It's not surprising that Julie Grialou's running idol is Joan Benoit-Samuelsson.

After all, they're both winners. Benoit won the 1984 Olympic gold medal in the women's marathon. Grialou has been the Crimson's first finisher in four women's cross-country races this year--more than any other team member.

They both hail from New England colleges. Benoit-Samuelsson attended Bowdoin College; Grialou attends Harvard.

But those are not the sole reasons why the Harvardian looks up to the Olympian.

"She [Benoit-Samuelsson] has a really good attitude and she keeps it all in perspective," says Grialou.

The 5-ft., 2-in. sophomore has always tried to keep her life in perspective and her options open.

Born to an athletic family, the native Californian parlayed her skills to letter in two sports (soccer and basketball) during her junior year in high school.

It was only in her senior year when she decided to branch out into cross-country running.

"I got more involved in [cross-country] because we would run at the beginning of soccer, getting in shape, and I kind of liked it," Grialou says.

So, she lettered in three sports during her senior year--but it wasn't quite enough to get her accepted early to Harvard.

"My senior year I applied early and didn't get in," she says. "Then I thought, "Oh, God, I don't even want to go there,' but I knew I did."

Grialou made the effort to reapply to Harvard (and to apply to six other schools just in case she was turned down again). The second time, however, brought different results: she was accepted and would come to Cambridge the following fall.

But that summer, Harvard cross-country Coach Ed Sheehan sent her a summer training handbook.

"It was pretty tough," Grialou says. "I looked at it and thought, "No, I don't want to do cross-country,' and I didn't do it last year."

Instead of running cross-country, she opted for the indoor confines of fall track. But she only ran one race due to injury.