June 7, 2005
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - After a strong 2004-2005 cross-country and track season, Head Coach Tom Service announced the addition of a number of talented runners who will be the newest members of the Santa Clara program. Among the nine new student-athletes are four local Central Coast Section runners in addition to runners from Arizona, Oregon, Washington, and Colorado.
On the men's side, standouts Brian Fisher from Mountain View, Calif., Dan Smith from San Jose, Calif., Chris Mulvaney from Littleton, Colo., and Mykah Norville from Portland, Ore., will look to bolster the men's squad.
Joining the Bronco Women in their quest for a WCC cross-country title will be Alyssa Gagliani from Burlingame, Calif., Veronica Vazquez from San Jose, Calif., Anna Wheatley from Seattle, Wash., Whitney Porter from Spokane, Wash., and Noelle Lopez from Tucson, Ariz.
"With Mykah Norville and Chris Mulvaney we are getting two outstanding prospects who were among their state leaders all season and have excellent range from middle to long distance," Service said. "Brian Fisher and Dan Smith both come from excellent WCAL programs with amazing credentials. It is rewarding to have the local kids stay home and realize that SCU is an outstanding option for academics and their distance running careers."
"The Broncos welcome an outstanding 2005 recruiting class," Service proudly stated. "Noelle Lopez was recently awarded the Arizona State Scholar Athlete Award. This capped off an outstanding quadruple performance at the State Finals. Anna Wheatley and Whitney Porter keep our quality Washington State contingent intact. Like the men, Veronica Vasquez and Alyssa Gagliani are Bay Area products who had great Cross Country seasons."
Brian Fisher
Fisher is a local standout from Mountain View, Calif. He helped lead St. Francis High School to a second-place finish in the CCS Division II Championships while finishing sixth in the individual results. During the spring track season, Fisher contributed to St. Francis' second-place team finish at the Central Coast Section finals by placing sixth in the 3,200-meter final with a time of 9:35.
Dan Smith
Another local product to the Bronco cross country squad is San Jose, Calif. native Dan Smith. In the CCS cross country Finals, he helped paced Bellarmine College Prep to a fifth-place finish in the highly competitive CCS Division I Championships. In his junior season, Smith also ran the 3,000-meters in 9:04 at Stanford.
Chris Mulvaney
Mulvaney joins the Broncos from Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo. He finished third in the Colorado State Meet in the 5A Division with a 5K time of 15:55.5. At the State Track and Field 5A Meet, at an elevation of 5,200 feet, Mulvaney helped pace Columbine High to a second-place team finish with a 1:58 performance in the 800-meters and a 4:21 1,600-meter finish. The Denver Post named Mulvaney the Jefferson County League Boys' Track and Field MVP, as well.
Mykah Norville
Norville, originally from Portland, Ore., competed this past spring for Hoala High School in Hawaii. He finished 17th in the highly-touted Stanford Invitational as a senior while running cross country for Sunset High in Portland. In the 2005 Hawaii State Track Meet after his transfer, Norville won the boys' 1,500-meter title in a time of 4:09, finished second in the 3,000-meters with a time of 9:22, and placed fourth in the 800-meters with a time of 1:58.
Gagliani comes to Santa Clara ranks fresh off of a season in which she earned Second Team All-CCS honors by finishing third in the individual results. Her performance helped Burlingame High School to a second-place finish in the CCS Division III finals.
Currently, Gagliani is rehabilitating from injuries sustained in an early-March car accident, which will likely delay her Santa Clara cross country debut until the 2006 season.
Veronica Vazquez
Vazquez was the leader of her Overfelt Royals squad, finishing sixth in the CCS Division II Cross Country finals. In the spring season, she finished seventh in girls' 1,600-meters with a time of 5:11at the CCS Track and Field Finals.
Anna Wheatley
Wheatley, a Seattle, Wash. native, is a 2004 All-State performer out of Seattle Prep, finishing 12th in the Class 3A Washington State Championships. With personal bests of 2:17 in the 800-meters and 5:08 in the 1,600-meters, Wheatley should make an immediate impact with the Broncos.
Whitney Porter
Porter was the top finisher for Lewis & Clark High in the Class 4A Cross Country Championships. During the track season in the Pacific Northwest, she finished fifth in the 3,200-meters at the Class 4A Washington State Meet with a time of 10:51.
Lopez, running for Salpointe Catholic High School in Tucson, placed second in the 5A State Meet and won all but three races in 2004 en route to being named the Girls' Runner of the Year by the Tucson Citizen. During the track season, Lopez' performance included fourth-place finishes in the girls' 1,600- and 3,200-meters at the Arizona 5A State Finals. She was also named to the Arizona Daily Star's 2005 All-Southern Arizona First-team for her performances on the oval.
Adds Service: "The outstanding quality of these classes will add tremendous depth to our program. It is also very likely that several of the freshman will make an immediate impact during the 2005/06 Cross Country and Track seasons."
