BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Many people know Louette Smith and her career with the Bradford County School District’s transportation department, but some will also remember that she had a standout track-and-field career at Bradford High School.
Smith, who also played basketball, qualified for state each of her four years of high school. She credited her love of running to an active childhood in which she was always outside with her siblings and cousins.
“We lived in the country, so we were always running and playing and doing,” Smith said. “We were never in the house. I loved it.”
She remembers running for Coach Jim Lewis at Southside Elementary School and competing in physical-fitness challenges. Smith laughed about the time she did 150 sit-ups before Lewis told her to finally stop.
During her freshman year at BHS in 1978-79, Smith broke the school record in the 440-yard dash multiple times, including at that season’s district meet. She ran a second-place time of 62.4 seconds.
Smith also helped the mile-medley relay team to a second-place finish at the district meet and was part of the third-place mile relay team. Cindy Griffith, Judy Hankerson and Kim Slocum were also on the mile-medley team, while Griffith, Hankerson and Valery Chandler joined Smith in the mile relay.
At the region meet, Smith broke her school record in the 440 with a fourth-place time of 61.87, which qualified her for state. The mile-medley team also earned a state berth with a third-place finish.
Smith placed sixth in the 440 at state.
In 1979-80, Smith continued to improve her times in the 440. She placed first with a time of 60.1 at the district meet, which also included her being a part of the winning mile-medley team and the third-place mile relay team.
Smith set the new school mark in the 440 at the regional meet with a second-place time of 59.9.
That year’s state meet saw Smith place third with a time of 60.47, which placed her ahead of North Marion’s Laura Johnson, who beat her at the regional meet.
Runners from Naples and Quincy Shanks placed ahead of Smith with times of 56.6 and 58.58.
Smith won her second straight district championship in the 440 as a junior in 1980-81, running a school-record time of 59.2. She also teamed up with Pam Hawkins, Yvonne Sanders and Sheila Searcy to win the mile-medley championship, tying the school record of 4:10.
At the regional meet, Smith ran a third-place time of 59.3 in the 440, while the mile-medley team placed second with a new school-record time of 4:07.9.
Smith again broke her own school record in the 440 with a fourth-place time of 59.3 at the state finals. The mile-medley team, which placed seventh, also recorded a school-best time of 4:06.9.
As a senior in 1981-82, Smith ran the 880 instead of the 440. She placed second in the event at the district meet with a time of 2:35.9. She teamed up with Pam Boswell, Karen Kimutis and Francine Long for a second-place finish in the 440 relay with a time of 53.8 and joined Boswell, Alesia Sheffield and Michelle Stillwell on the mile relay team, which was second with a time of 4:26.7.
Smith also competed in the long jump at the district meet, placing sixth with a distance of 14 feet, 11 inches.
Her ticket to state was punched for the fourth straight year when Smith placed third in the 880 at the regional meet. She’d go on to run an eighth-place time of 2:27 at state.
