Eric Heely

Grew up in central California. Ran for Buchanan High (2nd place CIF XC State Meet, 1999) with Fernando Cabada. Was a half miler in school with some distance tendencies (forced upon me by my coach who was convinced there was more in the tank for longer races). Did a year in Roswell, NM, at a military institute that had no college running program so I continued to train while assistant coaching alongside Jan Olesienski (1980 Polish Olympian - Modern Pentathalon). I moved on to run for Army at West Point under Jerry Quiller (Colorado and 2000 Men's Olympic Team Distance Coach) where I ran everything from the 800 to the 10k during my 4 years and 12 seasons. I commissioned in the Army and continued my running career on my own, with occasional updates to Q. This included several 5Ks in various states, three top-20 Army Ten Miler finishes, and competitions in the 2008 USAXC Championships, followed by the CISM International Military XC Championship in Switzerland. I hope to return from my upcoming deployment to Afghanistan to compete again on the national and international scene.