Kayla (Friesen) Coffee

Originally from Alliance, Nebraska, Coffee chose to attend USF because of the Christian values. She graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2013 with a Bachelor of Arts in sports management and business administration.

During her freshman year in pole vault, Coffee tallied two conference championships (indoor & outdoor), two all-conference honors (indoor & outdoor) and one NAIA Indoor All-American finish. She recorded a vault of 11’9.75” to place fifth at the 2008 NAIA Indoor Championships while topping that with a 12’ vault to qualify for the 2009 NAIA Outdoor Championships as a freshman and never looked back.

Coffee earned another indoor conference championship with two all conference honors (indoor & outdoor) and two NAIA All-American finishes (indoor & outdoor) as a sophomore and placed second at both the indoor and outdoor NAIA Track & Field Championships.

Entering her junior year, Coffee finished second in the NAIA Indoor Championships with a vault of 12’9 before finishing second in the NAIA Outdoor Championships with a vault of 13’3.5”. She was named to the GPAC All-Conference Team in both her indoor and outdoor performances and collected another outdoor conference championship.

In 2011, Coffee redshirted during USF’s final year of transitioning into the NCAA Division II rankings, during which she recorded her personal best of 13’7.25”. During her fifth year with the team, Coffee earned 2nd and 1st place NSIC conference honors and placed 6th (indoors) and 4th (outdoors) at NCAA Division II national competitions. She was also named the 2013 Female Student-Athlete of the Year and received the NSIC Myles Brand All-American with Distinction Award.

She and her husband Caleb currently reside in Sioux Falls, SD where she is a stay-at-home mother and homeschool teacher of their three children, Emerson, Lucas and Charlotte.