Prep Beat -- Terrace Guard's Hard Work Pays Off -- Desire And Determination Help Smalling's Drive For Dartmouth

Stacy Smalling isn't shy when it comes to talking about her future.

As far as Smalling is concerned, she made it happen.

During the middle of her junior season at Mountlake Terrace High School, about January 1997, Smalling made a commitment to herself. She wanted to become a better basketball player. She wanted the chance to play in college. And she wanted the college to be among the country's best academic institutions.

But Smalling wasn't getting recruited, much less any attention, from the colleges she dreamed of attending.

"My high-school team had a losing record, and I knew that I wasn't going to get any press. I was getting really stressed out, and I didn't see how I would possibly achieve my dreams if I just stayed on the same path," said Smalling, who has played basketball since the third grade. "I wasn't going to get anywhere, so I had to do something on my own."

Fourteen months later, Smalling has made a commitment to play basketball at Dartmouth College.

The road to Hanover, N.H., hasn't been easy. After deciding on her goals, Smalling set out to achieve them. She joined Bellevue's Pro Sports Club and began training with Steve Gordon three hours a day, seven days a week. In four months, Smalling grew stronger and more fit. She started scrimmaging with boys, and then played summer ball with the Magic, a Seattle-area AAU program.

All the work has paid off.

Smalling, a 5-foot-6 guard and three-year letter winner, averaged 14 points, four assists, four rebounds and five steals a game last season as a second-team All-Western 4A Conference selection.

Hawk Coach Michole Mattix said Smalling's work ethic sets her apart from many high-school athletes.

"I think that her biggest strength is her desire to improve and be a top-notch player," Mattix said. "During the offseason, she always gave 100 percent. Her desire for the game will push her to become a better player."

Smalling, 17, seems as driven academically as she is in basketball. The 3.99 student (she got an A- in keyboarding) scored 1250 on her SAT, is her class secretary and treasurer, and is a member of Hi-Q and the National Honor Society. She also interned for U.S. Representative Rick White last summer and participated in the National Young Leaders Conference in Washington, D.C., as a junior.

Smalling, who also has lettered in volleyball the past three seasons, was a first-team All-WesCo 4A outside hitter last season and is an alternate for the All-State volleyball team.

Smalling said she first became interested in attending an Ivy League school in elementary school, and after taking five trips to the East Coast during her junior and senior years, Smalling knew where she was headed.

"If I went to school in California or Washington, I'd be staying in my comfort zone," said Smalling, who also considered Colgate and Rider. "And I've always wanted to go to school in New England."

The Big Green, Part II

Lauren Trottier of Shoreline helped Dartmouth's women's hockey team win its fourth Ivy League title this decade.

Trottier, a freshman forward, played in all 30 of the Big Green's games, finishing second on the team in goals (19) and fourth in total points (31). She also had 12 assists.

Dartmouth finished the season with a record of 20-9-1, which tied a school record for most victories in a season.

Ivy League, Part III

Stacy Smalling won't be the only member of her family at an Ivy League School next fall. Her brother, Grady, graduated from Lynnwood High in 1997 and is a freshman at Harvard.

Grady, a 5-11, 215-pound linebacker and fullback, earned a "Minor H" last season playing on Harvard's football team, competing in the school's junior-varsity games. Athletes who compete at the varsity level earn a Major H.

Grady, who was named the West's MVP in last summer's 33rd annual East-West All-state football classic, was a two-time WesCo AA first-team linebacker and running back. As a senior, he was named to "Bigger Faster Stronger" magazine's first-team All-America football team.

Notes

-- Meadowdale graduate Sarah Brandt, a reserve guard on Harvard's women's basketball team, played in the Crimson's historic 71-67 upset over Stanford on Saturday in an NCAA tournament West Regional game.

Harvard (23-4), which became the first 16th seed to beat a No. 1 seed, posted its first NCAA tournament victory in three tries. The upset also snapped Stanford's 59-game winning streak at Maples Pavilion.

Brandt was a two-time All-WesCo player for Meadowdale, leading the Chiefs to a second-place finish at the 1994 AA tournament. She earned 11 varsity letters in basketball, soccer and track while at Meadowdale, and was The Seattle Times' north end female prep athlete of the year in 1994.

-- Kurt Karjalainen, an Oak Harbor graduate who won the AAA 129-pound state wrestling title as a senior in 1995, has been named a Division II All-American. Karjalainen, a junior at the University of Nebraska-Kearney, placed fifth in the nation at 134 pounds with a 31-11 record, including three pins. The top eight finishers in each weight class earn All-America recognition.

Karjalainen was one of four Nebraska-Kearney All-Americans, the Antelopes' most since 1982. Nebraska-Kearney placed ninth in the nation.

-- Snohomish graduate Keri Alexander, a freshman on the Central Washington women's basketball team, has been named to the Pacific Northwest Athletic Conference honorable mention team. Ten players, including one freshman, were selected to the PNWAC first team. Alexander, a 6-foot forward, was among six players, including two freshmen, who earned honorable-mention status.

-- Why settle for one when you can have two? The Snohomish United `86 Santos, an under-12 select boys soccer team, recently won its second straight state championship. Santos beat FC United of Tacoma 3-1, with two goals from Everett's Carl Merisko, an assist from Snohomish's Keegan Uderitz and steady goaltending from Joey Coverson, also of Snohomish. In the past two seasons, Santos is 47-0-2 against Washington soccer teams its own age and has outscored opponents 280-23.

-- Girls can do it, too! The Everett-based under-14 girls Shooting Stars soccer team won its third state championship in the past four seasons last weekend with a 3-1 victory over the South Snohomish County Stellarz. The Shooting Stars, of the North Snohomish County Youth Soccer Association, will represent Washington in a regional tournament in New Mexico in June.

-- Local ice skaters Ayla Webster, 10, and Chad Wall, 12, were scheduled to compete at this week's Junior Olympics in Dallas, Texas.

The competition, which began yesterday and runs through Saturday, features the country's top 17 juvenile pairs. The top three teams gain national status in pairs competition.