By CONOR NICHOLL

cnicholl@dailynews.net

Opposing coaches use superlatives like "rare," "amazing" and "unbelievable" when describing what Sharon Springs sophomore Hallie Kuhlman accomplished at the 2009 state meet. Kuhlman won the 100-, 200-, 400- and 800-meter quadruple at the Class 1A state championships last season, an eclectic mix of speed and endurance. No athlete in Kansas history has won those four in one state meet, according to Kansas track historian Carol Swenson. But Sharon Springs' football coach/assistant track coach/weightlifting instructor Kevin Ayers sees elite skill for Kuhlman in other areas, too.

"In the weight room, she is outstanding," he said. "When you take her out to track practice, you get her best effort. I think the most amazing thing is that people don't see is her recovery ability. The ability to recover is just unreal."

Helped by Ayers' CrossFit/Endurance training principles and a ferocious work ethic, Kuhlman has been able to run at a high level with little rest. At state last year, she won the 800 and then returned to the track 25 minutes later to capture the 200-meter title. Last Friday at regionals, she ran four races (plus two prelims) inside of a few hours. This weekend, Kuhlman will try to pull off all four titles again.

"There is a lot of stress that comes with that, a lot of pressure," Kuhlman said. "I've said it before, if it happens, it happens. If I don't get it, I don't get it. If I do it again, I do it again."

Kuhlman fought shin splints nearly all spring, but her work in the weight room kept her fit. Ayers, who has won three state football titles, latched onto the CrossFit program several years ago. The program features intense workouts with little rest periods. It starts with heavy Olympic lifts and then ends with what Ayers calls a "finisher," about 10 minutes of dumbbell swings, pull-ups, squats, lunges, hops and other exercises done as quickly as possible.

"Just hits the anaerobic threshold amazingly well," Ayers said.

The workouts produced four powerlifting state titles for Kuhlman this year in the 123-pound class. Plus, Kuhlman set state marks for bench (115 pounds) and squat (200 pounds) and can do 30 pull-ups. Kuhlman enjoys it; on the CrossFIt Web site, Kuhlman is listed as the youngest athlete to ever attend an Endurance Certification.

"The top thing of it is having fun," Kuhlman said. "If you don't have fun, then what is the point of it?"

On the track, the coaches constantly change workouts for Kuhlman and the Wildcat athletes. Sometimes, Kuhlman will run eight repeat 200s at 30 seconds with two minute recovery in between. If she hits every time, the next week, Ayers will ask her do run repeats at 30 seconds with 1:45 recovery. Or, the coaches could have Kuhlman try to run 28 -second repeats with four minute recovery; the variables are constantly changed. Ayers also uses what he labels "varied functional movements," including sprinting 100 meters and doing body squats.

Then, sprinting 100 and doing jump lunges. At meets, Sharon Springs will change Kuhlman's event schedule; she has run the 400-meter relay several times and even ran the 1,600 once. Kuhlman -- "her work ethic is out of this world," Ayers said -- will train often on her own. On the track, it's already produced four state titles and could yield four more this weekend.