PORTLAND, Ore. -- Freshman Maggie Coleman was recruited out of Hermiston High School by track and field coach Jonathan Marcus as a distance runner at Portland State.

In fact, when she's finished her career, Marcus expects her to be the Viking's best steeple chase runner ever. After all, she was all-state first team in cross country her senior year, won the conference cross country title as a junior and back to back conference 3,000 meter titles those two years.

But, when he approached her about continuing her running career as a Viking, she also had something else on her mind.

"I recruited Maggie for running.  While I was recruiting her, she said she wanted to play soccer, too.  So, I talked to Coach Schott, who said 'sure, let's take a look'. 

It wasn't as if she had no soccer credentials:   four letters in in high school soccer, two time first-team all-state selection and conference player of the year as a junior and senior.  In fact, she earned 14 letters in high school, including two for cheerleading.

But, that would mean, as fifth year head women's soccer Coach Laura Schott pointed out, her first year at PSU would be very challenging, since both are fall sports.

"Probably her most challenging year will be this one.  She'll be doing college, soccer and cross country and adjusting to living in a new place.  It'll be a matter of balancing another sport over and above normal," said Schott.  "When Maggie and her mom (Janna Coleman) arrived for their visit, I felt it was my responsibility to tell them it would be hard, but Maggie understands the challenge and is very motivated," she added.

It helps that she'll begin PSU with 82 college credits because she took college level classes in high school, where he finished with a 3.92 cumulative gpa.  She's after a business degree and will be taking pre-requisites for admission to the highly ranked PSU School of Business.

It'll also help that Schott sees the two sports as complimentary. "Soccer can be cross country with a ball. In soccer, you run for 90 minutes, so her fitness level will be very high. That translates well for soccer," she said.

And, finally, Marcus played both sports in high school and coached both sports at Franklin High School, prior to joining the PSU coaching staff last year.

"If there is anyone capable at excelling in both sports, it's her.  She's very mature about the way she approaches training.  She has a good attitude about training, her communication, time management and taking care of her body," said Marcus.

Coleman started running in middle school as a way to stay in shape for her favorite sport…soccer. There was no middle school soccer program so it was club soccer, which meant a 45 minute trip each way for her parents.

When she got to Hermiston High, "the coaches asked me to choose and I didn't want to choose. At the time, I liked soccer better than cross country (and now? "It depends on the day.")."

A typical day in high school went something like this:  Up and running cross country at 6 a.m.; maybe do a little homework, eat and get ready for school, 7 a.m.-8:30 a.m.; school, 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.; soccer, 4 p.m.-6 p.m., then dinner, homework and in bed by 9 p.m.

While it was difficult in high school, it'll be even more challenging in college, she admits.  "Here, I have a seven hour chunk out of my day devoted to sports.  I have to take my classes in the afternoon and evening and do my studying then, too.  In high school, you could do some homework during the school day."

While Coleman is pretty confident she can manage her time and the physical stress, her mom had some doubts over the summer after seeing the soccer packet and the list of cross country work out demands.

"Over the summer, I'd get up and run, then sleep, then do soccer exercise, then sleep, then do weights and then just play around with the soccer ball, maybe with some friends.  Mom was afraid I was going to kill myself," she said.   "As long as my body holds up, I'll be fine.  I have to make sure to recover and manage my time."

Said Schott:  "The question is how well Maggie can balance.  It will be difficult, but Maggie can do it.  It'll be fun to see how it goes.  She's the first person I've had do this.  She has the personality to take it on."

Coleman's expectations for her first year are fairly modest. 

"Well, I'm starting at the bottom in soccer (she was waiting to see if she'd be on the roster heading for Nevada when this interview was conducted) and I want to compete and be one of the top five runners on the team (her first meet was a week away)," she said.

"I'm really looking forward to this.  And this way, I won't have any regrets.  If I'd chosen one sport over the other, I'd have regretted it.  Now I have the option to drop one or the other if I need to and I'll have no regrets," Coleman said.