Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
(written by Ben Nordman, Student Sports Information Assistant)

Oct. 26, 2017 - While a good portion of collegiate athletes have been doing their sport for their whole lives, North Central College senior women's cross country runner Allison Hartman has not always been a runner. She started off in dance, where she was highly successful, even winning a state championship in high school. 

"I was a dancer up until sophomore year of high school and was technically a state champion. The next year I only ran cross country because I wasn't going to dance in college," said Hartman. "I tried running in middle school, went to one practice and then quit. My freshman year my brother basically forced me to do it and then I ended up liking it."  

After she realizing that she did enjoy running, Hartman wanted to continue her running career past high school but was not exactly sure where. It was not until she got around to visiting North Central that she knew where she wanted to be, ultimately making the decision to become a Cardinal. 

"It was my very last college visit. I didn't even do an overnight or official visit, I just came and met the coaches, walked around campus, and it felt like home," she said. "I visited ten schools; North Central was the last one and it happened to be the right one." 

Hartman, a journalism major, has definitely found a home here at North Central, becoming involved with many activities on campus and around the Chicagoland area. She has become heavily involved in The Chronicle, the college's student newspaper, serving as the editor-in-chief last year and currently the managing editor. 

"I do the day-to-day things, making sure everything gets out on time and I do a lot of editing. It's a big time commitment," said Hartman. 

In addition to The Chronicle, Hartman interned at Chicago Buzz marketing as well as Naperville Running Company, controlling the social media for the store, which she continues to do even after her internship ended. She is also a part of the English Honor Society, having done the public relations for the honor society her junior year. 

When she is fulfilling one of her many responsibilities on campus, you can find Hartman spending time with her teammates, one of whom is her sister, Payton. 

"It's awesome-- [Payton and I are] different in a lot of ways but I love it because it is comforting to have someone here from my family," said Hartman. "It's like a little slice of home." 

The home that Hartman talks about is Loves Park, Ill. where her family owns three Dairy Queens, a place where she would spend a lot of time when she was growing up.  

"I started to be on the payroll when I was 15 but before that when I was around 12 or 13 years-old I would help with cruise nights and basically hung out and gave out prizes," she said, recalling the memory. "After that I decorated cakes until I came to school." 

Although she does not decorate cakes for her parents anymore, Hartman keeps a close bond with them and says that she does what she does because of them. She considers her parents her role models and has two of her other role models here at North Central; her coaches Mahesh Narayanan and Brian Henz. 

Some of Hartman's favorite things about her college experience come from her running career, with a trip to nationals her freshman year and building a bond with her teammates. Reflecting on those memories she has made during her college career, she feels nostalgic that she is going to miss the team that she has been a part of the last four years. 

"Being with the team in general is going to be one of the things I remember the most," she said. "Getting to spend three hours a day just hanging out with my teammates while running-- I probably won't get that luxury of getting a big group of people together to do something I like to do [after graduating]." 

After she does graduate, Hartman has big dreams that not only involve her journalism degree but her love for running as well. 

"If everything in life worked out in my favor I would like to work for Runners World," she said. "I really like their podcasts so that is something that I would like to do. That would be the ultimate dream but otherwise working for an endurance sports magazine would be awesome." 

With graduation still six months away, Hartman is focused on finishing her cross country season out strong, with the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) championship on Oct. 28 at St. James Farm in Warrenville. The women's race is scheduled to start at 12:45 PM.