NINE NEWCOMERS JOINING WOMEN’S TRACK IN 2008-2009
Montague, Washington, Mosley highlight stellar recruiting class

RICHMOND, Va. – Coming off one of the strongest seasons in recent history, the Virginia Commonwealth University women’s track and field program looks be getting stronger by the moment as the Rams added nine outstanding recruits for the 2008-2009 campaign.

Behind new Head Coach Jon Riley, the Black and Gold will have added depth in every area of the competition.

Eight of the nine newcomers are homegrown Virginia products, while Rachel Montague travels down the I-95 corridor from New Jersey. The local athletes include Samantha Mosley of Farmville, Theresa Trader of Purcellville, Brandy Preston of Rocky Mount, Aubree Washington of Woodbridge, Heather DelaCruz of Williamsburg, Jazlynn Finney of Leesburg, Nicole Walters of Orange and Kelsey Farmer of Mechanicsville.

Montague joins the Rams after a record-breaking career at Cherokee High School in Marlton, New Jersey where she was a multiple event threat in the jumps, sprints and relays. She placed fifth at the AAU Junior Olympic Games in the triple jump and finished in the top-10 in two events at the New Jersey Meet of Champions.

“Rachel comes to us after a record setting career in New Jersey and will be the cornerstone of our recruiting class as a threat in numerous events,” Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator Ethan Tussing said. “Paired with Theresa [Trader] we feel that we have two athletes who will battle every time they step on the track and score huge points for this team.”

Trader was a standout for the Loudoun Valley High School squad with regional championships in the 100-meter hurdles and as a member of the 4x100 relay squad. Recently, she placed third at the Nike Outdoor Nationals in the emerging elite 100-meter hurdles.

Finney will leaned on for depth in the sprints and jumps as the Heritage High School product was the regional champion in the long jump, runner up in the 100-meter dash and third in the 200-meter.

Washington, DelaCruz and Walters form a tremendous group of young middle distance runners that will have a huge impact on both the cross country and track and field squads.

Washington finished third at the incredible talent-laden Northwest Region meet in the 800-meter and placed in the top-10 in two other events at the 2008 state meet. DelaCruz was the Regional Champion in the 1600-meters for Lafayette High School, while Walters comes to VCU as a Regional Champion in the 800-meters at Orange County High School.

“We feel the trio gives us a distance medley that will make strides towards school records and look towards qualifying for the NCAA Indoor Championships during their careers,” Tussing said. “These young ladies will play a key role on our cross country squad this fall.”

The throwing trio of Mosley, Preston and Farmer is a tough recruiting batch for anyone to compete with. Mosley is a two-time regional champ in the shot put and has had outstanding showings in the state meet, while Preston has shown flashes of incredible potential with a third place showing at the AAA State Meet in 2008 in the discus. Farmer rounds out the newcomers as the transfer from Christopher Newport tallied 30 points for the Captains at last year’s conference meet, second highest total for among female athletes at the meet.

"We're extremely excited about the athletes we were able to sign for this upcoming season and feel we are adding a number of outstanding young ladies to our squad that can make an immediate impact at the conference level," Tussing said. "This signing class is probably the best the women's team has had in recent history and should be the backbone and depth we will turn to over the next four years as we look to become a dominate team in the CAA. We are immensely please to have added athletes in all of the events that we targeted and are anxious to begin working with them in the coming weeks.