The Standard

Issue date: 5/6/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Bazil Manietta

In college sports, athletes can transfer from team to team. That is just the way things are.

In professional sports, they can be traded around. But in college sports, the athletes themselves have the power over where they go.

Usually college athletes go from larger schools to smaller ones either because they don't like the size or they don't like the competition of the higher divisions.

In the case of Asher Kyger, she transferred from a smaller university, MidAmerica Nazarene, to Missouri State last summer.

"I needed an atmosphere that would push me and hopefully take my running to a new level," Kyger said.

Kyger also cites her academics as a reason for switching to Missouri State. She is studying physical therapy and says it weighed in her decision.

Mostly, she was looking for a school that would allow her to continue to improve as an athlete.

"I only had a year and a half left in my college career, so I was looking for a coaching staff that would support post-collegiate running," Kyger said.

In high school, she had pursued several sports, including basketball, volleyball and track. When it came time to pick a college, she chose to attend MidAmerica Nazarene, which gave her a scholarship to play basketball.

But she decided that it wasn't really her sport. She wanted to run.

"Once I was there, I slowly returned to the sport and began to love it," Kyger said. "A growing desire led me to pursue my potential and really focus on my running career.

"I know that specialization in earlier years would have made me a better runner. But I feel like playing different sports in high school kept me from burning out."

While at MidAmerica Nazarene, she got the attention of the coaches at Missouri State.

"I remember seeing some good results from when Asher ran at the Kansas Relays last spring," said Missouri State distance runners coach Greg Hipp. "Being that Asher was a girl from the area, I remember thinking to myself, 'How did we let this girl get away?' Three days later, Asher's mother approached us and let us know that Asher was interested in transferring."

She decided to come to Missouri State, but that doesn't mean that the switch was an easy one.

"The switch to a new school was stressful," Kyger said. "I didn't know what to expect and had to leave people that I cared about behind. However, the girls on the team were great, and I had a strong support system from my family and friends. My teammates have become my campus family and helped me transition well."

Since she has made the switch, she has enjoyed the new level of competition.

Some notable finishes this season for Kyger included totaling the most points of any Bears runner at the Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Championships in early March and winning the 1,500-meter run at the Missouri Relays in late March.

"The competition is definitely better at MSU," Kyger said. "Not only do we race against top athletes but we have top athletes on our team who can push each other during every workout. The Missouri Valley Conference also has a lot of talent."

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