MOBILE, Ala. – All it takes is one.  One chance encounter, one opportunity that can change an individual's fortunes.  For University of South Alabama women's track and field student-athlete Emilie Berge, it was one seemingly random Facebook message that began charting a course that has since seen her earn multiple All-America honors.

And the message arrived just after the resident of Iveland, Vest-Agder, Norway, thought she had made a decision to remain home and study after finishing high school.

"There was a representative who reached out to me just before that, but I thought I just wanted to study in Norway," she recalled.  "Shortly after I said no to that person Nate [Janusey] reached out to me — I got a completely random Facebook message — and told Coach Brueske about me.  I wasn't that good, I competed in individual events, but Nate said if we put it together I could post a good score in the heptathlon.

"South Alabama was the only school that contacted me, so it wasn't really a competition when I decided to come here."

"We didn't know a lot about Emilie, my graduate assistant at the time was reaching out to numerous prospects and he came across this young lady who seemed interested and was pretty good so I started aggressively pursuing her," explained Jaguar head track and field coach Paul Brueske.  "We knew she was good, but she was not at an extremely high level yet; we felt like she had the potential to improve, and she did."

Has she ever.  In her first Sun Belt Conference competition at the league's indoor championship in 2017, Berge claimed the pentathlon, and she would go on to do the same in the heptathlon at the Sun Belt Outdoor Championship later in the spring.  The following year she broke the school record in the latter event while repeating as conference champion and qualifying for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship, while last spring Berge won the pentathlon and heptathlon at the league meet and made the NCAA Championship field in both events.

With marks of 5,718 points in the heptathlon and 4,203 points in the pentathlon, she has not only set school records but new standards in the Sun Belt as well.

And to think that without one Facebook message it all may not have happened.

"Coming over and studying was never part of the plan, it had never crossed my mind until my last year of high school; I knew other athletes who went across, but it was never really something I thought I would do," Berge said.  "I got adventurous and thought I may as well try it, in Europe it is common to take a gap year between high school and college so I figured I would give it a chance and the worst case was it would be my gap year.

"I was just planning on staying a year and seeing how it would go, but I liked it socially and academically, and I improved so I just decided to stay."


Growing up as a child in Norway, track wasn't the first sport Berge participated in.  "We didn't have a lot of teams where I lived because I grew up in a small town" she explained.  Instead, her focus was on playing handball, with less than a year experience participating in volleyball and basketball playing at a level she described as "not serious."  She finally began competing in track around the time she turned 14 years old because both of her older sisters — Mai Brit and Kristine — participated as well, but as the only members of their local club they could not run in any relay events.

It was under those circumstances that Berge committed to coming to South, where there would be challenges she would face before ever taking part in a competition for the Jaguars.

The first included the logistics for getting to Mobile.  "I started late, it was a long process to get here," recalled Berge.  "We talked about the possibility of me coming in the spring instead of the fall but I wanted to get here and build a foundation before the start of the season.  So I came in the fall, but it was rushed; I got my visa two weeks before my flight."

And once she arrived in the city, the next test is one familiar to any native Mobilian — the local weather.

"It was rough," she said.  "I knew it was going to be hot, but I didn't know it was going to be like this at all; I was shocked.  I remember I wore black tights my first day at practice and had a heat rash, it was terrible and I said to myself I would wear shorts from then on.  They told me it was hot and that it rains a lot here, but it rains a bit in Norway so that wasn't as big of a big shock."

As that fall turned to spring and Berge finally was able to enter meets, there was an aspect of the results that she was unfamiliar with while building a point total that was good enough to win the pentathlon at her first-ever Sun Belt Championship appearance (she placed fifth in the long jump and sixth in the 60-meter hurdles as well).  "I had never competed in a team competition before in track," she said.  "I didn't really understand the point system that well so I just focused on doing my best, I thought more about the placings and whether I got first or second instead of how many points I scored."

The learning would continue as Berge remained in school and progressed in competition.  After not finishing the pentathlon at the SBC meet her sophomore year, she ended up posting a qualifying score in the heptathlon during the outdoor campaign to make her first NCAA Championship appearance.

