Posted 1/29/08
Alison Ross is a UW-Platteville junior track and field athlete from German Valley, Ill. She took part on the winning 4x200 and 4x400 relays at the Nike/Impact Sports Platteville Open on Jan. 19 to open the Pioneers' indoor season.
UW-Platteville prepared for this track season a little differently, traveling to Greece Jan. 4-14. How was the trip and what were your favorite memories?
"Overall, it was an amazing trip. I had never been overseas before, so I was a little nervous, but it was really fun traveling with friends. As far as training, most of the facilities were really nice, which was cool. The only hard thing is we would train early in the morning then get ready real quick to tour or travel. By the end of 10 days, we were exhausted, but it was an amazing trip. Some of the best places were Olympia, where we got to see the original Olympics site. We got to run a fake race on the original track. It was really neat to think of everything that went on there."
When you first came to UW-Platteville, did you ever imagine your track experience would take you to Greece?
"No. I always wanted to travel overseas, but I never knew how I'd get there. This never crossed my mind."
Why did you originally come to UWP?
"When I was first looking for a school, I always said for some reason that I would never go here. I don't even know why. Then my mom told me about the Tri-State Initiative, and we looked that up. I applied and then came up here for a visit. I really liked the atmosphere. I came up from a small town, and even though this was bigger, it was not a huge cultural shock. I also talked to Coach (Jim) Nickasch, and we didn't have hurdlers at the time. That drew me in the most. I liked the atmosphere and everybody I met. The recruiting and touring process was awesome. It turned out to be an easy decision for me."
What events do you run?
"During indoors I'm running a lot of events, the 200 and 400 open, which will be my two main events. I'm also doing the 55 dash just to work on speed, and I also do the 4x200 and 4x400 relays. That's all training for outdoors, basically. I do the 400 hurdles outdoors, which is my specialty, so I do all the 400s indoors I can. Everyone in my family has run the 300 hurdles in high school, and my dad coached me in that. I like the 400 hurdles a lot because the people that run it are pretty cool. They're all like, 'OK, we can get through it.' It's a tough race and takes a lot of mental preparation."
What are your goals for this season?
"I would love for our 4x400 to get to nationals, either indoor or outdoor or both. Last year, I placed fifth outdoors in the 400 hurdles, and this year I'd like to be in the top three and hopefully qualify for nationals. I'm about a second and a half away for that (from the provisional qualifying mark). It's kind of a big jump, but if I focus on my training, it's reachable."
What is your major and what would you like to do after graduation?
"I major in elementary education, and I'd like to teach fifth grade. I'd like to coach track or basketball, too, because I really enjoy playing them. Eventually, I'd like to get my master's in guidance counseling, but not until I've taught for a while."
You also get very good grades (3.75 cumulative grade-point average). How has athletics helped you in that regard?
"It puts my priorities in focus. I know I want to run, and I know I want to be a good teacher. I'm not going to sacrifice one for the other. I manage my time well. I'm one of those people who live by the 8-to-5 full-time rule. I get up in the morning, and if I don't have class I do homework. I try and use all my time. I have a lot of night homework because of practice, but it's definitely doable. Being in athletics helps me out. Too much free time is not a good thing if you have time to procrastinate."
Interview by Sports Information Director Paul Erickson