Champions' TriBUne Archive

By: Alison Andrews-Paul
 
Champions' TriBUne is a special feature through Baylor Athletics that will give you the student-athlete's perspective and tell their story in their voice. Alison Andrews-Paul is a junior from Masterton, New Zealand, who has earned three All-Big 12 honors on the track and been the lead runner for the cross country team in four of five meets this fall. Andrews-Paul and the Bears will run at the NCAA South Central Region Championships on Friday in College Station.

I'm from a small, very farm-based community in New Zealand, and come from a family of seven, so I have four siblings – an older brother, a younger brother and two younger sisters. And we all played soccer from a very early age.
 
My primary school was a little country school with about 200 kids in grades 1-6. I loved that place, like I knew everyone. Right from a young age, no one wanted to play tag with me, because I was a fast kid. I guess that's where my running started, and then I was pretty good at cross country.
 
My parents didn't push me into the sport and were both very supportive. After some small success in cross country at a young age, I was that kid that forgot to quit. I thank my mum, especially, for leading me to believe that I could be good in anything I wanted to pursue. My dad became my coach, with the philosophy that as long as I am committed, he'll take me where I want to go.


 
This led to a few head butts between us as I got older, but for the most part we have a great partnership. I appreciated it then, but now I really understand now how much time and effort he put into me. Even getting to small meets would require an hour and a half drive to Wellington and back for races.
 
As I got faster, there really wasn't anyone to race. There were times where the fastest girl would be a 2:15 (half-miler), and that's just not conducive to running fast times. I'd have to advocate to run in the boys' race, which wasn't always advantageous, either. I had a training partner for one year, and that changed the game for me. I loved it. That taught me what a team environment can achieve.
 
There are a few things that led to the U.S. becoming a really good option for me. First, I loved running and I wanted to keep doing that. That was the only thing I really knew about myself at the end of the high school. I had things I was interested in, but no narrow focus in terms of academics. I still wasn't sure. I just knew I wanted to keep running.
 
Basically, through email connections, I met Coach (Todd) Harbour, and I really believed in him. That, honestly, was the initial reason I looked at Baylor and didn't really look anywhere else, because I was so comfortable with what his philosophy was and where he thought he could take me.
 
He considered taking me when I was a 2:10 runner, and then in the space of one season I got four seconds faster. A few other schools had contacted me by then, but I am really big into being loyal. And the fact that he believed in me before anyone else was a good indicator to me that no matter what, this guy was going to take me where I wanted to go.

Since I was competing in the World Under-20 Championships that summer in Poland, I didn't even get to make a visit. When I came as a freshman, that was my first time even seeing Texas. But, while I was over there, I got to meet Wil London, Taylor Bennett and Aaliyah Miller.
 
I won my opening heat in the 800 meters, which I was really excited about, and then I hear running behind me and thought it was one of my New Zealand teammates. But, it was actually Aaliyah. She literally jumped on my back and was like, "HI! You ran so good!" It was an immediate friendship. That was my first time meeting her, and I was like, "Wow, this kid has got a lot of energy!"
 
My first semester, I was terribly homesick. Every cultural thing I understood was changed and the training was very different than what I'd been used to, and I was struggling a little bit in it as well. Cross country my freshman year was not great, which was disheartening.
 
But then, I went home for Christmas break, had a break and got to be with my dad. And then I realized that I had adjusted to the training some, because I was excited to come back in January. By the end of the Christmas break, I was like, "OK, I'm ready for this." The indoor track season was new to me, and I had a lot of fun. It felt great to great to go those big meets and run fast and remember that I was fast and that's why I was here.
 
As a freshman, I didn't fully understand how big a deal it was going to the Big 12 Indoor Championships. I really wish I had been able to do more. In the end, it didn't matter, we still took home the trophy. But, I'd say the biggest thing I took from that experience is I want to do this again and I want to be a bigger player as a part of that, because I only scored four points total from the distance medley relay and the 800 meters. It was awesome to win it as a team, but I wanted to feel like it was mine when I didn't quite feel that way.
 
My respect for distance runners has grown a ton since I've been here. I'm from more of a 400 and 800 (meters) background, so I was used to doing things fast right from the get-go and focusing on speed. I had to learn how to taper or moderate those first few reps a lot better, and it's something I'm still working on. A big part of that is because I do believe that I can hang with that, and then it's like, "Not quite yet, Alison, just be a little patient." It's just so hard.
 
This has been a lot better cross country season for me, but I still don't think I've hit my potential. I don't think I've even come close. I feel like I run better in practice than I do in races, so I'm still trying to figure out what things can I do now that will allow me to translate the work I know I've done into a good race? Maybe that's another year of strength, maybe that's another week of freshness, we'll see.
 
Cross country, sometimes I just smile, because it's crazy. To stand on the line with 240 other girls, it's just crazy. I was looking at a photo I was in from Pre-Nationals, and it was just bodies everywhere.
 
I'm a public health major, and I'm not sure what I want to do with that yet, but I think the public health program at Baylor is underrated. I just love how real it feels and the great group of people I see and get to study with. And the professors are amazing.


 
I really like the family atmosphere here. That is something unique about Baylor that they really do emphasize that. The crew over at Highers is so awesome. They are so committed to building character, and I didn't fully understand that I until I joined the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee this year. I'm so excited, because they've got some really cool things going on that are going to be put in place in the future.
 
I'm not sure where life will take me after this, but I hope that I can keep running and get the chance to represent New Zealand again on the international stage.
 
Honestly, putting on that black singlet for me is an unreal feeling, like it's incomparable to anything else I've ever experienced. And it's definitely something that drives me every day. I bring the thunder when I wear the black singlet. National pride is a big deal in New Zealand, especially in the sporting world, because while we are small in terms of population, we still hold our own on the world stage, and that's something that we're all very proud of.

Previous Champions' TriBUne Features
Football- Ira Lewis (Nov. 6, 2018)