Nov. 15, 2017
CARD LANDS STRONG CLASS
Sixteen have signed letters of intent with Card cross country/track and field
STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford
landed three of the top cross country/track and field prospects in the
country, including Caitlin Collier and Rebecca Story, rated as the
nation’s top female running recruits by MileSplit and Flotrack,
respectively.
In addition, the Cardinal signed Joshua
Schumacher, the nation’s top high school returner in the 1,500. In all,
Stanford signed 16 – eight females and eight men -- to national letters
of intent.
“We are really excited about this
incoming freshmen class on both the men's and women's sides,” said Chris
Miltenberg, Stanford’s Franklin P. Johnson Director of Track and Field.
“In addition to being some of the very best athletes in
the country, they are all, most importantly, a great fit with Stanford
and our program. This class covers all of the event areas extremely well
and will certainly be key drivers in our mission to be one of the very
teams in the country across the board.”
Men’s signees are Meika
Beaudoin-Rousseau (San Jose/Bellarmine College Prep), Keyshawn King
(Liberty, S.C./Liberty HS), Clayton Mendez (Chicago/Whitney Young HS),
Andy Monroe (Central Point, Ore./Crater HS), Charlie Perry (Superior,
Colo./Monarch HS), Joshua Schumacher (Portland, Ore./Jesuit HS), Sal
Spina (Alhambra/St. John Bosco HS), and Miles Zoltak (Camarillo/Thousand
Oaks HS).
Women’s signees are Caitlin Collier
(Jacksonville, Fla./The Bolles School), Jordan Fong (Kent,
Wash./Kentlake HS), Kennedy Gamble (Houston/The Kinkaid School), Mary
Gillett (Longmont, Colo./Niwot HS), Allie Jones (Santa Barbara/San
Marcos
HS), Lindsey Payne (Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard West HS), Rebecca Story
(Knoxville, Tenn./Christian Academy of Knoxville), and Alex Stout (Santa
Cruz/Pacific Collegiate School).
* * *
Meika Beaudoin-Rousseau (San Jose/Bellarmine College Prep):
Meika Beaudoin-Rousseau is a local
product out of San Jose’s Bellarmine College Prep, and led the Bells to
the Central Coast Section cross country title Saturday by repeating as
the individual champion in the Division I race. Third last
year, he is the top returning runner in California Division I.
Beaudoin-Rousseau was a state finalist in the 3,200 meters in track last
spring, and ran a personal best 9:07.16 at the Arcadia Invitational. In
2016, he advanced to the Foot Locker national cross
country championships and placed 19th.
* * *
Caitlin Collier (Jacksonville, Fla./The Bolles School):
Caitlin Collier is the nation’s No. 1
overall female track and field recruit by MileSplit and the No. 2
distance runner in her class -- behind fellow Stanford signee Rebecca
Story – by Flotrack. Collier is the reigning U.S. junior national
champion in the 800 (2:03.63) and the nation’s top returning high
school runner in that event with a best of 2:03.32, which won the
Festival of Miles in St. Louis. Collier ran for the U.S. at the Pan Am
Under-20 championships in Peru, placing third in 2:05.26.
Collier is a 13-time Florida 2A high school champ. Her title are broken
down like this: four in the 800 (including as an eighth-grader), three
in the 1,600, two in the 3,200, three in the 4x800, and one in cross
country. She also has won a combined seven state
team championships – four in cross country and the school’s first three
in track. In 2A state track last year, Collier swept the distance
races, won the 4x800 and captured the team crown. She’s been undefeated
against in-state competition since February, 2015.
Collier was fourth at the 2017 New Balance Outdoor Nationals in the
mile and has a 4:46.63 personal best in that event, and a 4:19.05 in the
1,500.
* * *
Jordan Fong (Kent, Wash./Kentlake HS):
Jordan Fong of Kentlake High is a hammer
specialist who set her personal best of 167-4 ¼ (51.00 meters) at the
Fall Hammer Classic in Seattle last month. She is the No. 5 returnee in
the country and is No. 4 in her class. Though hammer
is not sanctioned in Washington high school competition, Fong won the
2017 state hammer championships with a throw of 163-3 (49.75m). Fong was
one of two to qualify for the state 4A championships in three throwing
events, placing fourth in the shot put and
javelin, and sixth in the discus. Fong also is an All-South Puget Sound
League volleyball player.
