Track and field signing thread for 2023-24
Nov 21, 2023 8:52:17 GMT -6
bogeyman, bucfan, and 1 more like this
Post by acutrackfan on Nov 21, 2023 8:52:17 GMT -6
I have been trying to keep track of ACU signees on T&F websites and social media. I thought I would go ahead and update on some of the signees to date. The women's signings have been much more active thus far. And remember, signing for T&F is more of a marathon than a sprint -- the signing window stays continuously open from November 8 to August 1, 2024.
WOMEN
-Emma Santoro, from Rockwall (Rockwall has become ACU's pipeline this year) -- 8th in the 6A 400 last year and barely missed going to state in the 800 as well (getting 4th in Region II-6A race, only a second out of going to state) -- PR's of 56.62 in the 400 and 2:17 in the 800
-Audrey Chitwood - Meridian, Idaho, Mountain View HS -- placed 9th in the ID 5A (their largest division) 1600 - PR's of 2:19 in the 800, 5:03 in the 1600 and 4:55 in the 1500 at the Oregon Relays at U of Oregon
-Charley Hamilton - Rockwall - after winning the District 10-6A 800 and 1600, Charly got 7th in the Region 7-6A 800. But this past summer, she had a strong summer club season, going to the USATF Jr Olympics and competing in the 17-18 y/o division she won the steeplechase and got 6th in both the 800 and 1500. Her PR of 7:30 in the steeple puts her #38 in the U.S. for high schoolers and she also has a PR of 2:14 in the 800 and 4:50 in the 1500.
NOTE: There are actually 2 Jr Olympics Nationals in the U.S. The original Jr Olympics is the AAU Jr Olympics, which has been competing for decades. Several years ago, the USA Track and Field organization (USATF) began to host their own Jr Olympics. Since USATF hosts the National Championships and the U20 National Championships and they pick the U.S. Olympic team, they have made great inroads into getting athletes to compete in their Jr Olympic meet. However, the AAU Jr Olympic meet still has a lot of history and it still draws a larger number of competitors and is still a high-quality meet. You will see BOTH Jr Olympic meets referred to in this post.
-Bethany Tate - Midland Classical Academy - At the TAPPS 4A meet she placed 1st SP, 3rd DT. When I looked at one of my databases, which only had her HS stats, she did not appear to be a key recruit. BUT, then I looked at another database and found out she had a great summer as well -- at the AAU Jr Olympics Nationals in the 17-18 y/o she won the discus, 6th in the javelin, and 7th in the shot put -- with marks in the DT and SP much better than she got at the TAPPS state meet. Her PR of 142-5 in the DT moved her into the top-100 high schoolers in the country. Her PR of 125-4 in the Javelin would have placed last year at the WAC championships. Looks like Coach Cook found another big-time sleeper recruit.
-Mariana Van Dyk - Cypress Christian (outside Houston) - I met this kid during her visit and she will be an athlete here. She won the TAPPS 4A DT (over her soon-to-be teammate Bethany Tate) and was 2nd in the SP. But what is really impressive to me is that she ran on her high school's 4x1, 4x2 and 4x4 relays -- anchoring her 4x4 relay and has run a 64 second relay split. PR's 129-6 in the discus and 37-9.5 in the shot put.
-Also, it looks like the Wildcats will get some mid-term help with the addition of Eliza Lemberga, a heptathlete from Latvia. She was 4th in the Latvian National Championships in the hep, scoring 4,722 points at age 18. That score would easily place at the WAC meet and she will also help our returning heptathlete Natalie Poe develop.
MEN
-Vincent Luffey - Aledo - at the District 5-5A meet, he won the 1600 and 3200, and got 2nd in the 800. At the Region I-5A meet, he got 3rd in the 800 missing a trip to state by 2/hundredths of a second. He has good PR's - 1:55 in the 800, 4:18 in the 1600 and 9:37 in the 3200. He has a realistic shot at making it to state in any (or all) of these events. And, as a bonus, he is a September birthday, so literally turned 17 after he started his senior year in HS. And, male distance runners definitely benefit from maturity.
-Collin McCrillis - Rockwall (yep, a 3rd recruit from Rockwall)-- will train at ACU as a decathlete. At the District 10-6A meet last year, he placed 2nd in the 110H and 3rd in the 300H, high jump and pole vault. He got 6th at the Reg II-6A 110H and his 14.27 in the hurdles would make him a legit prospect in the hurdles alone. In 2021, he got 4th in the USATF Jr Olympics 15-16 y/o decathlon, so he already has experience in the multi. PR's of 14.27 in the 110H, 6-4 in the HJ, 21-0 in the LJ and 13-0 in the pole vault (and the PV is usually the biggest challenge to master for a new multi-athlete.)
I know of MANY other scholarship offers that are out there for T&F. Apparently, several key distance runners are headed to Abilene for a visit weekend in a couple of weeks.
