MOSCOW, Idaho — She took the life-changing phone call on a sunny afternoon in June 2010.
 
"You want me?" Hannah Kiser thought as she took the call offering her a full scholarship from the University of Idaho.
 
"I remember thinking I had a lot of weaknesses," she recalls. "I needed them to think that I was as good as they thought I was."
 
Kiser said yes to Idaho. It was the beginning of a record-breaking career for the 20-time conference champion in cross-country and track and field that ended with a crushing disappointment.
 
On Friday, Kiser will be inducted into the Vandal Athletics Hall of Fame, completing the journey from an athlete who doubted her potential to one of Idaho's greatest female athletes.
 
Her achievements include a Western Athletic Conference Women's Outstanding Track Performer of the Year and the WAC High Point Award in 2014; the first person in WAC history to win the Triple Crown, and placing first at 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000 meters. She's one of only two Idaho women to qualify for the NCAA Championships in cross-country (2011), indoor track and field (2012, 2013) and outdoor track and field (2011). She led Idaho to four consecutive WAC team cross-country titles (2010-2013), broke four school records, set two all-time WAC records, was twice WAC cross-country Athlete of the Year and twice an All-American.
 
Kiser didn't start off breaking records left and right, but a moment her freshman year changed her perspective on how good she and her team could become.
 
Idaho stunned everyone by winning the WAC women's team cross-country championship in 2010, the first of four during Kiser's career.
 
"We weren't expecting to win as freshmen," Kiser said. "But then we did, and it gave us excitement. It was almost like a foreshadow for the future."
 
With a tight schedule that included workout sessions twice a day, she put a lot of "work and passion" into her studies and running career.
 
"I was pretty disciplined and didn't have much of a social life," said Kiser, who was on the Dean's list seven times and earned WAC all-academic honors, with a laugh. "But I don't regret any of that. You don't get a lot of chances to be that good at something."
 
Although Kiser was clumsy and uncoordinated as a kid, a hot summer day changed it all.
 
Kiser went on a hike with her father in 90-degree weather. Her grandmother brought her out a glass of sweet lemonade, letting her know she never had to push herself that hard again.
 
But she was already hooked.
 
"I insisted I go back the next day," Kiser said. "I wasn't good; I was pretty clumsy, but I wanted to get better."
 
She described running as a way to get "lost in her thoughts" and loved it even though she said she was one of the slowest runners at her high school at first.
 
Kiser now coaches and teaches chemistry at Pullman High School. She loves to support young people.
 
"I want to eventually evolve into coaching full time," said Kiser, who has been coaching for about four years. "I want to empower these high-schoolers and let them know they are amazing."
 
She still enjoys running and hopes to compete in some trail races.  
 
"I'm just enjoying life right now," Kiser said. "You work so hard to get a job you love."
 
Her career at Idaho wasn't perfect. She shattered a small bone in her foot in 2013, ran after a pain-killing injection rather than let her team down at the WAC championships and sat out the 2014 indoor track season.
 
She had one season of outdoor track eligibility available and looked to transfer to Washington State but was denied by the athletic director at the time. It was a difficult end to her remarkable career, but her induction into the Vandal Athletic Hall of Fame brings closure and well-deserved recognition to her incredible contributions to Idaho track and field.
 
"It was emotional," Kiser said about receiving the call from Athletic Director Terry Gawlik about her induction. "I feel like I finally was able to close a chapter that was weighing."
 
The 2022 Hall of Fame class will be inducted during a banquet Friday evening. The class will be recognized during halftime of Idaho's football game against EWU. Tickets for the football game are still available at govandals.com/tickets.