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Recruiting 2016

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sebastianc

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Apr 11, 2010
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Folks, hope you do not mind, but lets start a clean thread about recruiting for 2016. There is already a commitment - Amari Onque-Shabazz (Union Catholic, NJ) - mentioned on another thread - Commitment. Sounds good, but the best part of it is that she is a team mate of Sydney McLaughlin, who comes-out in 2017. Does this give VU a head start on recruiting her?

There is some extraordinary talent coming-out in 2017. Need to keep that in mind going forward.

On another thread (?), Or1on mentioned Sarah Walker of Germantown Friends. Outstanding. I fear she is probably heading to an Ivy. Hope I am wrong. There are others. One is ideal for Villanova, but no one seems to know she exists. Good. Let's keep it that way. Season is just beginning
 
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sebastianc said:
Folks, hope you do not mind, but lets start a clean thread about recruiting for 2016. There is already a commitment - Amari Onque-Shabazz (Union Catholic, NJ) - mentioned on another thread - Commitment. Sounds good, but the best part of it is that she is a team mate of Sydney McLaughlin, who comes-out in 2017. Does this give VU a head start on recruiting her?

There is some extraordinary talent coming-out in 2017. Need to keep that in mind going forward.

On another thread (?), Or1on mentioned Sarah Walker of Germantown Friends. Outstanding. I fear she is probably heading to an Ivy. Hope I am wrong. There are others. One is ideal for Villanova, but no one seems to know she exists. Good. Let's keep it that way. Season is just beginning
Click to expand...
sebastianc said:
Folks, hope you do not mind, but lets start a clean thread about recruiting for 2016. There is already a commitment - Amari Onque-Shabazz (Union Catholic, NJ) - mentioned on another thread - Commitment. Sounds good, but the best part of it is that she is a team mate of Sydney McLaughlin, who comes-out in 2017. Does this give VU a head start on recruiting her?

There is some extraordinary talent coming-out in 2017. Need to keep that in mind going forward.

On another thread (?), Or1on mentioned Sarah Walker of Germantown Friends. Outstanding. I fear she is probably heading to an Ivy. Hope I am wrong. There are others. One is ideal for Villanova, but no one seems to know she exists. Good. Let's keep it that way. Season is just beginning
Click to expand...


sebastianic,

2017 is also loaded up here in New York. Noah Affollder of Carthage is outstanding as a junior while his brother
is also outstanding as a frosh. They must run in snow shoes up there since it snows constantly. Jessica Lawson, a junior
from corning, is very good on th female ide.
 
In my previous post, I mentioned a girl I thought was Ideal for Villanova, but refrained from mentioning her name. That girl (young woman) is McKeena Keegan (see the New Commitment thread). What makes her "ideal" is that 400 speed, but she tried 800, last year, and ran 2:08.35. She could be an outstanding 800 runner in the future. It is the speed. In addition, she plays soccer, in the fall. This is an athlete.

Last year's recruiting class was good - especially when compared to previous classes. This is a good start for this year. Maybe Walker or Wheeler or both. There is a real star down under, but is Villanova interested? Are they looking at Christina Aragon? Still, the big catches - that turn around a program - come out next year. Will any come to VU?

Haven't even begun to talk about the men. Where is the next outstanding miler coming from? Williamsz graduates. How do you replace him? And they need help at XC. Can they combine the two in one outstanding runner. Are they looking at Andrew Hunter? They came close with Grant Fisher in 2015, but when Stanford calls, people tend to listen. I like Kevin Mulcaire (IRL) and probably so does every other school. Arkansas recruited a really good miler, this year, from Australia (Cameron Griffith). My point: others are recruiting in the same territories as VU. Believe Penn State picked-up an outstanding 400 man from Australia in 2015 class.
 
whitecat said:
sebastianic,

2017 is also loaded up here in New York. Noah Affollder of Carthage is outstanding as a junior while his brother
is also outstanding as a frosh. They must run in snow shoes up there since it snows constantly. Jessica Lawson, a junior
from corning, is very good on th female ide.
Click to expand...


I give Wheeler some ink , and yesterday Lawson who is only a junior beat her yesterday by
30 seconds. As I recall last year, Lawson has more speed.
 
"Cross #cttrack standout and state 800 record holder Danae Rivers announcing college decision this Thursday"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wonder if Nova involved with Danae? She had a limited CC season and didn't do much:
http://parser.dyestat.com/search.jsp?athID=214031
Choices are beginning to pick up. I've seen some crazy times over 5k I don't believe. Truth is there are about 12 Srs in the country that can legit crack
18mins over 5k on a tough course. Girls are in greater demand. It's getting very tough out there.
 
