While most SIU athletes pack their suitcases on breaks or holidays as they head home to visit, several students do not have to travel very far.

Three Saluki cross-country women have spent their entire lives in the city of Carbondale.

Juniors Lacey Gibson and Ellen Esling have been Carbondale student-athletes since high school.

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Gibson said she was a bit skeptical about attending college in the same area where she grew up, but now, would not have it any other way.

“At first I wanted to go far away off to college, but now I just love being here,” Gibson said. “I love the fact that my parents live here, I can just go home whenever I can and whenever I need to.”

Gibson said she was afraid her parents would seem too close, but once she officially became a Saluki, she began to see Carbondale as a place she had never been.

“Leaving Carbondale High School to go to Carbondale’s college was like living in a completely different town,” Gibson said.

Transitioning from high school to college can effect many friendships and connections between childhood friends and new college friends. However, Gibson said she remains in contact with all of her friends from high school, including her cross-country and track and field teammate Ellen Esling, also a distance runner on the Saluki track team.

Esling has been best friends with Gibson since high school when they began to build a road race named the Pumpkin Run, which consisted of a 2K run that raised money for a non-profit organization called Green Earth and Active. The organization earned over $2,000.

Along with Gibson, Esling did not discover her cross-country passion right away. She was a soccer player who eventually drifted towards cross country, and entered the SIU women’s cross country team her sophomore year of college.

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Esling was also not a fan of staying home for college immediately until she weighed out the benefits.

“I lived at my parents’ house for my first two years of college,” Esling said. “Since I’ve been on campus, I think that it’s just awesome that I am a student here.”

Esling said she and her father have grown closer since she decided to stay home for college, especially since he works on campus in the geology department.

“We make sure that we go out for smoothies weekly,” she said. “If I have an assignment that I want to show off, I just go see him in his office.”

Esling is currently in Washington, D.C for the rest of the semester as she completes her internship at National Geographic.

Both Esling and Gibson have parents who work on campus, as well as siblings who attend SIU. Gibson grew up in a household of four along with her younger brother, Dylan Gibson.

Dylan is an SIU freshman who said he anticipated on attending SIU, even when he was a student at Carbondale Community High School.

“I just always knew that SIU was the school for me, it was my plan to come here,” Dylan said. “After my sister decided to stay here, I definitely wanted to stay.”

Although both runners said their parents are huge support systems for them, they are well supported by their former high school coach, Gary Holda, as well.

Holda, a retired cross-country coach of nearly four decades, described Gibson as a very hard worker on and off of the field who did not realize her potential as a cross-country runner until her sophomore year of high school.

“Just after a few weeks of her sophomore season I knew that she was going to be extremely good,” Holda said.

Esling was also an athlete that Holda enjoyed coaching.

“Ellen always brought her good spirit to the team,” he said. “They are both great young women.”

As a life-long Carbondale resident, Holda has attended many Saluki cross-country meets, including the Early Bird event the Salukis ran as a home opener for this season.

Holda said he tries to make it to as many meets as he can.

New Carbondale Community High School head cross-country coach, Gary Storm, assisted Holda the same years Esling and Gibson were teammates. Storm started off assisting the boys and girls track team at Carbondale High School, but once Holda retired Storm took over and coached the 2012 girls cross-country team, including Ellen Esling’s sister Molly Esling.

Molly is a freshman on the cross-country team who was also born and raised in Carbondale. Coach Storm said Molly along with Ellen and Gibson are very solid runners with very good work ethic.

“They all stepped up whenever we needed them the most,” Storm said. “It’s cool to come and watch them.”

For these students-athletes Carbondale is not only considered a place where they can attend SIU, but it is also considered home.

“If I had the chance to change my decision to go off to school, I wouldn’t,” Gibson said. “Carbondale is my home.”