June 2, 2009
Santa Clara head cross country coach Tom Service announced the signing of the 2009 Bronco cross country class today with nine women and seven men inking scholarship papers to attend Santa Clara next year.
"We lose the best class we ever had in Noelle Lopez, Veronica Vazquez, Whitney Porter and Anna Wheatley to graduation on June 13. And now we just signed the best class we've ever had," said Service, who coaches the women. "On paper they are so good. There are several girls in this recruiting class who could make an immediate impact in the fall of 2009 on the cross country team and in 2010 in outdoor track. But we'll let their feet do the talking."
"The overall depth of talent is steadily increasing with each class and the 2009 Cross Country/Track signees are a great example of how far the program has come and the direction the program is going," continued Service. "We hope to continue to build on this class."
"It is definatly on the paper the deepest class we have recruited. Every single one of these student-athletes has a potentional to score in the next couple of years and some will make an impact as early as this fall," assistant coach Felipe Montoro, who coaches the men. "This year's senior class will play a really big roll in assimilating these really talented newcomers as our program continues to grow."
The women's signees includes:
Sara Aliotti (San Ramon, Calif./Carondelet)
Meghan Blood (Portland, Ore./Valley Catholic)
Brooke Davis (San Juan Capistrano, Calif./J Serra)
Erin Hartwig (Glendale, Calif./Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy)
Rebecca Murillo (Mission Viejo, Calif./Trabuco Hills)
Haley Ney (Portland, Ore./ Catlin Gable)
Carey Parker (Seattle, Wash./Seattle Prep)
Julia Restin (Tucson, Ariz./Salpointe Catholic)
Mary Reynolds (Mountain View, Calif./Mountain View)
The men's signees includes:
Guadalupe Gonzalez (San Diego, Calif./University City)
Marcos Hinojosa (San Jose, Calif./Bellarmine Prep)
Lucas Lam (Honolulu, Hawaii/Punahou School)
Gareth Morl (Oak Park, Calif./Oak Park)
Matt Mosier (Mission Viejo, Calif./Trabuco Hills)
Kevin Oliver (Tualatin, Ore./Tualatin)
Ezana Tesfu (Santa Monica, Calif./Santa Monica)
The women's signees bios:
Sara Aliotti
Sara Aliotti will represent the outstanding East Bay powerhouse, Carondelet, at Santa Clara. Aliotti was a scoring member of the 2006 Carondelet team that won the NCS and California State Division 3 Cross Country Championships. She has run 18:51 at Woodward Park and 18:29 at the Hayward NCS course. Coached in track by Flotrack contributor Kevin Selby, Aliotti boasts marks of 5:16 and 11:37 in the 1600 / 3200. She has been a NCS Scholar Athlete all 4 years with a 3.8 unweighted GPA.
Meghan Blood
Two-time Oregon small schools state track champ Meghan Blood comes to SCU from Valley Catholic High School in Portland, Ore. Under the coaching of Tommy Manning, Blood was the 3A state champion at 1500m and 3000m her junior year, a feat accomplished this season by her new teammate, Haley Ney. Blood's top times are 2:22 in the 800m, 4:50 in the 1500m and 10:46 in the 3000m. On the trails, Blood's best season was her sophomore year that saw her run 18:48 for 5k and place 6th at the 1A/2A/3A state championships. A case of anemia slowed her senior track season, but she showed signs of recovery running 2:25 in the 800m late in the year. Blood also played soccer all four years of high school and will now focus year round on running.
Brooke Davis
Brooke Davis comes north to SCU from J Serra where she led her team to top finishes in CIF Division 4 the past couple years. Davis was captain of her successful J Serra team, leading them to top 10 finishes the past two years at the California State Cross Country Championships. On the track Davis has run 5:26 for 1600m. She boasts a 3.8 GPA and plans to major in Communications at Santa Clara.
