Kendra Schaaf transfers to North Carolina...

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.--University of North Carolina track and field coach Dennis Craddock will welcome 30 newcomers, including 19 men and 11 women, to the Tar Heel program in 2010-11.

Fourteen of the newcomers are middle distance and distance runners, including Kendra Schaaf, a transfer from the University of Washington who was the 2008 and 2009 Pac-10 Cross Country Athlete of the Year and finished second at the 2009 NCAA Championship.

Schaaf, a native of Craven, Saskatchewan, led the Huskies to the NCAA cross country championship in 2008 and a third-place finish at the 2009 meet. In December 2009, she won the Canadian National Cross Country Championship, competing for the first time in the senior division.

"I don't think there is a doubt in my mind that this is the most talented men's class we've recruited at North Carolina," says Craddock, who will begin his 26th season at the helm of the UNC track and field program. "It's a strong women's class, as well, but it's not as large a class as the men. Our assistant coaches, Peter Watson (who is the UNC distance coach) and Antonio Pettigrew, did a phenomenal job of scouting and recruiting this class. We made a commitment to our middle distance and distance programs in this class and see that as a priority as we move our program forward."

To read the full release from UNC, please click here.

NOTE: The sports information office of the University of North Carolina contributed to this report.