The University of Detroit Mercy will induct seven new members into its Hall of Fame in December. The Class of 2014 includes: Perry Watson (coach), Lisa Blackburn (basketball), Lee Knorek (basketball), Mary Latham (Parker) (soccer), Jorge Ferreira (soccer), Kim Hemstreet (cross country) and the 1972 NCAA National Championship men's fencing team. As we count down to Hall of Fame weekend from Dec. 12-13, DetroitTitans.com will feature each of the seven inductees.
 
Note – Kim Hemstreet will not be able to make it to the ceremony during Hall of Fame Weekend, but she will be honored during the home men's basketball game on Jan. 26, 2015, against Wright State. Click here for the Titan Track & Field's Facebook Hall Of Fame recoginition. 
 
The history of the University of Detroit Mercy women's cross country and track and field teams feature a number of impressive runners, but maybe no one set the standard as high as 2014 Titan Hall of Fame inductee Kim Hemstreet.
 
A letter winner in both cross country and track and field, Hemstreet is still the only women's cross country or track and field athlete to compete at the NCAA Division
I Championships and is the only one to earn her way onto the USTFCCCA Cross Country All-Academic team.
 
"I was excited when I got the call about the Hall of Fame," said Hemstreet. "I have so many fond memories of my time and experiences at UDM in cross country and track and field. Coach Murray was an excellent coach and he emailed me and I got a call and I just couldn't be more excited and honored."

 
Hemstreet was named All-Horizon League three times in cross country and was the Horizon League Champion and Athlete of the Year as a senior in 2002 as well as the HL Indoor Track and Field Athlete of the Year in 2003. She helped the Titans win the 2002 Indoor Horizon League Track and Field Championships as well as take runner-up in 2001 and 2003 as well as second place in the outdoor league meet in 2001 and 2002.
 
"Some of my best memories are just all of us hanging out in the dorm rooms and just getting together as a team. All of our meets were on the weekend so we traveled together in the vans and we were just so close as a team and we won as a team. The training and the early morning runs were fun because we did it as a team and we were so close and that made my time special there," added Hemstreet.
 
In cross country, she placed third at the Horizon League Championship in 2001 and then won the event in a school record 5k time of 17:33 in 2002. At the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championship, she was 12th in the 6k in 21:45 and then earned a top-100 finish placing 90th at the NCAA Division I Championships with a career and school record run of 21:13.
 
"I remember training and working so hard that previous summer going into my senior year," said Hemstreet. "I ran a lot and did a lot of strength work and I was healthy so that was a big key. I had a great race at the Horizon League Championship and at the regionals and my training had me peaking at the right time. For the NCAA's, we trained for it and I went out hard. I went there looking to win and I wanted to run as fast as I can. I thank my teammates for running with me and getting me ready for that race."

She had one of the greatest senior years of any Titan in any sport winning four of the eight races on the schedule, while taking runner-up in two other races. Her 12th-place finish at the NCAA GLR is still the highest of any Titan in the annual postseason event as is her course record at Cass Benton Park with a time of 17:58 at the Running Fit-Detroit Titan Invitational. 
 
She was a perfect 15-of-15 in posting a sub-19 time in 5k races in her career and holds five of the top nine times in school history in that distance, all at 18:00 minutes or below. She also recorded a school record eight runs under 23:00 minutes in the 6k with six of the top 12 times in Titan history. 
 
"My teammates were a big part of my success," said Hemstreet. "We were close as distance runners and we all ran together and pushed each other and they all trained with me as I got ready for the NCAA's. Cross Country is kind of an individual sport and that's what I liked about it. You can do your own thing and push yourself to the limits and when I ran, it just helped me clear my mind and I loved it."
 
In track, she won the Horizon League 3000-meters and 5000m in 2003 and took home the 5000m crown in 2002. She still owns five individual school records in the indoor 1500m (4:33.88 in 2003), 3000m (9:47.13 in 2003) and 5000m (16:58.92 in 2003) and outdoor 5000m (16:48.03 in 2002) and 10000m (35:25.41 in 2002) as well as running on two school record relay teams with the 4x1600m and 4000m DMR in 2001.
 
"I know I had such a great experience running, especially in cross country, and we had a good coach and some great teams, but I never thought that I would ever be in the Hall of Fame," said Hemstreet. "I loved cross country more than track because I love being outside and on the trails and seeing the trees. The fall season is my favorite and especially in Michigan, the fall is so beautiful."
 
Hemstreet found her way to Detroit by way of a former men's teammate in Ciaran Carter. Both hailed from Sarnia, Ontario, but Carter went to Detroit right out of high school, while Hemstreet ran her first year at East Tennessee State. She ran well as a Buccaneer earning the Southern Conference Freshman of the Year and was part of the All-Southern Conference after taking seventh at the conference championships, but something was missing.  
 
"I just wasn't happy there and I was really far away from home. I talked to Ciaran and he told me about the Detroit program and then I talked to Coach Murray and I went there for a visit and I liked the team and I decided that Detroit was the place for me," said Hemstreet. "I loved it. I ran there for three years and I was in school for four years as I also got my masters degree from UDM."
 
Hemstreet is now married to another former Titan and cross country/track standout Andras Lukacs and the couple has two sons in two-year old Laszlo and six-week old Vilmos. They reside just outside of Titan Territory all the way up in Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories of Canada.
 
"With Facebook and the internet, I keep in touch with a lot of my former teammates," said Hemstreet. "A lot of us have good jobs and families so we keep in touch and I am just so excited when I come back in January to see a lot of them. Coach Murray does a great job of keeping us alums updated on what is going on with the program and I am so happy for the time I had at Detroit.