Washington Huskies add 15 new recruits to its 2011 class...
The incoming group of talent is largely homegrown, with 11 athletes from the state of Washington. One athlete each hails from Colorado, New Jersey, Oregon, and Wyoming. Eight of the future Huskies have already won state track titles, with their senior seasons still in progress.
"We as a staff are very excited about how this current class has come together," said head coach Greg Metcalf. "This is a group that was very fired up to be at Washington and be part of what we're about. All of these athletes have been leaders on their respective teams and shown the hard work and passion that will allow them to continue to improve and be successful on the next level."
As referred to in earlier posts on this blog, the class is led by pole vaulter JJ Julilfs, the reigning Oregon 6A champ from Eugene who spurned the Ducks.
Metcalf also went out and put more emphasis on the men's distance events, adding Aaron Nelson of Walla Walla, who was third at the 2010 4A state cross country meet, along with Meron Simon of Federal Way, who was ninth in 2010, and Tim Cummings of Yakima was 18th in 2010 and seventh in 2009.
Tyler King of Coupeville was fifth at the 4A state meet as a junior in 2009 running for Oak Harbor, then competed for Coupeville at the 1A level in 2010 and won every race including the state title. The most recent signee is Dylan Morin of Sheridan, Wyoming, who has come on strong this year and just swept the 800m, 1600m, and 3200m at the 2011 indoor state championships.
"One of our goals was to reload our talent pool a little bit in the men's distances. Top to bottom, it's a larger recruiting class for us, but I think it's the right combination of personality and talent," Metcalf said.
On the women's side, Eleanor Fulton (above/photo courtesy University of Washington) leads the incoming class of 2011.
Fulton took second at the 2010 U.S. Junior Track Championships in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, qualifying her for the IAAF Junior World Championships, where she ran for Team USA in Moncton, Canada and placed 12th overall. Her steeple PR of 10:25 would already rank second in school history.
Not just a steeple specialist, Fulton has won five Colorado state track titles, including three in a row at 1,600-meters. Her PRs of 2:10 at 800-meters and 4:45 in the mile could make her an instant contributor on the track, and Fulton has also achieved a lot on the cross country course. She was a 2010 Foot Locker All-American after placing 13th at the 2010 Foot Locker National Championships and has three top-five finishes at the Colorado state meet.
Washington's complete release is available here.
Comments