She's local. She's national. She's fast. And right now, nobody is quicker at two cycles around the college track.
Meet Heidi Magill, a BYU freshman from Orem, the fastest female 800-meter runner in the NCAA today.
Magill's time of two minutes, 5.97 seconds at Stanford last week was the best outdoor time in America this year. A regional qualifying mark, she will work to improve her marks this weekend in Provo and again at UCLA next week where most of the West Coast power schools will compete.
So, what makes Heidi so good so young, so early?
It's simple, according to her coach, Patrick Shane. Magill has the competitive drive of Michael Jordan and her genetic code for track is a DaVinci Code best-seller for a middle-distance star.
"She's probably the most talented distance runner I've ever recruited, and I've had some great ones," Shane said.
Magill has always been driven, a self-starter and achiever in all she's tried, according to her mother, Nancy Magill. At an early age, before track, she took karate lessons, played soccer and raised horses at Melville's Abrabians in South Orem. Heidi once used karate on a horse that attacked and bit her neck in a corral. The horse knocked her unconscious, but before she hit the ground, she whacked him. When Heidi came to, the pesky stallion was cowering in the corner of the barn.
Is her mother surprised that Heidi, seventh of nine children in the Magill family, has run the fastest half mile in the NCAA right now?
"No," said Nancy. And she doesn't hesitate a second. "She's capable of a lot more than she realizes. She's always been that way. Whether in another sport like soccer, or school work, it's like . . . 'Oh, I can do that,' and then she's on her way."
Shane ticks down the list of what makes Heidi a national-caliber athlete.
The genes. Heidi has very long legs. She's 5-foot-11 and has two brothers 6-5 or over.
Her father, Michael, is 6-4 and her mother is 5-10. Heidi has a large-volume rib cage that gives her extra aerobic capacity. In high school, she'd lead Mountain View's cross country team so far during practice runs, others would ask her to slow down.
The parents of one girl actually called the Magills and asked that they rein their daughter in because Heidi was making their daughter look bad.
Heidi was simply running at her own RPM, and it was greater than the others. Although this caused some feelings among teammates, Heidi had to break out of the pack. "They gave her grief, but she checked with her coach, Dave Houle, and was told to just take off," Nancy said.
"She's a gifted athlete in terms of mechanics," said Shane, who added it took him a while to realize she has a great capacity to handle aerobic volume. "Not all 800-meter or mile runners have that. She can handle great workloads. She is way ahead of where you'd expect a freshman to be. She's doing 50 miles a week, far more than she did in high school."
Shane describes Heidi's gait as fluid and sound. "She's blessed with the ability to generate a lot of power and speed. I'd be very surprised if she doesn't run under 53 seconds in the 400. It's a genetic thing. Training helps, but she is blessed with that wiring."
Mentally, Shane notices Heidi is a "fierce competitor" and, at a young age, has mastered the mind game of preparing for a race.
"She absolutely gets her game face on at the right time. You get out of her way or she'll run right over you. She balances that off the track with a pleasant, amicable personality. She's fun to be around. Other athletes like her."
Heidi is good around kids. She's also a talented singer, capable of doing opera. "She's just kind of a no-nonsense kind of person," according to her mother. In Heidi's junior year, after performing an Italian opera solo, one of Nancy's friends asked if she was lip syncing. Ahh, nope.
Emotionally, Shane says Heidi is in control of her emotional engine and doesn't struggle under pressure. She pulls the trigger at the right time, avoiding getting sapped out by overloading. "That's a gift, to light the emotional fuse on time, then re-ignite it again when needed. She has a very mature approach to that."
A month ago, Heidi earned her first all-America citation by finishing sixth in the NCAA indoor championships, which she participated in while fighting a cold.
"I think she would have been in the top-two if she hadn't been sick," Shane said.
Then this prediction.
"It is early in the outdoor season, and track is her forte and her real love. I'd expect, if she stays healthy, and everything else stays equal, she could challenge for a national championship this year, and there are some very talented runners at indoor, some who've run 2:01."
Heidi Magill. It appears she's got it.
And if need be, she can kick it into herself, or just about anyone in her way.
E-mail: dharmon@desnews.com