Published 2011-08-30T20:20:00Z”/>
Dariush Dias Azmoudeh
While a student-athlete’s on-field performance is important, their performance in the classroom dictates their eligibility to even wear a Wildcat uniform.
Chico State cross-country and track athlete Alia Gray has shown what it takes to not only succeed in both arenas, but to excel despite multiple hurdles.
“She’s been a very well-rounded student-athlete on our team since the day she arrived on our campus,” cross-country coach Gary Towne said. “She is everything you hope for in a student-athlete.”
Gray has numerous awards to show for all the hard work she has put into running and school work. Her accolades on the track include All-American and All-California Collegiate Athletic Association honors, both acquired in 2009, and she holds the school record for the women’s 10K with a time of 34 minutes, 31 seconds.
Beyond the track, the journalism major has a total of four academic awards given to active intercollegiate athletes with at least two years of college completed and a GPA of 3.5 or higher.
“She’s probably one of the hardest workers I know and is very passionate about the sport,” said Kara Lubieniecki, former Chico State runner and Gray’s close friend. “She shows a lot of her intensity in the classroom. She’s a perfectionist and really applies herself to her academic work.”
Lubieniecki credits Gray’s contagious personality and hard work ethic to helping each other get better at
the sport.
“She’s more of an endurance runner and I’m more of a speed runner,” Lubieniecki said. “Having her complement my weakness has helped me get better.”
Outside of school, the fifth-year runner enjoys reading, doing yoga and cooking, she said. Her specialty is baking banana chocolate chip bread.
The Santa Rosa native attended Maria Carrillo High School, where she first began playing soccer but stopped after an injury to her ACL and meniscus that
required surgery.
She began running track in her junior year of high school after a friend introduced her to the sport, she said.
Towne was told by the Maria Carrillo track coach that Gray was “someone who is flying over the radar” and that there was “untapped potential” in the former soccer player. Towne chose to recruit her to Chico State.
“She had the carpet pulled out from underneath her a couple of times,” Towne said. “Sometimes people let that completely bury them as far as their confidence or their willingness to do the work to get back, but she really pushed through and kept a positive mindset throughout.”
Her passion and perseverance have been a necessity in recent years when Gray was waylaid by a few injuries. The first was a buildup of scar tissue in her right calf that prevented her from competing in track in the spring 2010 season. The second was a nerve entrapment behind her left knee that cut her 2010 cross-country season short.
Gray looks to bounce back this upcoming season and said her goal is to finish within the top 15 in a national competition, but she would like to see the entire team get on the podium.
“The team feels like a family,” Gray said. “I couldn’t have picked a better program to be in. This has been a really good place to grow.”
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<strong>Dariush Dias Azmoudeh can be reached at</strong>
<em>[email protected]</em>
