Three-time Heritage Hills High School Most Valuable Runner Cody Stein (Evanston, Ind.) and multi-sport New Mexico star Kepra McBrayer (Albuquerque, N.M./Highland) have both signed National Letters of Intent to run cross country at the University of Evansville.

Stein will become the newest member of the UE men’s cross country program this fall after excelling both on the cross country course and in the classroom at nearby Heritage Hills High School.  Stein, a member of the National Honor Society, was the Pocket Athletic Conference champion in cross country as a senior after breaking the conference course record with a 5-K time of 15:55.  Stein helped lead Heritage Hills to a regional appearance in 2007 as a junior and a semi-state appearance in 2008 as a senior.  He earned honorable mention all-state honors from the Indiana Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches Association (IATCCC) in 2007, and also lettered four years in track and two years in swimming for the Patriots.

McBrayer, meanwhile, will join the UE women’s cross country program this fall after excelling in cross country, soccer, tennis, basketball and swimming at Highland High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico over the last four years.  McBrayer was named the Albuquerque Public Schools Outstanding Female Athlete of the Year in the 2007-08 academic year, and for good reason, as she finished second in the Class 5-A state cross country meet with a 5-K time of 18:43.00 in the fall and placed second in the state high school tennis tournament in the spring.  On the cross country course, McBrayer has posted 5-K times as low as 18:14 in altitude, while finishing in the state’s top 10 twice.  She has also been one of New Mexico’s top high school tennis players, earned all-district honors on the soccer field, and currently ranks second in her class of over 234 people with a 4.3 grade point average on a 4.0 scale.

“Both Cody and Kepra are going to be tremendous assets for our program over the next four years, not only on the cross country course, but also in the classroom,” said UE head coach Don Walters.  “Both Cody and Kepra are the complete package:  outstanding students, outstanding athletes, and most importantly, outstanding people.

“I expect both Cody and Kepra to come in and make an immediate impact on our cross country program.  Cody is someone who is extremely hard-working and has great leadership qualities.  Kepra, meanwhile, is so multi-talented that she seems to excel in just about everything that she does, and I’m sure that will be the case at UE.”

Stein plans on majoring in biology at UE with hopes of being a physician one day.  McBrayer, meanwhile, hopes to double-major in electrical engineering and biology with hopes of going into genetic research in the future.