University of Georgia Athletics
Quick Chat: Will Sumner
April 12, 2023 | Track & Field, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Will Sumner's Georgia track and field career is off to a fast start. A very fast start.
A freshman from Canton, Ga., Sumner won the 800 meters at the SEC Indoor Championships last month, was named the conference's men's Freshman Runner of the Year for the indoor season -- teammate Kaila Jackson earned the women's award -- and placed seventh in his first NCAA 800. He also ran on the Bulldogs' NCAA runner-up 4x400 relay team.
Sumner and many of his Georgia teammates are competing in the Mt. SAC Relays this weekend, in Walnut, Calif., as the outdoor season kicks into high gear. He already has Georgia's school record in the indoor 800 (1:47.28), and he'll start chasing the outdoor record (1:46.26, set by Aaron Evans in 2010) this weekend.
During a recent Quick Chat, Sumner talked about finding his best distance, being from a speedy family (his parents, Brad and Tosha, were collegiate runners and his sister Brynne runs for Clemson), where he'd like to be in 10 years, and much more. Here's some of what he had to say:
Frierson: When you train as hard as you do, how much attention are you paying to what you put in your body? Is it radically different from what you were eating before you get here?
Sumner: I'm paying a lot more attention now, but I wouldn't say I have a crazy, crazy special diet or anything. I'm just trying to make sure I'm getting the right fuel I need. We have the food they give us, which is a lot different from high school when I was just eating whatever. Here, I'm given the right choices and it's up to me to make them.
I just make sure I get what I need -- nothing too crazy.
Frierson: Did you play a lot of different sports when you were young, or was running always your main thing?
Sumner: Growing up, I played pretty much every sport. I played youth football, baseball, basketball, soccer -- I played golf a little bit. I tried pretty much everything, really, and I started track in third grade. The one aspect of every sport that I was good at was running, because I was faster than everybody.
And, my parents ran track in college and professionally, so it was always something in the back of my mind that I could try. In third grade is when I first did it; I still played other sports in the offseason, but I stopped after sixth grade. In seventh and eighth grade, I took a break from everything, and then I did mountain biking at the end of eighth grade.
I got back into track in high school because my sister was running.
Frierson: That's a real running family. What can you tell me about your parents' running days?
Sumner: My mom ran a year at Rutgers and then transferred to Villanova, and my dad ran at Villanova for four years. They met before college, but it was in college that they started dating. They ran professionally after college for a few years, as well. They have experience running at big events and they have used that knowledge to coach me and guide me.
Frierson: What is your best distance? And how did you go about figuring out what distance is best for you?
Sumner: When I did youth track, I ran mostly 100s and 200s. My parents wanted me to have fun, and I didn't want to run anything too long because that's not that fun when you're young. When I got to high school, I started running the 400. I hadn't trained for it much but I was running some good times. And my 800 followed shortly after that.
My parents ran the 800, so it made sense that that would probably be where I would lean. One thing I had that they didn't was 400 speed. I don't know where that came from, probably my mom because she's a little quicker than my dad.
Frierson: What is something you could eat every day and never get tired of it?
Sumner: I would say strawberries. I love strawberries. I've eaten them almost every day since elementary school. [Laughs] They're like a staple of my daily diet. In high school, I'd cut some up, put them in a bag and take them to school.
Frierson: In a perfect world, what are you doing in 10 years?
Sumner: I hope to still be running. If I am then that would be awesome. If not, hopefully I have some sort of job, some sort of good career. My goal is to have a long career in track.
Frierson: Do you see yourself coaching one day?
Sumner: I think so. My mom kind of picked up coaching, my dad as well, and because I've seen them do it, it makes me want to do it. I think it would be fun to pass the torch to the next generation.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
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