Hall of Fame
One of the finest all-around swimmers ever to compete at Towson, Meilani Smith Snellenberger '96 was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2009.
Honored as the Tigers’ Most Valuable Performer for four consecutive seasons, the Kent, Ohio native led Towson to four straight winning seasons and a 31-20 record in her career.
Named as an All-Academic selection by the National Swimming Coaches Association three times, Meilani graduated with a B.A. degree in Education.
A three-year team captain, she broke school records in the 200 I.M. (2:14.44), the 400 I.M. (4:45.10) and the 200-butterfly (2:08.39).
A member of the Tigers’ record-setting 800-free relay team (8:06.37), she also ranked among the Tigers’ top performers in the 50-free and the 100-free. When she graduated, she also owned the Tigers’ second-best time in the 200-free, the 500-free and the 1000-free.
As a relay swimmer, she was a member of some of the top relay teams in school history, including the 200-free relay, the 400-free relay, the 200-medley relay and the 400-medley relay.
In her senior season, the Tigers made their debut in the North Atlantic Conference (which later became America East). Meilani enjoyed a terrific senior season by going undefeated in the 100-fly and the 200-fly in the Tigers’ dual meets. In fact, she was a triple winner in 12 of Towson’s 14 meets, leading the Tigers to an 8-6 record.
At the North Atlantic Conference championship meet, she was the Tigers’ top performer, leading Towson to a seventh place finish in its first NAC Championship. Meilani was the NAC runner-up in the 200-butterfly and finished third in the 100-fly.
The mother of three children, she resides in her hometown of Kent, Ohio with her husband, Emmett Snellenberger. Although she gave up competitive swimming when she graduated from Towson, she is still very active as a swimming coach.
In addition to spending two years as an assistant swimming coach at Roosevelt High School, she was an assistant coach for the Seariders Swim Team.
After taking some time off when her children were young, she has returned to coaching at LifeCenter Plus. Very active in her community, she served on the Kent City Schools Health and Wellness Committee which wrote and implemented a wellness policy in the Kent City Schools.
She has also served as the Secretary of the Stewart Lake Association and has been very involved in the PTA program at her local school.
