ST PETE - A runner like Hayley Brahm doesn't come around very often, just ask her coach.

"You get a girl like Hayley every couple years," said Larry Rudisill, Northeast's cross country coach. "She's very outgoing, she's our team captain. She's everything you could ever hope for in an athlete."

Brahm crossed the finish line first in last week's Viking Invitational, finishing the 5K in a time of 20:48.5.

"Our girl Carolyn, and Amanda have won the Viking Invitational," explained Brahm.  "So, I had to come in first; otherwise, my coach would have been like, 'what are you doing with your life Hayley.'"

In addition to her sense of humor, those who know Brahm best, know there's much more to the Vikings' senior than just running.

"She's involved in a lot of other stuff," Rudisill said. "She's in National Honor Society, she's in a few clubs, she does Cirque du Soleil."

"If you've ever seen Cirque du Soleil, I'm basically doing all that stuff on the curtains, being graceful, getting spun around by the ankle," Brahm explains.

Brahm is excited to see how this year finishes, but her eyes are already looking around the corner to next year.

"I went to Florida Southern over the weekend," Brahm said. "It's beautiful, definitely my first choice."

"I think she would do well in a college environment," Rudisill agreed.

She's getting better each day."