Athletes

Most recently, Julie Smith was a member of the U.S. team that won the gold medal at the 1999 Pan American Games, and she is ranked in the Top 10 of the Level 1 Team for 1999. She also won a gold medal in the 1997 Pan American Games Qualifying Tournament and at the 1996 Olympic Games with the U.S. national softball team.

At the 1995 Pan American Games she batted .276 and scored eight times, helping her team win the gold. In 1995, Smith played for the gold medal-winning North team at the U.S. Olympic Festival in Colorado. At the 1994 International Softball Federation Women's World Championship, Smith batted a .394 with 11 hits and scored nine times, once again helping her team clinch the gold. Smith also struck gold at the 1994 South Pacific Classic, the 1991 Pan American Games, and the 1987 Junior Girls World Championship.

Smith was an American Softball Association (ASA) first-team All-American selection and won the Erv Lind Award as the outstanding defensive player in the 1993 Women's Major Fast Pitch National Championship. She was also an ASA first-team All-American in 1991.

Smith began racking up the honors while attending Fresno State University, where she was named to the NCAA All-America first-team in 1990 and 1991 and to the NCAA Women's College World Series All-Decade Team in 1991 as well as the All-Tournament team. The Fresno State career leader in hitting (.359), single-season at-bats (263) and runs scored (100), she was named Fresno State University Female Athlete of the Year for the 1990-1991 school year.

Founder and president of TeamSmith Inc., a non-profit organization devoted to the betterment of the lives of children of all ages through charitable fundraising events and activities, Smith is a member of the Board of Directors of the United States Olympic Committee Athlete Advisory Council. (10/99)