Ahlivia and Ashley Spencer have always been teammates. They may not have competed for the same schools, with Ahlivia being a year older than Ashley, but growing up as star athletes, beating the boys in their classes in races, and even dealing with injuries, they’ve always had each other’s backs, the way inseparable teammates do. 

The two Illinois track stars have helped take the women’s track program to another level, with Ahlivia specializing in the 800 meters and Ashley in the 400 meters. Ashley was stellar in her freshman season for the Illini last year, but Ahlivia, a junior, spent last season toiling away in a program that couldn’t accommodate her changing desires. When Ahlivia needed a new place to continue her development as an athlete, she decided to get the team back together.

Middle-distance runner Ahlivia is in her junior year, her first for the Illini after two years with the University of Louisville. She was a three-time Big East champion with the Cardinals and holds several school records. Ashley, the sophomore sprinter, is a six-time Big Ten champion, a two-time IAAF World Junior champion, Big Ten Freshman and Athlete of the Year. 

The two look to play as big a part in Illinois’ future as they did in each other’s past.

Ahlivia and Ashley grew up in Indianapolis with both of their parents and a brother four years older than Ahlivia. 

Born into an athletic family, with a father who played football and a mother who ran track, the Spencers always seemed destined to be athletes, but they felt no pressure from their parents.

“My parents were a big influence as far as athletics,” Ahlivia said. “They’ve always wanted us to be active in something, whether it be dancing, basketball or soccer. They never wanted it to be strictly athletics; they just kept us active and wanted us to do something we were good at.”

The Spencer sisters started their athletic careers in elementary school. They joined the basketball team at Craig Middle School in Indianapolis. Ashley noticed her own potential pretty early, and she acted on it.

“At a very young age, I found out I was faster than most guys in my classroom,” Ashley said. “I think that’s what got me started. I joined the track team in high school and I encouraged (Ahlivia) to come out (for the team).”

Ahlivia said she owes joining track to her younger sister, who convinced her to join Lawrence North High School’s track and field team on a bet. 

“She actually bet me on the team,” Ahlivia said. “I was returning from surgery and (my high school basketball team) had a game. I was trying to get back to fitness and Ashley said ‘If you lose this game, you just have to run a year and try out track.’ We lost, so I ended up having to join.”

Ahlivia agreed to join the team, but it wasn’t all smooth sailing from that point.

“The first day I wanted to quit,” Ahlivia said. “It was way too much running, especially coming off of basketball. My mother made me finish out the year, but Ashley encouraged me the whole way through. I finished, and I actually loved it by the end of the year.”

By the end of Ashley’s sophomore year in high school, she noticed her sister had begun to garner interest from some Division-I basketball programs.

Ashley, on the other hand, played basketball for fun. She saw her sister accumulating letters of interest for basketball, and told herself if she didn’t have letters of interest by then, she would drop the sport.

The letters didn’t come, so Ashley stopped playing basketball after her sophomore year of high school. Ahlivia, on the other hand, received a number of inquiries from colleges and decided to continue until she had no options. She tore her ACL her junior year, however, and her prospects changed.

“At that point, I felt like track could take me a lot further than basketball,” Ahlivia said. 

This period marked the end of the Spencer sisters as a basketball tandem. The next step in their journey would be college, and each had different criteria for picking schools. Ahlivia, by her own admission, was relatively oblivious to the collegiate track and field circuit. Her choices, which didn’t include Illinois at the time, came down to comfort. Ahlivia chose Louisville because she liked the coach, she said.

“We really clicked because his coaching style is very similar to my high school coach, and I really enjoyed it,” Ahlivia said. “His plan for me, as far as track, was dead-on for what I was interested in at the time, which was the 400.”

Ashley’s recruitment to Illinois came with help from an insider. Head coach Tonja Buford-Bailey had a previous relationship with the Spencers aunt, and she used that to help Illinois stand out.

“Coming out of high school, Ashley was highly recruited,” Buford-Bailey said. “I knew her aunt, who was also their track coach in high school. She and I worked that out, with her pushing Ashley towards Illinois and me doing all I can to help her. The program and our plans here kind of spoke for itself, and it did the rest of the work.”

Choosing Illinois began to pay dividends almost instantly for Ashley, as she ran several school bests and collected many accolades during her freshman year. Ahlivia, on the other hand, had enjoyed success as a sprinter at Louisville, but a change in preference left her wanting to switch to the 800.

“My coach admitted he had never coached the 800 before, and that really scared me,” Ahlivia said. “I felt like I had the potential to be one of the best in the 800, and I wanted someone who had been there and really knew what they were doing. That was one of the things that attracted me to Coach (Buford-Bailey).”

Ahlivia said her and Ashley have been “teammates” since Kindergarten. She said they maintain a give-and-take system, where one encourages the other on a bad day, and they both push each other even harder on good days.

“If I mess up, she’ll have my head on a platter because she’s my sister, and she wants me to succeed,” Ahlivia said.

Their sibling support system was tested earlier this year in the buildup to the 2013 Big Ten Indoor Championships. Ashley got frustrated leading up to Big Tens because she was held out by a hamstring injury.

“(Ahlivia) pulled me off to the side and let me cry and kick and scream, and then she calmed me down,” Ashley said. “She told me to be patient with that injury and to not force anything. Ever since that day, I haven’t had any problems with my hamstring. … She really helps me put things into perspective.”

The tables were turned just before Big Tens, however, when a hamstring problem reared up again. This time, it affected the other Spencer sister.

“The day before we left for Big Tens, I pulled my hamstring and could barely walk,” Ahlivia said. “It was very challenging for me because I was really ready to get out there, but I couldn’t compete. I felt like it was the end of the world for me, but Ashley was there for me.”

Apart from being with each other, the sisters credit Buford-Bailey for their growth and success this season.

“I would never have dreamed of doing some of the workouts (coach Buford-Bailey uses) at Louisville,” Ahlivia said. “She jokes around with us and keeps it lighthearted but also pushes and encourages us when it’s needed. Even though it hurts like hell, she encourages you to get through that workout, and she can advise us because she graduated from here and has been through this. She’s such a rock and she’s so determined, and that has rubbed off on the whole team.”

The Spencer sisters have seen each other mature, but they have also tried to maintain their humility.

“I love seeing (Ashley) run fast times and being in the limelight.” Ahlivia said. “It’s kind of weird for me because everybody sees her as this track icon, but I just see her as my sister. On the track, she’s just another teammate, but off it, she’s just my little sister.”

Lanre can be reached at [email protected] and @WriterLanre.