While he may have already passed the mantle of No. 1 runner to freshman Brad Yewer, Greg Sprowl is still the unquestioned leader of ETSU cross country.
“I take the leadership role very, very seriously,” said the Bucs No. 2 runner from Bethlehem, N.J.
“He’s a good leader,” said head coach Dave Walker. “He’s quite vocal. … Sometimes I wish he wasn’t quite as vocal.”
Sprowl recognizes, too, that sometimes he can overdo it.
“At times I can be overly critical,” he said. “There’s definitely some refinement needed.”
Still, he said the reason he is so passionate is because he cares so much.
“I throw in a lot of caring words,” he said.
Regardless of his style, however, he had to meet the challenge of handing over the on-course leadership role to Yewer.
“I was one of the first people who greeted him,” Sprowl said. “Brad and I get along very well.”
In fact, Yewer and Sprowl are the two oldest guys on the team. The former came over from his native England, where he had spent a few extra years before coming to college in the states.
Sprowl was not going to cede his position easily, however.
“I try to beat Brad in every race,” the fifth-year senior said, adding that he welcomed the challenge.
Yet he realizes what Yewer means to the team and the program in general.
“This team’s that much more stronger” because Yewer is present, he said. “Nationals is definitely in his future.”
The arrival of Yewer is indeed a boost to ETSU cross country, a far cry from a couple of years ago when Sprowl and teammates feared for the program’s livelihood.
After former coach Milan Donley left, Sprowl said a rumor had been circulating amongst the runners suggesting the program might not continue.
Into the void stepped the legendary Walker, who had retired two years earlier. A coach with decades of success at ETSU on his resume, he was an abrupt change from Donley, one that Sprowl said came at the right time.
“Coach Donley was really important in my development,” he said. Sprowl, who had not run in high school, actually walked on to Donley’s team as a freshman. Donley nurtured his talents and in a year, Sprowl began to blossom.
“My sophomore year in cross country I became a real contributor to the team,” he said.
Then came Walker.
“He expected more out of me,” Sprowl said.
A “`50’s and `60s no-nonsense” man, according to Sprowl, Walker has become a pushing force in his career.
“There’s always a fear factor” with Walker, Sprowl said.
The taskmaster was nothing new to Sprowl, a ROTC cadet, however. After having been in ROTC for three years now, Sprowl will join the Army upon his graduation in December.
Despite the troubled times, however, the cadet does not seem at all anxious.
“I’m not sure whether the regular army’s going to fit into this” Sprowl said of the U.S. campaign against terrorism. “I don’t know if it’s directly going to affect me.
“You enter knowing the risks,” Sprowl said of the Army, which he added has given him many opportunities. “It may be my turn to repay them.”
In spite of a somewhat unsure future, the impending graduate does have a few major goals.
“I’m going to continue running,” Sprowl said, who is not afraid to attempt to tackle the imposing goal of someday making the Olympics.
“That would be a long-term goal,” he said, adding that he might also like to go to medical school and/or become a pharmacist, too.
For now, however, he will count down the waning days of his college career and await his entrance into the military.
“I’m going into the Army with no illusions,” he said.

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