Olivia Sargent (Pennsbury high school, PA) has just yesterday committed to Virginia. Three days earlier on Saturday she won the individual AAA PA state XC title, after coming 2nd in 2014 to Brianna Schwartz. She was 4th in the 1600 at the 2015 state outdoor meet in May. During indoor season in 2015, she ran US #8 (4:51.02) over 1 mile in coming 2nd at the Millrose Games.

Perhaps not surprising, given that her older sister Sara (wooed by Villanova, Stanford, Georgetown and others) signed with Virginia in 2013 and is currently having some success there.
 
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SebCoe asked above about Christina Aragon from Montana. By all accounts she is considering Notre Dame (where her father and two sisters ran), Stanford, and Oregon. Villanova not considered in play for her.
 
Villanova's women's program has gotten a commitment from middle distance runner Jacquelyn Smith (Palos Verdes High School, CA). Smith went 4:48.33 over 1600 meters at the 2015 California state outdoor meet, to come 4th in the state final. It was CA #7, USA #33 for that distance in 2015.

PRs:
800: 2:13.57
1600: 4:48.33 (US #33)
3200: 10:45.69

http://parser.dyestat.com/search.jsp?athID=264593

 
commitment or did she sign? what about the English girl?

nevermind --runnova says she signed

still curious about the English runner
 
The girls don't need much for next year in cross country other than progression from the talented freshmen and sophomores and for Piccirillo to come back and run well.
 
I'm not thinking about xc -- more like an additional very strong mid-distance.
might be crazy but would Piccirillo or the coach actually think about redshirting indoors and outdoors?
 
Also today, Sarah Walker (Germantown Friends School, Philadelphia PA) has today committed to Stanford. She has a 2:03.70 PR according to MileSplit over 800 meters. She was 3rd at US Junior Nationals, 2nd at New Balance Outdoor Nationals, 4th at New Balance Indoor Nationals, etc., etc. She won the 800 this spring at Stanford, and evidently liked it out there. Basically, a USA top 5-10 prep 800 meter runner from Lower Gwynedd, an affluent suburb of Philadelphia. Exactly the Villanova demographic, no?

http://parser.dyestat.com/search.jsp?athID=246570
 
Boston College got a commit' from someone I'm sure Nova interested in Sarah Flynn (NY).
Caira Roche (NJ) has an Irish parentage and may be of some interest as might 3-time RI state CC champ Emma McMillan who is from the Phily area (did not defend due to inj).

About the only girl left in the East that I'd be tracking is Kaitlyn Neal (FM/NY) who got a top 5 at NY state (after a car accident.. She'll be running at Nike NE. But other than that there's not much talent left. Ally Rome (sis' of Regan) seems the lone Pa native of note uncommitted.

Irish inter-clubs on Sunday.
 
Hannah Molloy (Pennsbury HS, Fairless Hills, PA) has signed with Iona. She was 6th at the 2015 Pennsylvania state XC championship, after coming 8th in 2014. Not sure how much effort, if any, Villanova put into recruiting her; she was just named 1st Team All-State in XC (one of 10 girls so designated). On the track, she was 5th over 3200 at the PA Outdoor state meet, in 10:42.47 PR.
 
Commitments to date (PA All-State XC Girls):

1st Team All-State (PA) XC Girls (seniors only)

Jerrica Bauer, The George School (Newtown, PA) --> ??
Kacie Breeding, Unionville (Kennett Square, PA) --> ??
Mady Clahane, Cumberland Valley (Mechanicsburg, PA) --> UNC-Chapel Hill
Hannah Molloy, Pennsbury (Fairless Hills, PA) --> Iona
Ally Rome, Dallas (Dallas, PA) --> Yale
Olivia Sargent, Pennsbury (Fairless Hills, PA) --> Virginia
 
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Ally Rome is going to Yale, running and studying neuroscience.
 
LSU-Nit said:
Also today, Sarah Walker (Germantown Friends School, Philadelphia PA) has today committed to Stanford. She has a 2:03.70 PR according to MileSplit over 800 meters. She was 3rd at US Junior Nationals, 2nd at New Balance Outdoor Nationals, 4th at New Balance Indoor Nationals, etc., etc. She won the 800 this spring at Stanford, and evidently liked it out there. Basically, a USA top 5-10 prep 800 meter runner from Lower Gwynedd, an affluent suburb of Philadelphia. Exactly the Villanova demographic, no?

http://parser.dyestat.com/search.jsp?athID=246570
Click to expand...