"The trip itself was a little intimidating but a lot of fun," Berge recalled.  "I remember I struggled with some injuries my sophomore year, it was a long season for me so the experience of being there was very intense; I learned a lot of new things and got to see people at the next level."

That experience would pay off less than a year later as she was included in the field of both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships in the pentathlon and heptathlon, respectively.  She actually was ranked 17th in the former event at the end of the regular season, but was able to take advantage of a last-minute opportunity and ended up recording a top-10 result in the individual standings.

"One girl pulled out a few days before the meet and because it was in Birmingham I could drive up," she said.  "I was disappointed I didn't make the field originally, but when I did make it I was really motivated.  And it was the best I have done at nationals."

Berge's trip to the national outdoor meet last spring provided an opportunity to show everyone —including her coaches — the intense competitor she has developed into since joining the program.  Sitting in 21st place in the field of 24 after day one of the competition, she rebounded to move up to 15th place in the final standings and once again earn second-team All-America honors.

"It was two events that didn't go as planned, I didn't do that well in the high jump — which hurt because it's the most important event in terms of points — and I was horrendous in the shot put," said Berge.  "Your mental state is key in the heptathlon, you can't get bummed or think too much about what has happened because you have to focus on the next event.  I was really happy with my second day, my body didn't feel optimal but I did my very best including getting a PR [personal record] in the 800 [meters]."

"When you get to know Emilie you find that she is a unique individual in every sense of the word," observed Brueske.  "She is a great competitor, when she gets in competitions she has a heightened awareness of every little thing.  We'll get to a competition and I'll think something is bothering her, you would think she believes the world is about to end and she'll go out and set a personal best.  I remember one time I thought there was no way she was going to be able to finish this competition, then she lines up and sets a personal record in the hurdles.

"Her response to 'fight or flight' is always to fight, she is ready to roll.  The national meet was an example of that, she had one or two events on the opening day that weren't great for her, but she stepped right up.  She is hyper aware of every little thing, and that is why she is such a great athlete.

"When her back is against the wall, that is usually when she is at her best."

Brueske attributes her improvement over her first three years in the program to multiple factors.  "There is not a specific thing but several things," he said.  "First is that Emilie works extremely hard, sometimes we have to reel her in —work ethic is not an issue with her, she has a tendency to push the envelope a little bit and do too much.  I also think Coach [Aaron] James has done a great job of managing her and making the right adjustments to keep her healthy, and ready and able to compete.  She and Coach James have done well together.

"We really want to keep her healthy because she is so valuable.  I would argue she might be the most valuable student-athlete in the entire department in regard to the Bubas Cup, she is competing in two sports and scoring a lot of points."


As she enters her final season at the collegiate level, the hope is to not just make the NCAA meet during both the indoor and outdoor seasons, but to finish among the top eight and earn first-team All-America status.  But beyond that, Berge is facing questions about her future plans that she isn't quite sure how to answer just yet.  She believes she would need to score 6,000 points in the heptathlon in order to be able to represent Norway at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo — which in her estimation is "quite a big jump" — and as she examines options to continue competing even past that event Berge realizes there are no answers yet.

"This is a difficult time in my life, because what do you do after college?" she asked.  "At this time I'm not sure what the future will bring, I don't even know what country I will be in.  In Europe it is much easier to join a club and continue practicing, I feel like in America you have to be one of the top people and need to get sponsors to stay in track."

Perhaps she can turn to the individual whose records she has been breaking over the last couple of seasons.  Former Jaguar All-American Lindsay Schwartz was inducted into the South Alabama Athletics Hall of Fame last November, and the two had a brief chance to meet the day prior to the ceremony.

"I did talk to her the day before the Hall of Fame ceremony, we chatted a little bit and she was joking that I was the girl who broke her record," Berge said.  "I didn't really think about it at the time but I should probably ask her about what she has done to keep competing after college."

All Berge needs is one opportunity.  Based on what she has done the last time given a chance, the odds are she will find a way to use it well.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

Join the Finish Line Club, the track and field and cross country specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund.  All donations to the Finish Line Club go directly to support the South Alabama track and field/cross country programs. For more information on how you can join visit:  jaguarathleticfund.com/finishlineclub

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