April 15, 2008
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -
Purdue soccer will add another attacker to its small army of forwards this fall when Katie Leinert joins the Boilermakers' roster. Leinert is currently a senior at Eurkea (Mo.) High School and has led her club in scoring the past three seasons.
"Katie has good pace, is mobile off the ball and consistently scores goals whether it be with her head or foot," Purdue head coach Rob Klatte said. "She is courageous and enjoys taking players on, which is a foundation of our team's attacking principles. Katie will provide us with yet another potent attacking option moving into this next fall."
A three-time first team all-conference selection, Leinert also has varsity cross country experience, which will come in handy if she's needed to play a complete game. She has been named twice to the cross country all-state team and to the all-metro second team as a freshman.
Leinert's club experience includes four years with IronKids and another five with the St. Louis Soccer Club, which reached the Missouri state finals in both 2004 and 2006.
Selected as the St. Louis Cardinals' Athlete of the Week during her junior year, Leinert is a four-year honor roll student and is considering majors in nutritional science and/or family and consumer sciences. Her career plans include becoming a nurse.
Leinert is the daughter of Pat and Barbara Leinert of Wildwood, Missouri, and she has three siblings: brother Patrick, and sisters Shannon and Hannah. Patrick played baseball at Lindenwood University, and her sister, Shannon, is currently a mid-distance runner at the University of Florida.
Leinert's father, Pat, played soccer while attending the University of Missouri.