FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - It was a busy season for Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Eric Heins as he and assistant Mo Huber recruited distance athletes heavily for the women's track and field and cross country teams at Northern Arizona University. With National Letter-of-Intent's being signed on Wednesday, Heins was able to land five women's distance runners for the 2011 school year.
Out of the five signees, three are from the Phoenix, Ariz., area with twins Kayla and Shayla Freeman (Greenway) and Kylee Kieser (Marcos de Niza) and two from California in Kenzie Estes (Riverside Poly) and Lauren Justus (Glendora).
Overall, Heins is very pleased with this signing class and of the hard work put in by Huber.
"We were looking at girls who showed improvement over their high school careers, and these five really exemplify that," Heins said. "A lot of the credit to this early signing class goes to assistant coach Mo Huber for hard work on the phones and at meets."
Listed below is a breakdown of how each girl has performed thus far in her high school career.
Kenzie Estes-Distance-Riverside, Calif. (Riverside Poly)
Plans to study marketing ... Riverside Poly Honor Roll and four-time all-academic team ... Runs under coach Alfonso Ibarra on the cross country and track teams ... Served as the captain for three seasons on the cross country team and collected a personal-best mark in the 5K of 18 minutes, 32 seconds ... Best three-mile time is 17 minutes, 44 seconds ... On the track, has served as the team's captain for three season and ran to personal-best marks of five minutes, 20 seconds in the 1,600-meter run and 11 minutes, 22 seconds in the 3,200-meter run ... Was named the most valuable runner and won the coach's award two years in a row ... Named second-team all-league in the Big VIII ... Daughter of Don
and Kelly.
"All of the incoming signees have similar times, and what I like with Kenzie is that she has progressed each year," Heins said. "She has dropped her 5K time 10 minutes over the course of her high school career and you can just sense the love for running that she has. She will be a great asset to this team."
Shayla Freeman-Distance-Phoenix, Ariz. (Greenway)
Undecided in future major ... Academic awards include Rotary Student of the Month and four years on the Principal's Honor Roll ... Lettered four seasons in cross country under coaches Julie Stockwell and Alan Walker collecting a personal-best 5K mark of 18 minutes and 44 seconds ... Four-year letterwinner on the track squad under Scott Giddings and Alan Walker and ran to top marks of two minutes, 22 seconds in the 800-meter run, five minutes,16 seconds in the 1,600-meter run and 11 minutes, 42 seconds in the 3,200-meter run ... Won numerous awards, including three-time cross country first-team all-state and Black Canyon Cross Country Region Champion in 2008-09 ... Previous Region champ in the 800m, 1,600m and 3,200m ... Broke school's 3,200m record (11:42.93), 4x800 record (9:47.45) and distance medley relay (13:17.40) ... Appeared at both the Nike Southwest Cross Country Championships and the Footlocker West Cross Country Championships ... Daughter of Jimmy and Janet Cole and twin sister, Kayla, will also be attending NAU.
Kayla Freeman-Distance-Phoenix, Ariz. (Greenway)
Plans to study secondary education with an emphasis in mathematics ... Academic awards include Optimist Student of the Month and four years on the Principal's Honor Roll ... Lettered four seasons in cross country under coaches Julie Stockwell and Alan Walker collecting a personal-best 5K mark of 18 minutes and 49 seconds ... Four-year letterwinner on the track squad under Scott Giddings and Alan Walker and ran to top marks of two minutes, 21 seconds in the 800-meter run, five minutes,15 seconds in the 1,600-meter run and 11 minutes, 22 seconds in the 3,200-meter run ... 2010 MVP from both cross country and track ... Two-time first-team all-state in cross country ... 2010 Black Canyon Regional Champion in the 800m and 3,200m and state runner up in the 3,200m ... Holds five schools records, including the 1,600m (5:15.19), 3,200 (11:22.99), 4x800-meter relay (9:47.45) and distance medley relay (13:17.40) ... Appeared at the Golden West Invitational, Arizona Meet Of Champions, Nike Southwest Championships and Footlocker West Championships ... Daughter of Jimmy and Janet Cole and twin sister, Shayla, will also be attending NAU.
"One could have a better race one day, then the other will come back and have a better one, so just the fact that they've grown up training together and will now train up here together is just exciting," Heins said. "They may not have the fastest times in the group, but they will have a big opportunity to improve over the next four or five years here."
Kylee Kieser-Distance-Tempe, Ariz. (Marcos de Niza)
Plans to study secondary education ... Academic awards include the school honor roll, the Ned Wheeler award and the American Legion award ... Spent three years at Casa Grande Union High School where she ran under coach Kurt Kieser ... Three-year starter on the cross country team and finished third at the Division I state championship meet ... In her lone season at Marcos de Niza, won the Division II state championship ... On the track, was a three-year starter and was the regional champion in the mile and two mile all three seasons ... Has collected finished between fifth and 12th place in the mile and two mile at the Division I state championship meet ... Named MVP all four cross country seasons and three times in track ... Tempe all-city champion and Dairy Council of Arizona All-American ... Owns four records at Case Grande, including five minutes, fifteen seconds in the mile and 11 minutes, 23 seconds in the two mile ... Daughter of Kevin and Melanie.
"Kylee is one of the best runners in the state of Arizona," Heins said. "Outside of being a great runner, she has improved over the last four years since she has been coming to our camp as a freshman my first year here. I've gotten to know her love for running and desire to compete at the next level. Outside of running she brings big time energy. We don't have a lot of vocal leaders on the team right now and she is not afraid to speak her mind. I think that will help the girls have a leader like that who is young."
Lauren Justus-Distance-Glendora, Calif. (Glendora)
In her final cross country season, turned in three top-10 performances at the three best meets in California ... At the Mt. SAC Invite, ran to a sixth-place finish in a time of 17, minutes, 53 seconds on the three mile course ... Turned in a 5,000-meter time of 18 minuets, 26 seconds at the Asics Clovis Invite ... Personal-best three-mile time came at the Woodbridge Cross Country Classic (17:04) where she placed fifth overall ... Top marks on the track through her junior season include 2:30.78 in the 800-meter run, 5:15.19 in the 1,600-meter run and 11:17.24 in the 3,200-meter run ... Two-time San Gabriel Valley Tribune cross country runner of the year.
"She stopped by over summer break, so I got to meet her and she was really enthusiastic about Flagstaff and NAU from the get go," Heins said of Justus. "Watching her race the season in such a large state like California and seeing her finish top 10 in all of those big invitationals shows me that she had a huge improvement from her junior to senior seasons and will improve here as well."