* * *
Kennedy Gamble (Houston/The Kinkaid School):
Kennedy Gamble has had great success as
an individual, but even more in the 4x100 relay. She won AAU national
Junior Olympic titles in 2017 in the 17-18 age-group and in 2016 as an
anchor in the 15-16 competition. She anchored The Kinkaid
School to the Southwest Preparatory Conference title in the 4x100 last
year, giving her three championships with the addition of the 100 and
200 crowns. Overall, she has won four SPC titles, including two in the
200. Gamble was a TTFCA Meet of Champions finalist
last year, placing third in both the 100 and 200. Her all-condition
2017 best 100 of 11.73 (she also ran a wind-legal 11.76 in the SPC meet)
makes her the No. 39 returner in the country and No. 19 in her class.
* * *
Mary Gillett (Longmont, Colo./Niwot HS):
Mary Gillett is the reigning Colorado 4A
Girls Athlete of the Year after finishing among the top two in four
events at the 2017 state championships. She won the 400 and 200 and was
second in the 100 and long jump. Gillett is No. 25 nationally
in her class in the 400 with a best of 55.12 and her 200 best is 24.83.
She achieved both while scoring 36 of Niwot’s 86 points in a state
runner-up finish. Gillett is the captain of her school’s track and
basketball teams. She is the Boulder County meet-record
holder in the 400 (56.29) and comes from the same high school as
Stanford All-America runner Elise Cranny. Also an adept hurdler, Gillett
has a 300 hurdles best of 43.64.
* * *
Allie Jones (Santa Barbara/San Marcos HS):
Besides being a California state
finalist in the 100 hurdles and Santa Barbara County record-holder at
13.81, Allie Jones is a superb combined-events athletes. She is No. 1
nationally in her class in the heptathlon at 4,837 and was No.
5 among all high school athletes last spring. Jones was sixth at the
2017 U.S. junior nationals in the heptathlon and third at the Arcadia
Invitational in her first year training for the event, after giving
soccer, which she had played for 10 years. Jones
trained at the Santa Barbara Track Club alongside Olympic heptathlete
Barbara Nwaba, who occasionally coached her. In the hurdles, Jones was
second at the CIF-Southern Section Masters Meet (13.90) and seventh in
the state. Jones is the nation’s No. 16 returning
hurdler and is No. 10 in her class. She also was second in the county
in the shot put.
* * *
Keyshawn King (Liberty, S.C./Liberty HS):
Keyshawn King is a two-time South
Carolina AA champion in the triple jump, achieving his best of 48-5
(14.75m) in the state meet this year. He followed with a 10th-place
finish at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals (48-2, 14.68m).
King is the nation’s No. 16 returner and holds the same position in his
class. As a long-jumper, King won the Region 2-2A title and placed
third in the state. His best is 22-2 (6.75m). King also plays basketball
for the Red Devils.
* * *
Clayton Mendez (Chicago/Whitney Young HS):
The Chicago product is the No. 9
nationally in his class after running an 8:59.46 this spring in the
3,200. This fall, he captured the Chicago Public School League, 3A
Whitney Park Regional, and 3A Lake Park Sectional cross-country titles
before finishing second in the Illinois 3A championship race. On the
track, Mendez was fourth in the New Balance Outdoor Nationals in the
3,200 and third in the state 3A championships. He also won the 1,600 at
the Midwest Distance Classic in a personal best
4:11.26.
* * *
Andy Monroe (Central Point, Ore./Crater HS):
Andy Monroe has won five Oregon 5A
titles. Three came in track and he won his second consecutive cross
country championship earlier this month, while leading Crater to the
team title. Going into this season, Monroe was ranked No. 17
in the nation by Flotrack. Monroe was the 25th-fastest miler
in the country last year and will enter this season as the No. 6
returner. Monroe ran his best of 4:09.45 at the Jesuit Relays. Last
year, he earned his second consecutive state 5A 3,000
title (his best is 8:32.75) and also has a 1,600 crown from 2016, which
he won despite tearing his plantar fascia midway through the race. He
was fourth in the 2016 Nike Border Clash and third in the Nike Cross
Northwest Regional the same season.
* * *
Lindsey Payne (Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard West HS):
Lindsey Payne is the No. 8 returning
cross country runner in the country based on results of the 2016 Foot
Locker nationals. She placed 17th in the race and is among
four from that top 17 who have joined the Cardinal. Payne
placed in the top five at the Illinois 3A cross country championships
all four years. On the track, she won the state 3A title in the 3,200 in
2016 and last year earned runner-up finishes in the 3,200 and 4x800.
Payne will consider a major in astrophysics.