Erin Hartwig
Erin Hartwig joins the Broncos after a successful four years as a key member of one of Southern California's top small school distance programs, Kirk Nishiyama's Flintridge Sacred Hart Academy. Hartwig improved steadily throughout the season, saving her best races for the championships. She was sixth at the Mission League finals running 20:30 at Crescenta Valley Park, she placed 15th at the CIF Southern Section D4 Championships running 19:18 at Mt. Sac. Her best performance came at the D4 State meet where she was 13th overall, running 18:59 for the 5k course at Woodward Park helping her team to a fifth-place finish.
Rebecca Murillo
Joining teammate, Matt Mosier, Murillo becomes the 4th runner to hail from one of Southern California's premier programs, Trabuco Hills. She has been a very integral part of the Sea View Champion's team the past 4 years. Murillo's track PRs are 5:24 and 11:39. The Communications major is a Scholar Athlete who has earned a 3.97 GPA
Haley Ney
Portland native Haley Ney had a great finish to her high school track career. Ney scored 30 points to seal the 3A Oregon State Championship for Catlin Gable. Running personal bests of 10:33 for 3k and 4:40 for 1500m as well as a 59.4 split on the 4x4, Ney finished her career a three-time State Champion. Ney has also run 2:17 in the 800m. In cross country, Ney finished third at the 1A/2A/3A state championships her sophomore, junior and senior seasons. Ney possesses the talent to make an immediate impact at SCU.
Carey Parker
Another soccer player turned distance runner, Seattle Prep star Carey Parker easily made the transition from the pitch to the trails. During her senior year, head coach Jimmy McCarthy's standout placed second in the Metro Championships running 18:49 for the 5k course, she won the 3A District Championships running 18:42 and was runner-up at the Washington State 3A state meet running 18:35 for the tough 5k course. Parker continued her post-season success placing seventh at the Nike Cross Northwest Regional (18:23 5k), she finished 15th at the Nike Border Clash and she placed 71st out of 198 nation-wide runners at the Nike Cross Nationals in Portland. On the track Parker won the 2009 Washington State 3A 3200 in 11:00.51 and was runner-up in the 1600 in 5:08.90.
Julia Restin
Coach Malisa Carino sends Santa Clara University the 2nd representative from Salpointe H.S in Tucson, AZ. Restin is looking to follow in the footsteps of 2009 SCU graduate, and Rhodes Scholar, Noelle Lopez. Julia compiled quite a resume in the Southern Region Arizona Division 5A Finals placing in the top six the past three years. She was also a scoring member of Salpointe's First State Championship team in 2006. Her track best is 11:43 for 3200m. Restin boasts a 3.5 GPA finishing strong with a 3.98 her last semester.
Mary Reynolds
A three-sport star at nearby Mountain View High School, Mary Reynolds will focus on distance running on the Mission Campus. Splitting her time between club soccer, high school soccer and distance running, Reynolds was able to establish herself as one of the top distance runners in the CCS and State. Reynolds ran 18:45 for the 5k at the Stanford invite and 18:11 for the 5k at the Clovis Invite. One of her top performances was a sub 18:00 clocking at the tough Crystal Springs 2.9 mile course when she ran 17:57 to win the SCVAL finals as part of Coach Evan Smith's sweep of the team titles. Reynolds was 2nd in the CCS Finals for Division 2 running 18:45 at Toro Park, and was 19th at the CA state meet. For her efforts she was named to the 1st Team All-CCS and 2nd team All-NorCal . On the track Reynolds has run 5:00 for 1600m and 2:18 for 800m.
The men's signees bios
Guadalupe Gonzalez
Coach Jim McCarthy at University City High School in San Diego sends his Team Captain Guadalupe Gonzalez north to SCU. Gonzalez enjoyed a breakout season in 2008 that included top 10 finishes at the Stanford Invitational (7th in Division 3 with a time of 16:00 for the 5k), the San Diego Section Division 3 finals (2nd in 16:31) and culminating with a 10th place finish at the California State meet in Division 3 with a mark of 15:33 for the 5k course. On the track Gonzalez has run 4:21.96 for 1600m and 9:40.26 for 3200m. Gonzalez is also an excellent student carrying a 4.2 GPA, the future engineer was named the All-Academic Team Captain for all Cross Country runners in San Diego County. A link to the story can be found here: http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/preps/20081223-0644-n24846.html.
