Quick Chat: Autumn Wilson
April 08, 2024 | Track & Field, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
When Autumn Wilson isn't sprinting really fast on the track or excelling in the classroom, or doing the hard work that leads to success in all phases of being a great Georgia student-athlete, she's often sitting quietly with a good book in her hands.
A sophomore from Austin, Texas, Wilson made a big impact in her first season on the Bulldog track and field squad, setting a school record in the indoor 200 meters and helping set a school record in the outdoor 4x100 relay. She was also one of 15 Georgia student-athletes to earn a 4.0 GPA and Presidential Scholar honors during the fall semester.
During a recent Quick Chat, Wilson talked about reading, her improvement since her freshman year, starting to prioritize her mental health, and much more. Here's some of what she had to say:
Frierson: How are you a better sprinter now than you were at this point a year ago? Is it more physical than mental?
Wilson: I would say definitely the mental part. I had a lot of success last year, early on, and I had some struggles toward the end of the outdoor season, and they kind of carried over into this season. It's been a lot of self-reflection and really prioritizing my mental health. Taking advantage of all the resources that Georgia has to offer; lots of conversations with my coaches, and they've been really good conversations, so I'm excited about the outdoor season.
Frierson: Without prying too much into the conversations you've had with your coaches, have they been more about dealing with success and failure, or have they dealt with more track-specific stuff?
Wilson: I would say a little bit of both. I think I've always kind of struggled a little bit with confidence, so I think working on that self-belief. I do a lot of hard work in training, and I need to tell myself, OK, you've put in the work in training, just let it translate to the meets and stuff. It's been a lot of that, and I think it's going to be good.
Frierson: Are you proud of yourself in a way for being willing to talk about your mental health and addressing things that need addressing? I think that's something that your generation is much more willing to do than previous ones.
Wilson: Absolutely. Even though I haven't done everything I want to do on the track, I feel like I've taken a lot of steps to better myself in other ways. And, like I said, working on that mental aspect, which is so important in track and field.
I've always been a huge perfectionist. Like, if one little thing goes wrong, it feels like everything is crumbling, so I'm trying to step out of that mindset and into the mindset of, OK, you're making progress, and progress is where you get your power from. That's been something that I've been really trying to focus on, and I'm starting to see some results.
Frierson: What is your favorite part of a practice or training day?
Wilson: I would say our warmup. We always have a speaker out there playing music, and the warmup is the time when we can talk to each other (as a whole team). We're kind of split up between short sprinters and long sprinters, like the 400 group, and the warmup is where we're all together before we break off into our different workouts. It's fun just to talk and laugh and joke around.
Frierson: What are doing these days to get away from school and track? How do you spend your free time?
Wilson: I love to read, and I really got into reading last year during Christmas break, and then on to summer and this year. That's been my main hobby, and I just recently got a Kindle, so that's been really exciting. I love reading that at night
Frierson: Do you have a preferred genre? Or is it all school-related?
Wilson: It's usually not related to school. I have to do a lot of reading for school, and I feel like that's people's main argument for why they don't read for pleasure. I like to read at night, right before I go to sleep. It helps me go to sleep, and it's that little bit of time that I have for myself.
I really like mystery and thriller books, and I like, it's called "romantasy" — it's fantasy and romance mixed together. But I'll pretty much read whatever.
Frierson: What is the best thing you've read so far this year?
Wilson: That's really hard. There's this author, he's relatively new, and I don't know how to properly say his last name because it's kind of hard, but his name is Alex Michaelides, and he wrote "The Silent Patient." It's a mystery-thriller book, and he's big into thrillers that have a big twist at the end, which is my favorite part. You never see what's coming with his books.
He only has three books out, and he came out with one this year called "The Fury," and I read that in two days. It was so good.
Frierson: If you could play any other sport for Georgia, what would it be?
