Flood announces 2017-18 recruiting class

10/6/2017 10:30:00 AM | Track and Field

Star-studded recruiting class flocks to GCU track

By: Fletcher Like

PHOENIX – The Grand Canyon track & field head coach, Tom Flood, has announced his 2017-18 recruiting class. The 24 member class includes freshmen and transfers from five different states and four overseas countries – Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Croatia, and Spain.

"I feel that this year's recruiting class is one of the deepest and most talented I've had in my seven years at GCU," coach Flood said. After a year in which both men's and women's teams won WAC Indoor Team Championships but were upset in the Outdoor Championships, Flood's believes this recruiting class will help continue the streak of WAC Championships. "This year's class will make an immediate impact this year, as well as, for years to come."

"Last year, we had another outstanding year from a Conference standpoint as we defended both the Men's and Women's indoor team titles."

Flood's squad has been the most recent NCAA National title team, coming in 2012, and Flood wants to return to the National meet with a team that can compete against the likes of Oregon, Texas A&M, and Florida. "With the ability to once again compete at the National level, this will be an exciting year for our program. We were the last GCU team to win a National title at the NCAA DII level and will look to become the first program in school history to win a NCAA DI individual or team title."

Flood's recruiting class contains 11 women, four of which are transfers, and 13 men, seven of which are transfers.

"With our returning student-athletes and this year's additions, we will definitely be looking to take home several more Conference team titles and to finally again make a lot of noise on a National level," Flood added.

Below is the list of incoming athletes for the 2017-18 recruiting class, hometown, previous school, a personal best in respective events, and a quick comment from Flood on the newcomer.

Women:

Dora Filipovic
Upravna Skola                 Zagreb, Croatia
HS Personal Bests: 100m 12.01 / 200m 24.54 / 400m 54.56

"I'm thrilled to have Dora in our GCU track & field family; she will make an immediate impact both on a conference and national level. She has already competed at the highest level at the World Junior Championships but I still feel she has a lot of untapped potential". "I'm thrilled to have her in my program."

Shanice Lewis
Transfer: Iowa Western CC      Kingston, Jamaica
HS PB: 100m 11.85 / 100m Hurdles 13.81 / Long Jump 6.21m (20' 5")

"Shanice is an extremely talented student-athlete and will help us continue our dominance in the sprints/hurdles/jumps at the Conference level. She will battle Conference titles and make her presence know right away. We will look for her to be an NCAA qualifier in a couple of events."

Latoya Gilding
Transfer: Jackson State      Trinidad & Tobago
Personal Bests: Shot Put 14.96m (49' 1") / Discus 49.47m (162' 4")

"Latoya is a very powerful and versatile thrower that will battle for a couple of Conference championships right away." "She has the ability to be a NCAA qualifier in a couple of events and I look forward to having her to help continue our tremendous success in the women's throws."

Chynna Simmons
Mountain Pointe HS               Phoenix, Ariz.
2015 AIA Division I State Runner-up – Triple Jump
2016 AZ Meet of Champions Champion - Triple Jump
HS PB:   Long Jump 18' 10 ¼" / Triple Jump 38' 10 ¼"

"Chynna is a very talented student athlete and we are very blessed to have in our Track & Field program." "She has the ability to score for us right away at the Conference level in both horizontal jumping events and to become a NCAA qualifier as a true freshman."

Alexa Hokanson
Cactus Shadows HS       Phoenix, AZriz.
2017 AIA Division II State Champion 800m / 3rd place 400m
HS PB:   400m 56.15 / 800m 2:15.58

"Alexa is an extremely talented student-athlete and will help us score a lot of points in the long sprints at the Conference level. Right away she will also be a vital member of our 4x4 and Distance Medley relays. We will look for her to be an NCAA qualifier in the very near future."

Naudia Dawson
Walden Grove HS       Sahuarita, Ariz.
2017 AIA Division III State Champion 100m / runner up 200m
HS PB:   100m 12.13 / 200m 25.36

"Naudia may be the best kept secret of our entire recruiting class. She has a tremendous upside and a lot of untapped potential." "We will look for her to have rapid improvements and score at the Conference meet in the sprints and relays."

Madelyn Lundberg
Sandra Day O'Connor HS             Phoenix, Ariz.
2017 AIA Division I State Champion Pole Vault
HS PB: 12' 3"

"Maddie will help continue out tremendous success in the Pole Vault. We will look for her to score at the Conference meet as a true freshman and eventually may push our school records to new heights."

Kelsey Schultz
Fountain Hills HS             Fountain Hills, Ariz
2016 & 2017 AIA Division III State Champion 300m Hurdles
2017 Arizona Heptathlon State Championship runner-up
HS PB: 300m Hurdles 45.07 / 100m Hurdles 15.70 / 800m 2:23.72 / Heptathlon 3798

"Kelsey is a multi-talented student athlete and we are very blessed to have in our Track & Field program. She has the ability to score for us at the Conference level in the Pentathlon/Heptathlon as a true freshman."

Kaitlyn Volk
Transfer: Central Arizona College      Casa Grande, Ariz.
2016 NJCAA Division I 4th place at National Cross Country Championships
Personal Bests: 5K 17:51.7

"Kaitlyn already has made an impact with our cross country team as a top 3 runner. We will also look for her to score in the 5K/10K at the WAC Track & Field Championships."

Kenzie Fitzgerald
Transfer: Glendale Community College      Peoria, Ariz.
Personal Bests: 5K 18:29.8

"Kenzie has already made her presence known with our cross country team as a top 5 runner. We will look for her to add some scoring depth in the distance events at the Conference Track & Field Championships."