Marcos Hinojosa
Bellarmine College Prep senior Marcos Hinojosa won't have to travel to far to continue his running career at Santa Clara University. The San Jose native was a consistent scorer for coach Patrick McCrystle's WCAL league champions. Hinojosa ran times of 15:50 at Crystal Springs for fourth place in the WCAL, 16:30 at Toro Park for a sixth place finish at the CCS Division 1 championships for Bellarmine's runner up team, and 16:05 for 5k at Woodward Park at the CA Division 1 State Championships. On the track Hinojosa has run 9:28.53 for 3200m and 4:30 for 1600m. Another outstanding student, the future business major carries a 3.7 GPA at Bellarmine.
Lucas Lam
A starter on the varsity soccer team at Punahou School in Honolulu Hawaii, Lucas Lam also excelled on the track. Having never competed in cross country, Lam will make the transition during his freshman year at SCU to a full time distance runner. Punahou distance coach Todd Iacovelli guided Lam to a third place finish as a sophomore and as a senior at the Hawaii State meet at 1500m. Lam's personal bests of 1:58 and 4:06 in the 800m and 1500m, respectively are outstanding considering his relative inexperience and overall low volume of running during high school.
Gareth Morl
Gareth Morl is the latest member of Kevin Smith's Oak Park squad to come to the Mission Campus; he joins Bronco freshman Evan Hennessey. Morl experienced a much improved senior season that saw him running personal bests on every course. Gareth ran 16:30 at the Stanford Invite 5k, 16:18 at the Clovis invitational 5k held on the CA state meet course at Woodward Park, and ran 16:00 at Mt. Sac for 19th place in the Southern Section Division 3 Championships. His best finish in a championship meet was eighth place at the Ventura County Championships where he ran 15:56 on the Lake Casitas 3 mile course. Morl has a 3.2 GPA and is entering the Leavey School of Business.
Matt Mosier
In deciding to come to SCU, Matt Mosier becomes the third current Bronco distance runner to hail from Trabuco Hills HS in Mission Viejo. Matt's older brother Chris and current Bronco freshman Nhunguyen Le are both on the squad. At Trabuco Mosier has been a varsity member for Liam Clemons' team since his sophomore year. Mosier was 32nd at the Orange County Championships covering the three-mile course in 15:44 and placed ninth in the highly competitive Sea View League with his top time of 15:24 for 3 miles. On the track, Mosier has run 1:59 for the 800m and 4:30 for the 1600m. Ranked 28th of 760 in his class, Mosier has an outstanding GPA of 4.5 and plans on majoring in Biology and attending medical school after SCU.
Kevin Oliver
Ranked 1st in his class and sporting a perfect un-weighted 4.0 GPA, Kevin Oliver comes to SCU from Tualatin High School in Oregon. Oliver's success was not limited to the classroom as he finished his HS cross country career with a 17th place finish in the OR state championships (6A) covering the 5k course at Lane Community College in 16:22. His top 5k time came at the Brooks Harrier Classic when he ran 15:43, finishing third. On the track, the long distance specialist has run 8:48.48 for 3k and 4:07.83 for 1500m. Oliver placed sixth at the Oregon 6A state championships over 3k. At Tualatin, the Valedictorian was coached by Paul Zitzelsberger and served as team captain.
Ezana Tesfu
Santa Monica HS standout Ezana Tesfu has been improving rapidly since taking up distance running his sophomore year. Already nearly a minute faster over 3200m than last season, the former soccer player has a bright future on the trails and track. Head Coach Tania Fisher's team captain at Santa Monica enjoyed a solid senior cross country season posting his best 3 mile time at the South Bay cup running 15:22. Tesfu was the Ocean League champion setting the course record on the very challenging Kenneth Hahn Park course running 16:49. On the track, Tesfu has run 2:00 for 800m and 9:37 for 3200m. A stellar student, Tesfu carries a 3.86 GPA and is entering the School of Engineering.
