Feb. 28, 2011
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- Check out the latest installment of SamfordSports.com's monthly feature stories which highlight the Bulldogs' talented student-athletes. February's piece features sophomore distance runner Lauren D'Alessio and was written by Assistant Sports Information Director Katie Walden.
Lauren D'Alessio: Home is as far away as you make it
Samford distance runner Lauren D'Alessio is just a sophomore and has already helped lead the Samford women's cross country team to back-to-back Southern Conference Championships. She also helped the track and field women to fourth place finishes in both the indoor and outdoor conference championships during her freshman season.
As a freshman, D'Alessio was the fifth runner to finish for Samford, earning 28th place at the SoCon Cross Country Championships in 2009. In 2010, D'Alessio moved to the front of the pack and was the first runner to finish for Samford, placing second overall just ahead of the Bulldogs' top runner, senior Hillary Neal.
She also finished 21st in the NCAA Cross Country Regional at Veterans Park in Hoover, Ala., leading the Bulldogs to a 10th place finish.
In her freshman season of track, she finished sixth in the 800 meters at the SoCon Indoor Championships, posting a personal best of 2:17.17 and earned All-Freshman honors. In the outdoor championships, she finished eighth in the 1500 meters to help the Bulldogs to a fourth place finish.
Also, just this past weekend, D'Alessio won the women's mile title at the 2011 SoCon Indoor Championships in Clemson, S.C., helping the Samford women to a fifth place finish.
D'Alessio, a native of nearby Pelham, Ala., was a two-sport athlete throughout grade school, starting with soccer when she was six but eventually following her father's footsteps into running around seventh grade.
She went into running blindly, competing in the 100 meters and the hurdles in worn out tennis shoes but she learned about the sport and began to get more serious about distance running in high school. By the end of her sophomore year, she had decided to concentrate fully on running.
"I just started running faster than I had been," D'Alessio said. "That's when I started getting really serious was my junior year of high school. The girls in soccer started getting bigger and I started getting smaller, so it just made sense."
When college first crossed her mind, D'Alessio knew she wanted to go to Samford. As a local girl, she saw the perks of staying close to home. However, as graduation approached closer at Pelham High School, D'Alessio began to look beyond the local scene for her future. She visited several schools, including South Carolina, but the "big school" atmosphere was just not appealing.
Soon, Samford came calling, offering her a spot on the cross country and track and field team, and D'Alessio gladly answered.
"It just felt like home," D'Alessio said. "You know, college is as far away as you want to make it."
The small family atmosphere that Samford presents to its students was just what D'Alessio was looking for. Although she is just minutes away from the home she grew up in, she has started calling Samford home too, and her teammates, family.
D'Alessio spoke of the bond she has with her teammates, especially with the women's cross country team.
"When you go from cross country [season] to track, that group is still the cross country girls," D'Alessio said. "It's just that bond we have from when we are together and the fact that we don't have an off-season. We go 24/7. It's intense, but it's worth it.
"Track is still my favorite though, especially outdoor, just the whole team being together and meshed as one. We're not that big of a team so we are still kind of like one big family."
Even though she is still considered one of the younger athletes on the Bulldog squad, D'Alessio knows that with her success also comes leadership.
"I feel like the decisions I make and the way that I go about training and presenting myself can definitely be something that other girls take in and try to do as well," D'Alessio said. "I feel like, for me anyways, someone that I follow and consider to be a leader is someone who isn't back-and-forth about what they should do. They are set in their ways and know what they want, and they are going to go after it and get it. I feel like I portray that pretty well."
Although D'Alessio is just a sophomore, she has a good grasp of what she wants her future to look like. A nutrition major, she wants to be able to pair her love of nutrition and being active with helping people. She would like to have her own consulting business for people who want to get in shape.
When D'Alessio is not running or studying, she is enjoying her family, food and the scenery around her.
The youngest of four children, D'Alessio says her family is one of the most important things to her. Besides the fact that she loves spending time with them, each person in her family has contributed to the person she is today. Her father is her running inspiration, her mother is her cooking buddy in the kitchen and her two brothers and one sister are her confidants for her in different situations in life.
"I'm really big on my family," D'Alessio said. "If I didn't have them, I wouldn't have a lot of things. I always consider my family and what I was brought up on in most of the things I do."
D'Alessio also enjoys cooking. It is not just the food that makes its appeal; it is the process of making the food that she enjoys too.
"You can learn a lot about yourself from cooking," D'Alessio said. "I'm pretty creative with the things I put together. I like making something out of nothing and trying to work with my resources."
Being outdoors is also a hobby of D'Alessio's. When it is beautiful outside especially, D'Alessio said she could "just sit outside and look at the trees." She says she loves to look and relax and be appreciative of what is around her and of every breath she takes.
Her love of the outdoors has also fueled a love of traveling which has inspired a desire to spend time in Europe in the future. Because running is so big in Europe, D'Alessio said she would love to move overseas and train if she continues to be successful in running.
D'Alessio says the possibilities of the future are what keep her going on a daily basis - the future and what it could bring if she keeps working hard in everything she does.
Three years ago, D'Alessio would have never thought she would be a featured athlete at Samford University, or find her picture when opening an issue of Samford's magazine, Seasons, or even see her image plastered on a life-sized banner around campus.
That just goes to show, the possibilities are endless when you work hard at something.