* * *
Charlie Perry (Superior, Colo./Monarch HS):
Charlie Perry set the Colorado 5A cross
country championship meet record on Oct. 28 by winning the 5K race in
15:36.8, a 30-second improvement over his time in placing third in 2016
and helping Monarch to the team title. On the track,
Perry placed fifth in the 3,200 at the Arcadia Invitational last spring
while running a personal best 9:07.07. The time makes him the nation’s
No. 20 runner in his class at the distance. Perry was runner-up in both
the 1,600 and 3,200 at the 2017 state 5A
meet. Perry, who lived in Switzerland in the three years before high
school, expects to major in management science and engineering.
* * *
Joshua Schumacher (Portland, Ore./Jesuit HS):
Joshua Schumacher is the nation’s top
high school returner in the 1,500 and No. 2 in the two mile and 5,000.
His 5,000 best of 14:29.42 makes him No. 1 in his class in two events,
along with his 1,500, with a best of 3:50.21. Schumacher
was fourth at the U.S. junior nationals in June and his two-mile best
of 8:53.62 was good for fifth at the Brooks PR Invitational. Schumacher
set the Oregon sophomore two-mile record of 8:58.21 in 2016. He won the
Oregon 6A title in the 3,000 and was second
in the 1,500 last season. In cross country, he was a Foot Locker
national finalist in 2016 and was fourth in the state 6A meet this year.
Joshua is the son of Jerry Schumacher, coach of the Nike Bowerman Track
Club and a former 1,500 All-America at Wisconsin.
* * *
Sal Spina (Alhambra/St. John Bosco HS):
Shot putter Sal Spina of Southern
California sports powerhouse St. John Bosco High of Bellflower
strengthens the Stanford throws program. Spina is a standout two-sport
athlete. He is a three-star defensive lineman and tight end on the
football team in addition to his work in the ring. In track, Spina has a
personal best in the shot of 53-4 ½ (16.26m) and great potential in the
event.
* * *
Rebecca Story (Knoxville, Tenn./Christian Academy of Knoxville):
Rebecca Story is the top-rated female
distance recruit in the country by Flotrack. She also is the nation’s
top cross-country runner in her class, based on the results from the
2016 Foot Locker nationals. Story was third in that race
and later helped the U.S. to victory at the Great Edinburgh Cross
Country Challenge in Scotland. Story is a 13-time state champion and
Tennessee’s Gatorade award winner as the best in the state in cross
country and track and field, the latter in 2016. Story
holds state records in the 1,600, mile, 3,200, and two mile. Her mile
best of 4:45.63 is the No. 3 returning mark in the country and she ran
9:59.85 in the 3,200 in the fall of 2016 at the Hoka One One Postal
Nationals, making her among four current high school
runners who have broken 10 minutes at that distance. Story is coached
by 2000 U.S. steeplechase Olympian Tony Cosey.
* * *
Alex Stout (Santa Cruz/Pacific Collegiate School):
Alex Stout is the reigning Central Coast
Section champion in the 1,600 and 3,200 and still has much untapped
potential. In fall of 2016, Stout emerged as the state Division V cross
country runner-up. Just prior to that, she won the CCS
Division V title in 17:53.1 on Belmont’s rugged 2.95-mile Crystal
Springs course, running 2:47 faster than she had the previous year.
Stout, who transferred from Castilleja School in Palo Alto to Pacific
Collegiate of Santa Cruz as a junior, went from 232nd
at the Stanford Invitational Division V cross-country race to first in
two years. Stout advanced to the California state finals in two events
in June, setting personal bests of 10:37.10 in the 3,200 and 4:51.73 in
the 1,600. Stout, who aspires to become a
surgeon, has competed in junior lifeguard competitions since she was 6.
* * *
Miles Zoltak (Camarillo/Thousand Oaks HS):
Miles Zoltak captured the 2017
CIF-Southern Section Division II titles in both the 200 and 400, the
latter in a personal best 47.73 despite running from Lane Nine. He was a
finalist at the CIF-SS Masters Meet in both events. Zoltak also
is the reigning Ventura County champion in both event and was the Mt.
SAC Relays 400 winner. He ran his 200 best of 21.16 in winning the
Marmonte League title. Zoltak plans to major in computer science, with a
linguistics focus. Zoltak ranks No. 16 in the
country in the 200 for his class, and No. 28 in the 400.
For more information, contact:
David Kiefer
Athletic Communications
Stanford University
(650) 759-0258, cell
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