Many junior high students do not have an idea of what they will be doing five or ten years down the road, but for an eighth grade girl from Jerseyville, running became a mainstay right into her college years.

Heather Greeling, now a junior on the SIUC women’s track and field team was inspired to take running seriously after taking the presidential physical fitness test in junior high school.

I guess my track career actually started in junior high, Greeling said. I had a coach who was a gym teacher and I was doing the Presidential Physical Fitness Tests, and he told me, you really need to run, this is something you’re good at.’ I always played basketball, so athletics was in my life anyway, she said.

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Greeling attributed much of her desire for track and field to her eighth grade track coach and gym teacher, Ed Settles, who is now the principal at Waterloo Middle School.

I had a really good eighth grade track coach who inspired us (the team), and really supported us. I got my love of the sport from him, Greeling said.

Settles said Greeling was a good student and athlete while she attended Illini Junior High School in Jerseyville, and that while he coached Greeling and her teammates, he always exposed them to every event until they found their niche.

She was very easy to coach, in that, she took direction very quickly, Settles said. She always had the ambition to excel in whatever she was attempting, and she did that with a smile, which was really pleasant. I don’t think she’s changed since I knew her, he said.

Settles said that very early on in her runnning career he could see that whatever event Greeling would be put in, she was going to excel in it.

My whole premise and mission in coaching was first of all develop character. I think through the character, you create a love and a passion for whatever you’re doing, Settles said.

Settles said he does not like the phrase, I can’t and said he tried to convey that message to his teams.

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I want to hear, you will if you want to’, he said. That’s basically my message to kids, and she (Greeling) took that to heart.

Greeling continued playing basketball and competing in track, and realized her potential in track after going to the state track and field meet her sophomore year in high school.

I really didn’t start concentrating on track until high school when I started going to state meets, and I knew that is where I was going to be going, she said.

As Greeling went through her high school track career, she continually got better until she caught the attention of SIUC women’s track coach Don DeNoon who guided her to run for the Salukis.

She was a good recruit for us at the time, DeNoon said. She wasn’t a dominating athlete her first two years, but she has gradually built herself up to the point where she is now a contender to win the conference title in the pentathlon.

Greeling said her decision to attend SIUC and compete at the college level was a good one.

I like the atmosphere here, It’s more friendly than a lot of other schools, she said. It’s not so institutional, and I’m just really glad with my decision because of the coaching staff.

I have friends who are also in college athletics who don’t enjoy it nearly as much, and as a result, they have lost the love of the sport and I haven’t and I’m really grateful for that, Greeling said.

DeNoon describes Greeling as very coachable, highly energetic, and durable.

She’s not only a great athlete, she’s a great scholar too, DeNoon said. She is a very well focused individual, and she keeps everything in perspective. She strives for excellence in everything she does.

DeNoon’s recruiting intuitions about Greeling paid off this past weekend on Friday, as she won the pentathlon (five indoor events in one) with a score of 3354third best all-time score for SIUC.

On Saturday, her durability earned her third place in the long jump leaping 18-10, sixth on the all-time list, and jumped a distance of 38-04 in the triple, fourth on all-time list jump to finish second behind teammate Joy Williamson.

Greeling described the way she felt before the Saluki/McDonald’s Invitational last weekend.

I was real scaredI thought I was physically ready for this meet more than I had been before because I felt fresh, Greeling said. Then, as I started to get sick, I started to worry about my respiratory system and how it would affect my mental state.

I would say that the (McDonald’s Invite) was probably the best meet I’ve put together in my life.

This season has been a lot more consistent for me than other seasons because of the experience and getting stronger, she said.

Greeling said her major goals are to be All-Conference in the pentathlon and heptathlon (seven outdoor events in one) and to better her own personal records. She also said she would like to be conference champion her senior year.

Greeling, who holds a 4.00 grade point average, also said she would like to make Academic All-American.

Last year I was Academic All-District, and to be Academic All-American would be very fulfilling for me. The better you do on the track, the better chance you have (of getting Academic All-American).

Although undecided, after she graduates next year, Greeling plans to either continue on in graduate school or take her talents in speech communication, which is her major, to the sporting world.

Probably working in a sports marketing department or doing sports promotions for a college or university would be interesting and keep my love for the sport, Greeling said.

Coaching is not out of the question, though, as she said coaching is something every athlete thinks about.

I guess every athlete thinks about it (coaching), it’s something I think I would really enjoy, she said.