Charles Nailen/The Hoya

Sport: Cross Country/Track

Events: Cross Country, 5km, 10km

Hometown: Marion, Va.

High School: Marion Senior High School

School/Year: COL ’06

Major: Undecided

High School Highlights: Placed 11th at the 2001 Foot Locker National Cross Country Championships . Virginia State AA 3200 Champion . Salutatorian of graduating class . Chess club for four years (Vice President junior year).

Georgetown Highlights: Placed first on the team and sixth overall at the 2003 NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Cross Country Championship . 2002: Earned a spot on the U.S. Junior National Cross Country Team with a sixth-place finish at the National Championship in Houston, Texas . Placed third on the team and 108th overall at the NCAA Cross Country Championships . Placed third on the team and eighth overall at the NCAA id-Atlantic Regional Cross Country Championships . Finished fifth on the team and 16th overall at the Big East Cross Country Championships . Placed fifth on the team and 53rd overall at the Great American Cross Country Festival . Placed third on the team and fourth overall at the Great Meadows Invitational.

Is Fleet your real name? It’s an old family name. It’s really my middle name. My first name is James, but I’ve gone by Fleet my whole life. It’s not just because I’m a runner.

How did you get into running? I started running in eighth grade. My brother ran throughout high school and convinced me to start. At first I did it as more of a social thing, but I decided to get serious about it the summer before junior year of high school. I started training harder and that’s when I really started running well.

Who is the person you aspire most to be like and why? I guess a role model for me would be Lance Armstrong just because of the way he persevered through cancer and the way he came back and has been so dominant for such a long time.

One habit you have that your friends give you a hard time about: Whenever I go somewhere, I walk really slowly and they always tell me to speed up. But I feel like if I conserve energy, I’ll be a better runner.

Most challenging aspect of track: Just the time commitment every day, because a lot of days we run in the morning and you just feel like staying in bed. Or you don’t feel like going to four or five hours of practice every day.

Best thing about going home: There’s this place in Marion called the Snow Shack. They make great snow cones. They have a parking lot, so you can just sit there and watch the cars go by and eat your snow cone. It’s great.

One non-sports related thing you hope to accomplish before you graduate: I’ve always wanted to cover the John Carroll statue in aluminum foil. I think that’d be neat. Or I’ve also wanted to steal the big stuffed bulldog in the lobby [of McDonough]. It’d be great to have that in your dorm.

One thing you would grab if your house was on fire: I’ve got this really cool blue ruffle tuxedo shirt that I like a lot, so I think I’d grab that. It was actually my dad’s but now it’s mine. It’s really cool.

Favorite running event: Cross country in the fall. To me, going around and around the track gets a little boring. I like running through the woods and grass. And you can throw elbows and no one will see you.

One thing that most people do not know about you: I’m an excellent Minesweeper player. I play all the time.

Farthest you have ever run: Probably 17 miles in one run.

Favorite childhood memory: When I was a freshman in high school, my brother broke up with his girlfriend and he was really angry with her. So we got a whole sack of flour and shredded newspaper and water and just paper-mached her car. And we put it on blocks, too. It was great.

If you could own any one sports franchise, which one would it be and why? Probably the San Francisco Giants, because I love their stadium and they have Barry Bonds, and I’m a big Barry Bonds fan.

If you could be great at any other sport, what would it be and why? I’d be a professional baseball player probably, because that was my childhood dream growing up, but I was never that good. I’m a big baseball fan, anyway.

Stereotype about runners that annoys you the most: Sometimes when I tell people that I’m a runner, they think that I don’t eat much at all, just because I’m a runner. But it’s definitely not true. I love eating. It’s one of my favorite pastimes.

Favorite food: Fried okra.

Biggest obstacle you have had to overcome: In the spring of my junior year in high school, I had multiple stress fractures in my right leg, and I couldn’t run for four months. It was a rough time – very depressing. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to run again.

If you could have any one superpower, what would it be and why? Probably being able to fly, so anytime I needed a vacation I could get out of here. And I wouldn’t have to walk anywhere.

What goes through your head when you are running? A lot of times I have random thoughts. I’ll start singing to myself or if I pass a pretty girl I’ll think about her -anything to distract myself from the pain, a lot of weird, random thoughts. A lot of times I’ll think about what I’m going to have for dinner that night.

Favorite movie: Hot Shots! Part Deux.

Least favorite movie: Clueless.

What did you want to be when you were little? When I was in primary school, I wanted to be the cafeteria cook because I thought I could eat however much I wanted.

What do you want to be now? I want to be the next SportsCenter anchor. That’s my goal now.

Best concert you have ever been to: I went to an AC/DC concert my junior year in high school. It was awesome. I loved it.

Favorite track memory: My junior year in high school we had a good team and at the regional meet we went one through six and had a perfect score.

Finish the sentence: This world would be a better place if . everyone just relaxed a little bit.

Favorite way to relax: I like to sit at home and watch movies, like the Naked Gun series. Those are some of my favorites.

Hardest adjustment you had to make coming to college: I had to get used to doing homework first. And it was kind of hard to remember what buildings I had my classes in and not getting lost because I’m from a small town and I get lost easily.

Three books on your ideal bookshelf: Once a Runner (John L. Parker), Lance Armstrong’s autobiography, It’s Not About the Bike, and The Prince of Tides (Pat Conroy).

First thing you do when you wake up in the morning: If it’s not running, then I put on my big, fluffy bear paw slippers.

Biggest pet peeve: I hate it when people change their clothes too much and worry about what they look like. It’s just not important.

Favorite runner: “Pistol” Pete Sherry. He won the 2003 Marine Corps Marathon.

One thing you want to be remembered for: I’d want people, when they think of me, to think he did everything he could to reach his full potential. I don’t want to look back and think I could have worked harder.

Favorite thing to order from Wisey’s: I guess Burger Madness.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be and why? I’d be a naturally great boxer so I could beat up Father Wildes.

Most interesting person you have met: I guess anyone from New York is really interesting to me, because their accents are weird and it seems they’re always in a hurry and they’re Yankees fans, which is hard for me to understand. And the ones from Long Island think it is God’s gift, and I don’t understand it. I’ve heard it called the “Mother Land” several times, and that’s interesting to me.

One piece of advice you would give to incoming freshman: Make sure you don’t request to live in New South, and don’t take school too seriously.

What is under your bed right now? Probably a bunch of dirty laundry and maybe a few suitcases. I try not to look under there very often.