As you might have read on the general T&F board, ACU is getting hit hard by the transfer portal as Zoe Burleson (the best female thrower) and Nate Collier (either the 1st or 2nd best male thrower) have both entered the portal. Zoe will graduate from ACU in a few weeks and leaves as a grad transfer and is headed to Texas Tech, where the HC is ACU alum and former HC Wes Kittley and the throws coach is former ACU D2 and D1 national champ Cliff Felkins. Cliff is known as a great "throws doctor" -- a coach who can take someone who was nearly ruined by a former coach and turning them around. Recently he got a thrower from Michigan State, who could not place in the Big 10, yet was a first-team All-American her first year at Tech. However, in Zoe's case there does not need to be a lot of "doctoring" -- she has worked with one of the best throwing coaches in the country in Coach Cook for the past 4 years. Due to COVID redshirt, she will have 2 years to compete for Tech. I have not heard of Nate of signing with anyone yet, but I hear he wants to get closer to his home in Oklahoma.
The transfer portal issue certainly makes for a challenge with throwers. Most throwers benefit terrifically from a redshirt year their freshman year -- I would say that ACU redshirts 80% of their throwers and will do this again this spring with 3-4 terrific recruits. The redshirt year is the best thing for the thrower, but will the transfer portal cause the coaches to eschew redshirting if it gives an athlete an extra year to compete for someone else.
That's all on T&F recruiting for now.
OK, I am not as smart as Mavsman on this recruiting thread thing. He always starts his thread with a list of signees and he simply edits and adds names as they come along. I am just adding my list to my first post, with hopes that Mavsman or Cap'n can possibly take this info and move it to the top of the thread.
Here is the current list:
MEN
-Matthew Engle - El Paso Franklin - Distance
-Vincent Luffey - Aledo - Middle distance
-Collin McCrillis - Rockwall - Multis
-Carlos Cortez - Troy, TX - distance
-Austin Roberts - The Woodlands - distance
-Andruw Villa - Abilene - distance
-Ethan Rodriguez - San Antonio Reagan - Middle distance (midterm - Spring, 2024)
WOMEN
-Audrey Chitwood - Meridian, ID, Mountain View - Distance
-Charley Hamilton - Rockwall - Middle distance
-Eliza Lemberga - Latvia - Multis (midterm - spring, 2024)
-Emma Santoro - Rockwall - Sprints
-Bethany Tate - Midland Classical - Throws
-Mariana Van Dyk -Cypress Christian - Throws
-Alyssa Quinones - Floresville - distance
-Nele Huth - Frankfurt, Germany - multis
-Lola Buentello - San Antonio Antonian Prep - distance
-Kylie Tullous - Jacksboro - jumps
-Hannah Kasper - Tampa, FL, Cambridge Christian
-Jalyn Childers - Coppell - middle distance
WOMEN
-Emma Santoro, from Rockwall (Rockwall has become ACU's pipeline this year) -- 8th in the 6A 400 last year and barely missed going to state in the 800 as well (getting 4th in Region II-6A race, only a second out of going to state) -- PR's of 56.62 in the 400 and 2:17 in the 800
-Audrey Chitwood - Meridian, Idaho, Mountain View HS -- placed 9th in the ID 5A (their largest division) 1600 - PR's of 2:19 in the 800, 5:03 in the 1600 and 4:55 in the 1500 at the Oregon Relays at U of Oregon
-Charley Hamilton - Rockwall - after winning the District 10-6A 800 and 1600, Charly got 7th in the Region 7-6A 800. But this past summer, she had a strong summer club season, going to the USATF Jr Olympics and competing in the 17-18 y/o division she won the steeplechase and got 6th in both the 800 and 1500. Her PR of 7:30 in the steeple puts her #38 in the U.S. for high schoolers and she also has a PR of 2:14 in the 800 and 4:50 in the 1500.
NOTE: There are actually 2 Jr Olympics Nationals in the U.S. The original Jr Olympics is the AAU Jr Olympics, which has been competing for decades. Several years ago, the USA Track and Field organization (USATF) began to host their own Jr Olympics. Since USATF hosts the National Championships and the U20 National Championships and they pick the U.S. Olympic team, they have made great inroads into getting athletes to compete in their Jr Olympic meet. However, the AAU Jr Olympic meet still has a lot of history and it still draws a larger number of competitors and is still a high-quality meet. You will see BOTH Jr Olympic meets referred to in this post.
-Bethany Tate - Midland Classical Academy - At the TAPPS 4A meet she placed 1st SP, 3rd DT. When I looked at one of my databases, which only had her HS stats, she did not appear to be a key recruit. BUT, then I looked at another database and found out she had a great summer as well -- at the AAU Jr Olympics Nationals in the 17-18 y/o she won the discus, 6th in the javelin, and 7th in the shot put -- with marks in the DT and SP much better than she got at the TAPPS state meet. Her PR of 142-5 in the DT moved her into the top-100 high schoolers in the country. Her PR of 125-4 in the Javelin would have placed last year at the WAC championships. Looks like Coach Cook found another big-time sleeper recruit.
