Sept. 9, 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 junior Stephanie Berger of West Salem, Ohio.

What brought you to South Carolina?
It was the international business program. I walked onto the team. I knew that I wanted to race and I figured that I had more to give to running, so I just wanted to see how that panned out.

How did it feel winning your first collegiate race earlier this season at the Carolina Invitational?
It was a good experience. I have a depth chart from my freshman year and I was at the bottom of the list out of 30 girls. To be able to work my way up is rewarding.

What do you enjoy most about competing in cross country and distance events?
I love that you can set goals and they’re very tangible. It’s not like other sports where you have an objective to perform this move. What I like is that you can set a time and work toward that. It’s fun trying to knock it down.

Where is your favorite place to run?
Back home because it’s in the country and there are country roads, it’s very isolated. It’s very idyllic and peaceful. Everybody knows each other on the roads and there’s not too much traffic, and the cars that do pass by, it’s people I know and they wave.

What was it like running in a road race in Istanbul, Turkey?
I didn’t really know what to expect so I went out hard and was running with a pack of guys and this one Turkish guy and I were pacing each other during the race. Probably around 15K I started falling off, but he would wait and motion at me to pull me up closer so that gave me some motivation to run with him. That was something unexpected, but overall it was a good experience.

What has been the most challenging part of being student-athlete?
Trying to balance both. A great example is the study abroad experience. Usually student-athletes can’t study abroad a semester. If they study abroad, it’s during the summer, but I wanted to study abroad for a full semester so I could have full classes because summer classes you can’t learn as much in a real academic setting. That was a challenge. It’s been a really great experience fusing both together and utilizing them because when I finish college I’m going to be able to walk away feeling that I achieved goals that I set in both areas.

The Gamecocks next competition will be on Sept. 13 hosting the USC Open No. 1 at 9 a.m., at Hilton Field on Fort Jackson.