@fullname - @sport - University of Colorado Athletics

Kansas State

Sep 18 (Thu)

7 p.m.

Nikki Keller

Position:
Midfielder/Forward
Height:
5-6
Class:
Sophomore
Hometown:
Arvada, Colo.
High School:
Ralston Valley

2005 Big 12 All-Newcomer Team
2006 Big 12 All-Tournament Team
2007 second-team All-Big 12
2008 second-team All-Big 12

SENIOR (2008): Keller earned second-team All-Big 12 as one of the team's top offensive forces, leading the team to the NCAA Tournament, the Big 12 Tournament final, and a 14-5-4 record. She started all 23 games and scored six goals and had three assists for 15 points. She had a pair of three-point games with a goal and an assist in a 4-1 win over San Francisco on Aug. 31 and the same stat line in a 4-0 victory against Baylor on Oct. 12. Keller also scored goals against Mississippi, Fresno State, Kansas and Drake--all wins. She also added an assist in CU's 1-0 win over Texas on Oct. 10.

JUNIOR (2007): Keller started all 22 games for the Buffaloes on the season and finished the year with one goal and two assists in a career-high 1,901 minutes of action. Keller’s lone goal in her junior campaign proved to be the gamewinner in CU’s 4-0 win over Nebraska. After seeing occasional action as a forward during her first two years as a Buff, Keller made the permanent move to midfield where she remains as an integral part of CU’s everyday lineup. Keller’s two assists on the season bumped her up to a tie for seventh on Colorado’s all-time career assists chart with nine. Her presence and consistency in the midfield allowed her to pick up her second career All-Big 12 honor as she was named to the All-Big 12 second team.

SOPHOMORE (2006): Saw action in all 24 games, starting 23, playing mostly at outside midfield but occasionally seeing spot duty at forward. Keller scored three goals on the season, the first in CU’s second game of the year against Alabama. She also scored against Wyoming after coming off the bench in that game following CU’s double overtime draw at Nebraska, and scored CU’s lone goal against Kansas in the Big 12 Tournament. Keller dished out a trio of assists, with two against Clemson and also the gametying assist in CU’s come-from-behind win over A&M in the Big 12 Tournament. She saw 1,882 minutes of action, with 36 shots, 11 on goal.

FRESHMAN (2005): Keller started 20 of CU’s 24 games in her first year, scoring four goals and notching four assists, good for 12 points and tied with Allison Kidd as CU’s third leading scorer. She notched two game winning goals, against Pittsburgh and Iowa State. Her goal vs. Pitt was the first of her career, and came at the 83:11 mark. She managed a career high four shots on four different occasions and posted 42 on the year, 22 of which were on goal.

HIGH SCHOOL: Keller and the Ralston Valley Mustangs won four straight Jeffco League Championships and reached the 4A state quarterfinal rounds in 2002 and ’04 and semifinal play in 2003. Keller was a second-team all-Jeffco performer as a freshman and first-team all-conference and second-team all-state as a sophomore, junior and senior. A three-sport athlete at Ralston Valley, Keller was a four-year letterwinner of the Mustangs’ 4x100 and 4x200-m relay teams and has run the open 100 and 200 distances. On the track she was a second-team all-conference runner as a freshman, and first team as a sophomore, junior and senior. She also ran cross country as a freshman. Keller played her club ball for the Colorado Girls Soccer Academy, and coach James Harris. She was also recruited by Illinois and Denver.

IN THE CLASSROOM: A four-year academic letterwinner in high school, Keller is an Integrative Physiology major at CU and the community service representative for the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).

PERSONAL: The daughter of Jeff and Pamela Keller, Nikki was born Jan. 30, 1987 in Wheat Ridge Colo. She is the twin sister of Jessi who plays soccer at the University of Denver, where she too wears the number 6. The two have a younger brother, TJ, who will be a sophomore at Metro State in Denver. William Keller, her fraternal grandfather, played basketball at Colorado State in the 50s before transferring to CU and graduating in 1957. Her hobbies include snowboarding and her favorite mountain is Keystone.