-Mariana Van Dyk - Cypress Christian (outside Houston) - I met this kid during her visit and she will be an athlete here. She won the TAPPS 4A DT (over her soon-to-be teammate Bethany Tate) and was 2nd in the SP. But what is really impressive to me is that she ran on her high school's 4x1, 4x2 and 4x4 relays -- anchoring her 4x4 relay and has run a 64 second relay split. PR's 129-6 in the discus and 37-9.5 in the shot put.
-Also, it looks like the Wildcats will get some mid-term help with the addition of Eliza Lemberga, a heptathlete from Latvia. She was 4th in the Latvian National Championships in the hep, scoring 4,722 points at age 18. That score would easily place at the WAC meet and she will also help our returning heptathlete Natalie Poe develop.
MEN
-Vincent Luffey - Aledo - at the District 5-5A meet, he won the 1600 and 3200, and got 2nd in the 800. At the Region I-5A meet, he got 3rd in the 800 missing a trip to state by 2/hundredths of a second. He has good PR's - 1:55 in the 800, 4:18 in the 1600 and 9:37 in the 3200. He has a realistic shot at making it to state in any (or all) of these events. And, as a bonus, he is a September birthday, so literally turned 17 after he started his senior year in HS. And, male distance runners definitely benefit from maturity.
-Collin McCrillis - Rockwall (yep, a 3rd recruit from Rockwall)-- will train at ACU as a decathlete. At the District 10-6A meet last year, he placed 2nd in the 110H and 3rd in the 300H, high jump and pole vault. He got 6th at the Reg II-6A 110H and his 14.27 in the hurdles would make him a legit prospect in the hurdles alone. In 2021, he got 4th in the USATF Jr Olympics 15-16 y/o decathlon, so he already has experience in the multi. PR's of 14.27 in the 110H, 6-4 in the HJ, 21-0 in the LJ and 13-0 in the pole vault (and the PV is usually the biggest challenge to master for a new multi-athlete.)
I know of MANY other scholarship offers that are out there for T&F. Apparently, several key distance runners are headed to Abilene for a visit weekend in a couple of weeks.
As you might have read on the general T&F board, ACU is getting hit hard by the transfer portal as Zoe Burleson (the best female thrower) and Nate Collier (either the 1st or 2nd best male thrower) have both entered the portal. Zoe will graduate from ACU in a few weeks and leaves as a grad transfer and is headed to Texas Tech, where the HC is ACU alum and former HC Wes Kittley and the throws coach is former ACU D2 and D1 national champ Cliff Felkins. Cliff is known as a great "throws doctor" -- a coach who can take someone who was nearly ruined by a former coach and turning them around. Recently he got a thrower from Michigan State, who could not place in the Big 10, yet was a first-team All-American her first year at Tech. However, in Zoe's case there does not need to be a lot of "doctoring" -- she has worked with one of the best throwing coaches in the country in Coach Cook for the past 4 years. Due to COVID redshirt, she will have 2 years to compete for Tech. I have not heard of Nate of signing with anyone yet, but I hear he wants to get closer to his home in Oklahoma.
The transfer portal issue certainly makes for a challenge with throwers. Most throwers benefit terrifically from a redshirt year their freshman year -- I would say that ACU redshirts 80% of their throwers and will do this again this spring with 3-4 terrific recruits. The redshirt year is the best thing for the thrower, but will the transfer portal cause the coaches to eschew redshirting if it gives an athlete an extra year to compete for someone else.
That's all on T&F recruiting for now.
OK, I am not as smart as Mavsman on this recruiting thread thing. He always starts his thread with a list of signees and he simply edits and adds names as they come along. I am just adding my list to my first post, with hopes that Mavsman or Cap'n can possibly take this info and move it to the top of the thread.
Here is the current list:
MEN
-Matthew Engle - El Paso Franklin - Distance
-Vincent Luffey - Aledo - Middle distance
-Collin McCrillis - Rockwall - Multis
-Carlos Cortez - Troy, TX - distance
-Austin Roberts - The Woodlands - distance
-Andruw Villa - Abilene - distance
-Ethan Rodriguez - San Antonio Reagan - Middle distance (midterm - Spring, 2024)
WOMEN
-Audrey Chitwood - Meridian, ID, Mountain View - Distance
-Charley Hamilton - Rockwall - Middle distance
-Eliza Lemberga - Latvia - Multis (midterm - spring, 2024)
-Emma Santoro - Rockwall - Sprints
-Bethany Tate - Midland Classical - Throws
-Mariana Van Dyk -Cypress Christian - Throws
-Alyssa Quinones - Floresville - distance
-Nele Huth - Frankfurt, Germany - multis
-Lola Buentello - San Antonio Antonian Prep - distance
-Kylie Tullous - Jacksboro - jumps
-Hannah Kasper - Tampa, FL, Cambridge Christian
-Jalyn Childers - Coppell - middle distance