Valentina Nyhart
Flagstaff HS      Flagstaff, Ariz.
2013 AIA Division IV State Cross Country Champion
HS PB: 3,200m 11:52.88 / 5K 18:59

"Valentina brings us some much needed depth to our distance program. She has a lot of untapped potential with a great work ethic and should improve rapidly with Coach Slattery's training."

Men:

Trey Johnson
Tolleson HS                 Tolleson, Ariz.
2017 AIA Division I State Champion 100m and Long Jump / runner up 110m Hurdles
2015 AIA Division I State Champion 110m Hurdles / runner up 100m
HS Personal Bests: 100m 10.57 / 110m Hurdles 13.65 / Long Jump 24' 6"

"I have recruited a lot of talented student-athletes over the years and Trey just might be the most talented of them all. He is an incredible kid with tremendous talent and has a very bright future ahead for him both on the National and International levels."

Adrian King
Transfer: Mesa CC            Las Vegas, Nev.
2017 NJCAA Region 1 Runner-Up Long Jump
Personal Bests: 100m 11.23 / 110m Hurdles 15.25 / Long Jump 7.56m (24' 10") / Triple Jump 14.16m (46' 6")

"Adrian is a multi-talented student-athlete that has a lot of untapped potential. He will score a lot of points for us at the Conference level in several events and we will look for him to be an NCAA qualifier this year."

Guillermo Alcala-Rendon
Transfer: University of Mount Olive        Marbella, Spain
2017 Conference Carolinas Runner-Up 60m/100m/200m
Personal Bests: 60m 6.85 / 100m 10.47 / 200m 21.23

"Guillermo is an extremely talented student-athlete and will help us continue our dominance in the sprints at the Conference level. He will battle Conference titles and make his presence know right away. We will look for him to be an NCAA qualifier in both dashes this year."

Christopher Linnin Jr.
Transfer McPherson College       Castle Rock, Colo.
2016 KCAC Champion High Jump & Long Jump
2017 KCAC Champion High Jump & Long Jump
HS PB: High Jump 2.10m (6' 11") / Long Jump 7.09m (23' 3") / Triple Jump 13.94m (45' 9")

"Christopher is another multi-talented student-athlete that we are very blessed to have in our Track & Field family. He will score a lot of points for us at the Conference level in many events and we will look for him to be an NCAA qualifier this year in the high jump."

Daniel Flores
Transfer: Glendale CC          Phoenix, Ariz.
PB: 800m 1:52.76 / 1,500m 3:57.66

"Daniel has already made an immediate impact with our cross country program as our #1 runner." "He may be the best kept secret of our entire men's recruiting class. He has a tremendous upside and we will look for him to have rapid improvements with Coach Slattery's training." "We expect him to threaten most our GCU distance school records before his running career here is over here."

Jalen Bryant
Corona del Sol HS                     Tempe, Ariz.
2017 AIA Division I State Champion 400m
HS PB: 100m 10.98 / 200m 21.82 / 49.15

"Jalen has a huge upside and I'm truly excited to have him in our program. He will bring some always needed depth to sprint group as a true freshman and think he'll eventually be an NCAA qualifier."

Josh Onwardi
Corona del Sol HS      Tempe, Ariz.
2017 AIA Division I State Runner-Up High Jump
HS PB: High Jump 6' 7" / Long Jump 23' 4"

"Josh is a multi-talented student-athlete that will help us score a lot of points in several events at the WAC Track & Field Championships." "We feel he is a true diamond in the rough with a lot of potential and think he has a very bright future ahead of him."

Guillermo Matesanz
Transfer: University of Mount Olive        Marbella, Spain
Personal Bests: 400m Hurdles 54.24 / Long Jump 6.94m (22' 10")

"Yes we have two recruits named Guillermo from Spain." "This one, "Willie", is a very talented student-athlete that can score for us in a couple events right away at the WAC Conference Championships."

Estefon Marrero
Transfer: Glendale CC         Phoenix, Ariz.
PB: 100m 11.07 / 200m 22.70

"Excited to have Estefon in our Track & Field program this year. He comes from a talented family of athletes and joins his brother Dionee in our sprint corps." "He will provide us with some talented depth in the sprints and will look for him to post some fast times this year."

Nathaniel Wesolek
Transfer: DuPage College                    Glen Ellyn, Ill.
PB: Pole Vault 4.90m (16' 1")

"Nathaniel adds to our tremendous depth in the pole vault and he will help us continue to dominate the event at the Conference Championships."

Andrew Mitchell
Desert Christian HS           Lancaster, Calif.
2016 CIF State Cross Country Championship – 4th place finish
HS PB: 1,600m 4:26.06 / 3,200m 9:28.09

"Andrew already has made an impact with our cross country team as a top 5 runner . Will look for him to score in the 3,000m steeplechase and 5K at the Conference Championships."

Joseph Biehl
Desert Christian HS           Lancaster, Calif.
2016 CIF State Cross Country Championship – 8th place finish
HS PB: 3,200m 9:41.81

"Joseph has already made his presence known with our cross country team as a top 7 runner. We will look for him to add some scoring depth in the distance events at the Conference Track & Field Championships."

Chris D'Angelo
Desert Vista HS                 Phoenix, Ariz.
HS Personal Bests: Mile 4:26.29 / 3,200m 9:29.06

"Chris is another true freshman that has already made his presence known with our cross country team as a top 7 runner. Will look for him to add some scoring depth in the distance events at the WAC Track & Field Championships and for him to have rapid improvements under Coach Slattery's tutelage."

Notable walk-ons include: Paxton Henry (Prescott HS / Prescott, Ariz.) Long Jump/Triple Jump and Karl Zuber (WT Woodson HS / Fairfax, Va.) Decathlon.