Krissy Gear, Olin Hacker and Abby Nichols, three of the newest members of HOKA Northern Arizona Elite along with Adriaan Wildschutt, join DyeStat editor Erik Boal to discuss their decisions to join the team, increasing the overall roster of the group to 16 athletes. Wildschutt, an All-American at Florida State, was unable to join the conversation having just placed fifth representing South Africa in the men's 10,000-meter final Aug. 2 at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England. Gear, an NCAA Division 1 indoor distance medley relay champion and 4x1,500-meter relay collegiate record holder at Arkansas, shares how impressed she was with the organization and professionalism of the group under Executive Director Ben Rosario and Director of Operations Jen Rosario, and how the personality of NAZ Elite coach Alan Culpepper reminded her of working with veteran Razorbacks coach Lance Harter. Hacker, the reigning Division 1 5,000-meter champion at Wisconsin, explains how significant and meaningful it is to share the rare distinction of having he and his father Tim Hacker both producing sub-4 miles, along with coach Alan Culpepper and his son Cruz Culpepper achieving the same feat. Nichols, an All-American at Colorado and one of only three female athletes in Pac-12 Conference history to sweep the 5,000 and 10,000 titles in the same year, speaks about how impressed she is with the team culture at NAZ Elite and how it reminds her of the group she concluded her collegiate career with in Boulder. All three athletes analyze the benefits of having veteran coaches in Wisconsin's Mick Byrne, Mark Wetmore and Heather Burroughs at Colorado and Harter at Arkansas, along with former teammates and friends who have recently signed professional contracts and joined training groups, in order to receive guidance from them in making their decisions. They all examine the impact HOKA NAZ Elite has had on the Flagstaff community and the running world as a whole, and how they all have the opportunities to tell their own authentic stories as professional athletes, just like April signee Wesley Kiptoo, a former Division 1 indoor 5,000 champion at Iowa State.