It’s amazing what can happen on a run – get a cramp, lose your breath, sprain an ankle.

Or even be discovered by Northwestern lacrosse coach Kelly Amonte Hiller.

Sophomore twins Ashley and Courtney Koester have found out that the odds of such an encounter aren’t so slim. After seeing the two around campus – both running and playing club sports – Hiller approached them in fall 2001 and enticed them to play varsity lacrosse.

And as one of the best lacrosse players in the world, Hiller has quite the eye for potential talent.

Just five months after picking up a lacrosse stick for the first time, the Koesters have not only taken leaps and bounds with their skills, but they have both earned spots in the starting lineup.

“I had seen them six to 10 times around campus and finally one day I saw them on the street and went up to them to talk to them,” Hiller said.

Acting on instinct, Hiller explained the resurgence of the lacrosse program at NU. She discovered that Courtney had played varsity basketball last year but was wary of joining another varsity sport. Both she and Ashley had settled on playing club rugby.

Even more intrigued after the first meeting, Hiller decided to contact NU basketball coach June Olkowski and research her “recruits” a bit more.

Olkowski was full of praise for her former pupil, so Hiller e-mailed the twins and invited them to meet with her to discuss lacrosse.

“They were a little bit apprehensive and thought I was a little bit strange (for pursuing them),” Hiller laughed. “But they came into the office and I gave them sticks to take home over Thanksgiving to try it out, and they came back and said, ‘Why not?'”

After the break, the Koesters returned to Evanston with the daunting task of attending their first practice.

“I wondered what I was doing there,” Ashley said. “Of course I made some bad passes and dropped the ball, but everyone was really supportive.”

Being immersed in an intricate game on the varsity level was almost too grueling for the twins. One lacrosse regulation, for example, states that all legal checks must be directed away from the head of the player in possession of the ball.

This was a new concept to the Koesters.

“I was still questioning at that point what I was doing there and why I should play a varsity sport that I had never played before,” Courtney said. “But it has turned out to be awesome.

“It’s less physical than rugby, but as physical as a soccer game. But as far as fitness level, I have never experienced anything like it.”

Courtney said the new sport offers much more opportunity than basketball.

“I felt like I was starting to reach my potential. The learning curve is so big for lacrosse right now because it’s new, and it’s just so much fun,” she said. “I can see myself improving everyday, whereas in basketball, I just felt like I was maintaining.”

Five months of intense training later, the Koester twins took the field for the first time for NU against Marist on March 8. Courtney finished the game with three goals, and since then, the Koesters have become two of the stars of the team.

“I joined the team thinking that I’d just practice and never see the field,” Ashley said. “I thought I’d be the type of player that just made everyone else play better.”

The statistics say otherwise. Courtney, who was named to the Insidelacrosse.com honor roll for national player of the week on Tuesday, is third on the team in scoring with 11 goals, and Ashley leads the team with 35 ground balls.

In addition, both are high in the team rankings for draw controls. Courtney leads with 30 and Ashley owns nine despite a recent ankle injury.

“When we first started working with them, it took them maybe four or five tries to pick something up,” Hiller said. “Their progress is off the charts and hopefully they’ll keep progressing every game, as they have.”

For now, the Koester twins are enjoying their unexpected success.

“It’s been awesome,” Courtney said. “The girls are a lot of fun, and the coaches make it fun.”

Added Ashley: “It’s something that just came up, an opportunity I ran into. I wasn’t sure it was really for me at first, but I am so glad that I did it.”