Texas signs 11 to 2011-12 recruiting class
March 21, 2012
AUSTIN, Texas – There have been 11 student-athletes who have signed a national letter of intent to compete for the Texas Women’s Track & Field team. All 11 signees are from the state of Texas with two sprinters, one middle distance runner, five distance runners, two hurdlers and one thrower. Kathyrn Burford and Cody McCrary are both from Austin. Burford (St. Stephens Episcopal) runs the mile and has finished first at both the St. Andrews Relays and the Westlake Relays this season. McCrary (Lake Travis) specializes in the 300 hurdles with a best time of 44.53 at the 2011 State Championships. The two sprinters in the class are Kiersten Duncan (Cypress, Texas) and Courtney Okolo (Carrollton, Texas). Duncan focuses on the 100m and 200m races. She was the 5A district champ in both 2010 and 2011 in the 200m and the 100m in 2011. Okolo has run the 200m and 400m this year after also competing in the 800m in the past. She won the state championship in the 400m in both 2010 and 2011. The distance/cross country runners include Claire Andrews (The Woodlands, Texas), Kaitlyn Barry (Flower Mound, Texas/New Mexico), Kendall Howen (Richardson, Texas), Sarah Roe (Southlake, Texas) and Meghan Shea (Mckinney, Texas). Both times Andrews has run the 3200m this season she has finished first. She also ran cross country throughout high school, finishing 26th at the state championships in 2010. Barry is a transfer from New Mexico and also ran one year at Baylor. She was the Texas 4A Female Athlete of the Year in 2009 and won state championships in the 1600m and 3200m in both 2008 and 2009. Howen has been terrific in cross country, winning her district and finishing 10th at the 4A state championships this past fall. She runs the 1600m and 3200m during the track season. Roe took 29th at the cross country state championships in 2010 and was in the top four in her district in both the 1600m and 3200m in 2011. Shea has run the 800m, 1600m and 3200m along with cross country. She has finished seventh and sixth at the state cross country championships the last two years while earning top three finishes in the 1600m and 3200m at the 2011 outdoor state championships.
The other hurdler coming to UT is Melissa Gonzalez (Carrollton, Texas). She finished second at the state championships in the 300 hurdles last year. Not only does she run hurdles but she is also a prolific jumper. She was the 2011 district champ in the triple jump at the 4A level. Megan McGhee (Beaumont, Texas) is the lone thrower joining the Longhorns. She finished third in her district each of the last three years in the shot put but is also an outstanding power lifter for her school. |
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