Not One, But Two Championship Athletes From The City of Beloit

Both graduated from Beloit Memorial High School. 但这两位运动员还有其他共同点:他们都有资格参加在拉克罗斯举行的NCAA第三级户外田径锦标赛, Wis., May 24-26.

“当我还是一名高中新生的时候，我们必须给未来的自己写一封信,” recalls Laun-Smith. 她在信中提到了自己上伯洛伊特学院(Beloit College)的愿望，并承认现在的感觉是“兜了个圈”.” Her mother, Angelika Laun’89, is a Beloit alumna.

Gutierrez’s path to the college wasn’t so easy.

“Soccer’s in my blood,” he says, describing his dream to pursue a professional soccer career upon graduation. 为了实现这一目标，他最初计划上一所一级州立学校，但由于他的公民身份，他无法获得经济援助.

“Looking back, I’m just glad I got the opportunity to go to college,” he says. “Beloit offered me an awesome financial aid package, basically covered all my tuition, and coming from a minority and low income family, as a first-generation college student, that was huge.”

Both students are multi-sport athletes. Laun-Smith registered an amazing first year in collegiate track and field, breaking multiple school records and winning six Midwest Conference titles. She also plays volleyball. 古铁雷斯是一名优秀的田径运动员，也是该校足球队的明星.

At the track and field championships, Gutierrez finished seventh and earned All-America honors in the 400-meter hurdles, becoming the second male track and field athlete to do so in Beloit’s history. Laun-Smith went into the conference seeded second nationally for the triple jump. 她最终排名第17位，但仍然保持乐观，并将目光投向了未来. “If I have a bad run, sometimes I get frustrated, but then I get over it and concentrate on the next meet,” she says.

Laun-Smith and Gutierrez both like to compete and win, and they aren’t shy about declaring that confidence. Gutierrez credits his parents, who “sacrificed everything” to come to the States, as his grounding factor.

Summer was a busy time for both students.

Laun-Smith, an undeclared major with a passion for history, completed a six-week paid internship with the Beloit Historical Society. 她正在编制一本19世纪40年代到20世纪初在伯洛伊特的非裔美国人的参考书目, a population that predates the Great Migration. 她希望能够以学生俱乐部黑人学生联合会(Black Students United)的历史学家的身份分享这项工作. For his part, Gutierrez utilized the Beloit alumni network, connecting with Eddie Rock’99, 是谁帮他找到了芝加哥消防局设备经理助理的暑期实习机会, a professional soccer club. (Rock is the team’s senior director of operations.) Gutierrez also played forward over the summer with a semi-pro DeKalb (Ill.) soccer team.