Kira Soderstrom

THIS SEASON: Freshman Kira Soderstrom will compete in the distance races for USC, after running cross country in the fall.

CROSS COUNTRY: Soderstrom was one of the many bright spots on the young Trojan cross country team. She represented USC at the Pac-12 Championships and posted a time of 22:54. She finished 20th at the Northridge Invitational with a time of 22:40.26 to help the Trojans take second in the meet.

HIGH SCHOOL: Soderstrom is a 2011 graduate of Winter Park High in Winter Park, Fla...She earned varsity letters in track and cross country for all four seasons, serving as both the track and the cross country team captain as a senior...Named to the All-Metro, All-District and All-Region cross country teams from 2008-10...Winter Park won the 4A Florida State Championship in 2009 with Soderstrom taking 16th individually. Her team was the state runner-up in 2008 and she placed 13th...Was the cross country team MVP as a senior...Named All-Metro, All-District, All-Region and All-State in track for the 2010 and 2011 seasons...At the New Balance Outdoor Nationals in 2011, Soderstrom placed sixth in the the 1-Mile Emerging Elite and 22nd in the 2-Mile Champions race... At the FHSAA 4A State Track Championships placed seventh in the 1600m race in 2010 and 2011, took third in the 3200m race in 2011 and was part of the winning 4x800m realy in 2010...Was the track team MVP in 2011, the Iron Man Award winner in 2009 and the Coaches' Award in 2008...Soderstrom is the Winter Park High freshman and sophomore one-mile record-holder.

PERSONAL: Kira was born on May 2, 1992 in New Jersey...She was a People to People Athletic Ambassador to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji in 2008...Graduated from the national Outdoor Leadership School in 2009...She was a National Merit Scholar and a Math Honors Society member...Kira is a Math/Economics major at USC...Lists her favorite actors as Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis and Natalie Portman...Likes to write poetry in her spare time.