Varsity track athletes Chris Ramsey ’13 and Allie Rue ’13 have been dating for 19 months. Now in their junior year, the pair has decided to set their relationship in the fast lane.

Last Thursday, Ramsey took Rue to dinner at Union League Café in celebration of Ramsey’s 21st birthday two days earlier. After dinner, Ramsey managed to sneak back to his room to pick up a small box, before taking Rue on a walk up Hillhouse Avenue to the grassy field on Science Hill. Rue said during their first date in Jan. 2010, they also walked up Hillhouse Avenue, and this time they began talking about nice moments they had spent there in the past.

Then Ramsey pulled out a ring and asked Rue to marry him.

“I wasn’t planning on proposing that night, but it was going so well,” Ramsey said. “I thought the vibe was great. It was a very nice evening.”

They met through mutual friends on the track team when they were freshmen and started dating shortly after. Now, Ramsey, 21 of Glendora, Calif., and Rue, 20 of Silverdale, Wash., said they plan to get married in the summer of 2012. As they begin senior year as husband and wife, they said they plan to live in an apartment close to campus. Both said the proposal was not completely unexpected — they had talked about it with each other and with their parents.

Both Rue’s and Ramsey’s parents said in emails to the News that they supported the decision and are confident the union will last.

Rue’s parents, Alan and Debbie Rue, gave Ramsey their blessing for the proposal before Thursday. They said the couple has made a well-thought-out choice and considered practical issues.

“We have no doubt they are making the right decision and that they are committed to each other for life,” the Rues’ email said. “We completely respect and celebrate their decision.”

Bob Ramsey, Chris’s father, said his son and Rue have been moving towards engagement for a while. Bob Ramsey first met Rue at the Heps Track Meet, three months after the couple had started dating. He said they already seemed at ease with each other and happy.

“I told my wife, ‘I think this is going to go the distance,’” he said in the email.

Ramsey’s friend and teammate Michael Pierce ’13 said Ramsey did not tell the team about his engagement intentions prior to the proposal.

He said the track team was surprised to hear the news.

“There has obviously been a great deal of excitement since Ramsey broke the news and I think the whole team is very happy for them,” he said. “But they have always conducted themselves maturely and professionally with the team and I do not foresee that changing.”

Ramsay runs the 800m track event, and Rue runs the 400m.

Although it is rare for Yale College students to be married before graduation, Ramsey and Rue will not be the first to tie the knot before donning caps and gowns.

Austin Pulsipher ’12, a defensive end man on the varsity football team, got married this past August. Pulsipher said he has not noticed any big change in his daily life, aside from living off campus with his wife, eating at home rather than in the dining hall and occasionally being referred to as “the married guy.”

“Married life is so rewarding, and I love having my best friend with me every day,” Pulsipher said.

He added that he and his wife have quite a few married friends, mostly in graduate programs.

Ramsey said although he realizes getting married in college is not the norm, he feels it is the right decision because he is certain he wishes to spend the rest of his life with Rue.

“I can’t wait to marry her … At the end of the day, we just want to be together, and that’s enough of a priority for us to plan our future after graduation so we can be in the same place,” Ramsey said. “That’s something we’re going to have to figure out together.”

The Ramsey family will host an engagement in California in March, and the wedding is scheduled to take place in Rue’s home state of Washington.