McCallie's Walton to run at Alabama

Gil Walton looked completely out of place when competing in some cross country events the past few seasons. Unable to run with the McCallie varsity due to receiving scholarship money for his academic prowess, Walton ran either unattached or in junior varsity races, which he usually dominated.

At his next destination, there will be nothing holding him back.

Walton recently signed scholarship papers to run for the University of Alabama starting this fall. He's from Daphne, Ala., and three of his top five posted cross country times were in his home state, including a finish of 15 minutes, 42.20 seconds in the Scottsboro Invitational.

He scored a 34 on the ACT and has a 3.76 grade point average. He's undecided on his major but said he could possibly double-major, as he's already been taking Advanced Placement classes.

Walton has been named to the Best of Preps cross country team in his career but admitted that not being a full-fledged member of the Blue Tornado was frustrating.

"I felt isolated a lot," Walton said. "I was able to practice with the team, and they pushed me, but it was hard for me because if I wanted to run well, I had to be mentally strong and physically strong, because I was running alone and didn't have anybody to push me ... no one to share the workload."

He said the draw of running in the Southeastern Conference - what he called the nation's top league in track and field - was too good to pass up.

"The team is pretty cohesive, and I'll have a chance to run with some top-notch competition," he said. "It's going to help a lot to be able to compete with other runners. I visited a lot of schools, but when I went there and hung out with the team and the coaching staff, I knew that's where I wanted to go."

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