Wilson: Probably volleyball [laughs]. I love to play sand volleyball during the summer just for fun, and I recently made friends with a lot of the girls on the volleyball team, and they're all super sweet and super fun to be around.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Staff Writer
When Autumn Wilson isn't sprinting really fast on the track or excelling in the classroom, or doing the hard work that leads to success in all phases of being a great Georgia student-athlete, she's often sitting quietly with a good book in her hands.
A sophomore from Austin, Texas, Wilson made a big impact in her first season on the Bulldog track and field squad, setting a school record in the indoor 200 meters and helping set a school record in the outdoor 4x100 relay. She was also one of 15 Georgia student-athletes to earn a 4.0 GPA and Presidential Scholar honors during the fall semester.
During a recent Quick Chat, Wilson talked about reading, her improvement since her freshman year, starting to prioritize her mental health, and much more. Here's some of what she had to say:
Frierson: How are you a better sprinter now than you were at this point a year ago? Is it more physical than mental?
Wilson: I would say definitely the mental part. I had a lot of success last year, early on, and I had some struggles toward the end of the outdoor season, and they kind of carried over into this season. It's been a lot of self-reflection and really prioritizing my mental health. Taking advantage of all the resources that Georgia has to offer; lots of conversations with my coaches, and they've been really good conversations, so I'm excited about the outdoor season.
Frierson: Without prying too much into the conversations you've had with your coaches, have they been more about dealing with success and failure, or have they dealt with more track-specific stuff?
Wilson: I would say a little bit of both. I think I've always kind of struggled a little bit with confidence, so I think working on that self-belief. I do a lot of hard work in training, and I need to tell myself, OK, you've put in the work in training, just let it translate to the meets and stuff. It's been a lot of that, and I think it's going to be good.
Frierson: Are you proud of yourself in a way for being willing to talk about your mental health and addressing things that need addressing? I think that's something that your generation is much more willing to do than previous ones.
Wilson: Absolutely. Even though I haven't done everything I want to do on the track, I feel like I've taken a lot of steps to better myself in other ways. And, like I said, working on that mental aspect, which is so important in track and field.
I've always been a huge perfectionist. Like, if one little thing goes wrong, it feels like everything is crumbling, so I'm trying to step out of that mindset and into the mindset of, OK, you're making progress, and progress is where you get your power from. That's been something that I've been really trying to focus on, and I'm starting to see some results.
Frierson: What is your favorite part of a practice or training day?
Wilson: I would say our warmup. We always have a speaker out there playing music, and the warmup is the time when we can talk to each other (as a whole team). We're kind of split up between short sprinters and long sprinters, like the 400 group, and the warmup is where we're all together before we break off into our different workouts. It's fun just to talk and laugh and joke around.
Frierson: What are doing these days to get away from school and track? How do you spend your free time?
Wilson: I love to read, and I really got into reading last year during Christmas break, and then on to summer and this year. That's been my main hobby, and I just recently got a Kindle, so that's been really exciting. I love reading that at night
Frierson: Do you have a preferred genre? Or is it all school-related?
Wilson: It's usually not related to school. I have to do a lot of reading for school, and I feel like that's people's main argument for why they don't read for pleasure. I like to read at night, right before I go to sleep. It helps me go to sleep, and it's that little bit of time that I have for myself.
I really like mystery and thriller books, and I like, it's called "romantasy" — it's fantasy and romance mixed together. But I'll pretty much read whatever.
Frierson: What is the best thing you've read so far this year?
Wilson: That's really hard. There's this author, he's relatively new, and I don't know how to properly say his last name because it's kind of hard, but his name is Alex Michaelides, and he wrote "The Silent Patient." It's a mystery-thriller book, and he's big into thrillers that have a big twist at the end, which is my favorite part. You never see what's coming with his books.
He only has three books out, and he came out with one this year called "The Fury," and I read that in two days. It was so good.
Frierson: If you could play any other sport for Georgia, what would it be?
Wilson: Probably volleyball [laughs]. I love to play sand volleyball during the summer just for fun, and I recently made friends with a lot of the girls on the volleyball team, and they're all super sweet and super fun to be around.
(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.
Players Mentioned
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