Running to the Region: Calloway signs with Purdue Northwest

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Rochester’s Allyson Calloway signs with Purdue Northwest to continue her academic and cross-country and track careers. From left – Amy Calloway, Allyson’s mother; Allyson; Scott Calloway, Allyson’s father.

Rochester senior Allyson Calloway is ready to take the next step in her running career – literally – as she has signed with Purdue Northwest to continue her academic and running careers.

Calloway’s high school cross-country career at Rochester was transformative for both the sport and the school.

After her freshman year, the IHSAA scrapped the semistate, which made advancement in the state tournament series more difficult.

And Calloway had three different coaches – from Scott Stalbaum as a freshman to Alex Gudeman as a sophomore and junior to Troy Pryor as a senior.

Calloway was a steady presence. She was a four-time individual regional qualifier in cross-country, and she was the team’s frontrunner for three years.

Rochester did not have enough runners for a complete team her first three years, but the popularity of cross-country increased again as a senior as the team finished second in the Three Rivers Conference under new coach Troy Pryor.

She finished her prep career with a personal best 20:11 at the regional at Huntington University.

Zachary Hoover was named the new men’s and women’s cross-country and track coach at Purdue Northwest in July. Prior to getting the Purdue Northwest job, Hoover worked as an assistant coach at Lewis University in Romeoville, Ill. Calloway’s older sister Madilyn, a 2022 Rochester grad, is currently a senior at Lewis.

“I just felt it was the right fit for me in general,” Calloway said. “The coaching is really great. Obviously, I had great coaching here at Rochester, but I’m really excited to see what I’m capable of under coach Hoover. I really trust his training already, and I’m excited to see what I can do.

“The team had a really good atmosphere and environment, and they made me feel welcomed. I loved the campus and just everything about it.”

Calloway said she felt at the end of last year or early this year that she could run in college. 

“I feel like the beginning of this year was when I realized truly my potential where I actually had the ability to possibly run, so probably the end of last track season or the beginning of this season.”

She described the recruiting process as “unique” and said it involved being proactive. She said she did a lot of “self-advocating.”

She said her sister helped provide her with some questions she could ask college coaches.

Purdue Northwest’s athletic programs are headquartered in Hammond.

“It’s kind of shaped like a rectangle,” Calloway said. “So there’s a parking lot with the athletic building, and they have apartment-style dorms. And so that’s on one side of the road, and then you cross the road, and that’s where all the actual campus is at. So the buildings are really nice and new, and I liked it all.”

Calloway said she wants to be a physical therapist. She said she has a cousin who is a physical therapist, and she said she is fascinated by the different rehab processes that athletes face when they recover from injuries.

“While PNW doesn’t necessarily have an exercise science major, I will be doing integrative human health with a focus in kinesiology,” Calloway said.