Kyra Lopez: Becoming a Bronco

<p style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size:22px;"><strong><span style="font-family:comic sans ms,cursive;">Arizona&#39;s Signing Class of 2015</span></strong></span></p>

Name: Kyra "Kyky" Lopez
High School: Desert Vista High School
Signed with: Boise State University

Boise is a cold place in the winter, are you nervous about trading away the mild Arizona winters for snow and freezing temps?

Not really actually! I have always disliked the warm weather. Also, I have always wanted to move to a place where I can see the snow and not have to drive 2 hours to see it. We used to visit our cabin in Lake Tahoe during winter seasons and I loved it! Granted, I have yet to run in the snow but it will be an item to be crossed off my bucket list!

With the new coach, BSU is certainly on the upward swing as a program. How did that influence you decision to go there?

Coach Ihmels and Coach Hartke are top-notch coaches and that definitely factored into my decision. They built a solid program at Iowa State that consisted of runners who had not even won their state championships. To be honest, I wanted the same opportunity as many other runners before me to succeed at a division 1 program. I felt as though Hartke and Ihmels had a lot of faith into turning me into the collegiate athlete I had always wanted to be.

What are your aspirations outside of running during college?

Outside of college I hope to study pre-med, majoring in health science. After college I would like to attend medical school. I want to obtain a medical degree and become an surgeon (to be determined what type).

You have been blessed with a great high school program, what has been your favorite part (to date) about running for Desert Vista?

I have been blessed this year running with Desert Vista and to pick my favorite part has to be Nike Cross Nationals. Perhaps it was the surreal nature of it all. At Nike Regionals we never thought after the race that we could possibly make it to Nike Nationals and when we did we were so ecstatic. Being there with my team brought me so much pride and happiness. I was where I have always wanted to be in December: Portland, Oregon. Ever since sophomore year, I dreamed about being there and this year, we made it and made my own dreams came true. It was even better with the most amazing girls by my side.

How has running on a team with one of the best runners in the nation in Dani Jones helped prepare you for running with Emma Bates, Anna Holdiman and some of the other strong runners BSU has?

I cannot thank Dani enough for how much she has helped me. She has taught me about running more than I could have on my own. I feel acutely prepared to run with the talented runners at BSU in the fall. Having a team that believes in me makes everything seem possible. Running with Dani on the team has taught me, no matter how good a runner may be, that they are just a girl who has hopes and aspirations just like me: they are very human. It's amazing, you can actually talk and be friends with these extremely talented runners! I sometimes think that gets lost. Dani is fun and caring and has helped me so much, I really cannot say enough good things. (Thank you Dani for helping me with all the college recruiting and running in general!!)