class you’re most qualified to teach: Probably Psych Stats because I’m a psych major and I also weirdly love math
The hardest challenge about being a Division III student-athlete is: Not getting a grade for all the work put into athletics
Worst grade in a class you ever got– what and when? Ugh, freshman year anatomy. I passed, but it wasn’t pretty.
I’m deathly afraid of...: Cats but also Sam Bidlack
Worst habit: Breaking my fibulas!
Most expensive traffic ticket: Over $250 for rolling a stop sign in my neighborhood with NO cars around, minus the cop of course. (I was just trying to go home to brush my teeth real quick before an orthodontist appointment & I didn’t want to be late)
Language I’d like to learn: To be honest, I took Spanish for 7-8 years and I’m still going to say Spanish
The longest I could survive without my cell phone: One time I lost my phone at Lolla and couldn’t even go three days before getting a new one so I think that answers that
One word your mother or father would use to describe you: Favorite
Favorite sports figure: 2014 Taj Gibson
My greatest moment in sports was: Being a part of the first team in CCIW history to beat Augustana and with that winning the conference tournament and also making an NCAA appearance last season
The best player I ever faced was: Lindsey Rosecrans (Kellar has gotten soft in her old age)
Worst dresser on my team: Like I don’t know if I would say worst, but I think it should be noted that Riley Rooney purchased a big fluffy blue moose jacket from a Love’s on spring break this year
Thing that’s been in my fridge the longest: Probably some shredded cheese because I’m lactose intolerant but still try to have quesadillas fairly often
Person I’m dying to have dinner with: Ellen Degeneres
Favorite food: Chips and literally any dip
Vegetable I won’t eat: Brussels sprouts (my mom used to make them for herself every single day and the smell of them is engrained in my memory and will continue to repel me for years)
Pepsi or Coke? (Hahahahahaha Grainne) Coke
Favorite TV show: Either “The Office” or “How I Met Your Mother”
Favorite musical group: One Direction (RIP)
Favorite movie: “The Parent Trap”
If a movie were made of my life, I would like the following person to play me: Raven Symone
If my life were on TV as a reality show, I’d call it: “Walking is Hard”
The person in history I would most like to meet is: My Nana (I met her once, but I was about a month old so I don’t think that counts)
My dream job would be: To play lacrosse (and get paid for it)
Place I’d most like to live: London, but not for forever
If you come back in another life, what would you like to return as: A girl that starts playing lacrosse a lot earlier than her freshman year of college
Two things that are tops on my “bucket list”: Pet a fox and experience Europe
My possession that would fetch the most on eBay: My debit card… (but, even that wouldn’t get much)
Who is the luckiest person in the world? Emily Blunt because she’s married to John Krasinski
What I miss most about being in the third grade: Having birthday parties in class where our parents brought in cake and sometimes pizza once a month
