Sept. 14, 2000

University of Illinois at Chicago's Chris Stanley has grown accustomed to transition.

In four short years Stanley has transferred from the University of Mississippi to UIC, made the move from football player to cross country runner and is a member of the first UIC track team since 1985.

Stanley, who specializes in the half-mile, spent his freshman year as a member of the University of Mississippi track team and found his stay anything but enjoyable.

"You can have what you need in terms of facilities and programs, but if you're not happy, it's not going to be the best situation for you," Stanley said. "It wasn't where I wanted to be as a freshman. I wanted to be closer to home."

Stanley, who resides in LaGrange, Ill., made the logical trip to UIC.

"I told myself that I was finally where I wanted to be," Stanley said. "I was going to make it work."

Stanley, now a senior, was faced with an immediate challenge when he stepped on campus. He became a member of the cross country team in order to train for track season.

"I never did the cross country thing," Stanley said. "It was hard to adjust. The (team) has done one of the harder things they could imagine - turning me into a cross country runner."

Stanley took some time to adjust to the daily grind of a cross country runner.

"It took a good year just to see the extent of some of the workouts they do," Stanley said. "It took another year to actually do the workouts all the way through and have the confidence that I could do it."

One thing that Stanley is definitely confident about is the newest addition to the UIC family.

UIC Athletic Director Jim Schmidt announced last April that men and women's track will move from a club to an official sport.

"I didn't expect this to happen," Stanley said. "For all practical purposes our club was a team. I didn't ask for it to happen, but for it to happen my senior year is a blessing."