Sept. 4, 2014

Throughout the fall, GamecocksOnline will catch up with members of the women’s cross country team for a feature called The 6K. This edition features freshman Allie Sprague of Marengo, Ill.

Being from Illinois, what have you had to change to deal with the difference in climate?
It’s a lot different. I’m not used to so much humidity so that’s kind of the difference. You just have to get used to it. It’s just part of the mental thing. You get over it and you run.

How did it feel placing second in your first collegiate meet?
That was very exciting. It was definitely a smaller meet, but I was happy with it. It definitely gave me more confidence in my running. It was a good starting point, but there’s still a lot more work to be done.

How did you get started competing in cross country and track?
We had a fun run at our house with my sister’s middle school cross country team and I was in third grade at the time. Her coach asked if I wanted to run in it with the team so I said sure. I went and I did two miles as a third grader in sandals around my house. It was really fun and I’ve liked it ever since.

How long have you been running competitively?
I’ve been running for a very long time, almost 10 years. I started in fifth grade so running is kind of all I’ve ever known. I wasn’t really good at many other sports and I just loved running.

What has been your favorite memory as an athlete?
My senior year cross country season. Cross country is always a harder sport for me versus track and I never really felt that I had true success in cross country until my senior year when I finally got all-state after working at it for so long.

Where is your favorite place to go for run?
By my house back home there is the Marengo Ridge. It’s really nice to run there and it’s close to my house so I can actually run there and just run loops on the trails in the forest area.

The Gamecocks next competition will be on Sept. 13 as they host the USC Open #1 at 9 a.m., at Hilton Field on Fort Jackson.