According to this article (see link below), Walker did not have Villanova among her finalists (which were Stanford, Oregon, Harvard and Georgetown).

http://papreplive.com/blog/2015/11/19/germantown-friends-sarah-walkers-journey-leads-to-stanford/
 
College Choices of Top-10 Finishers at last weekend's Foot Locker Northeast Regional:

Girls
1. Madeleine Davison (PA) -- Syracuse
2. Jessica Lawson (NY) -- 2017
3. Maria Coffin (MD) -- 2017
4. Hannah DeBlasi (CT) -- Stanford
5. Briana Gess (NJ) -- 2017
6. Alyssa Aldridge (NJ) -- 2018
7. Ariel Keklak (MA) -- Wake Forest
8. Eleanor Lawler (RI) -- 2018
9. Sage Hurta (NY) -- Colorado
10. Kathryn Munks (NY) -- Penn State

Boys
1. Noah Affolder (NY) -- 2017
2. Jake Brophy (PA) -- US Naval Academy
3. Conor Lundy (NY) -- Princeton
4. Joshua Clark (NJ) -- ??
5. Eric van der Els (CT) -- Connecticut
6. Viraj Deokar (MA) -- ??
7. Joseph Dragon (NJ) -- Syracuse
8. Matt Grossman (NJ) -- 2017
9. Gabe Altopp (CT) -- Brown
10. Marcelo Rocha (MA) -- 2017

Anyone know about college choices of NJ state champion Joshua Clark or Raj Deokar from Massachusetts?
 
About the only remaining girl I'd offer to in the east is Kaityn Neal from FM (in spite of their awful college careers). She won Nike/NY easily. Guys probably Blaise Fero (NAU or Iona), Josh Clark (mentioned) from Jersey:
http://highschoolsports.nj.com/news...ys-cross-country-runner-of-the-year-for-2015/

The Euro's are in two weeks (So France).

Deokar is a Ma preppy that doesn't run HS meets. Probably Ivy bound.
 
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This is not a very heartwarming or optimistic thread. The women are treading water with three good signs: McKenna Keegan (Pa), Jacquelyn Smith (Ca), Amari Onque-Shabazz (NJ). The men? Nothing. And some of those signing elsewhere were rumored to be courted by Villanova: Jaxson Hoey (Pa) just won Millrose trials but is going to Penn St.. What happened here? $? Jordan Hewitt (Australia) signed with Michigan and will begin competing in the spring. How did that happen? Or Hugh Nicklason (Australia) going to U of San Francisco. San Francisco is a great city, but I didn't know USF even had a track team. My point: unless Villanova has some unexpected talent coming-in, then this does not look good. In fact it looks worse when one realizes that Stanford, Oregon, Georgetown, Princeton, Penn, Penn St., ... are recruiting so much better.

Villanova goes through periods where it seems to forget the urgency of recruiting. Is this one of those times or is it just that kids are not interested in Villanova for whatever reason???

For example, talking to people (while at Penn Relays) who are familiar with NJ track related serious criticisms of Procaccio's recruiting. Tried to allay their views by pointing out that her's is just being uncomfortable socially and that the girls all love her.

Another thing,, I do not believe Villanova is looking at Kevin Mulcaire (IRL). Hope I am wrong, but why not?

There is still some outstanding talent out there, but is Villanova at all active? Or are they saving their $ until next year when some sterling talent comes out - and I mean serious talent folks and in VU's recruiting territory?. Some of this is Olympic quality.

Men lose Williamsz and Denault. Right now there are no replacements of that quality. Is Malone going to start running sub-four minute miles? Men missed-out on qualifying for XC nationals because they had only four quality runners and two of them will graduate. Women no longer compete in 4x1500 at Penn.

Is this Piccirillo's last year? If so, add that to my list of concerns.

Like I said, this is not a very optimistic thread.
 
Is Nova after Joshua Torley from Australia?

Is anyone out there?

Bueller? Bueller?
 
Nova is not (and definitely should not) be pursuing Josh Torley. At, barely, 16 years of age, he was already competing (and training heavily) for the half marathon distance. This kid is not built like Chris Solinsky. Leave that one be.

These are difficult threads to read because there's a constant negative perspective on Nova's recruiting angle. We need to think like a small, private, religiously-affiliated University should recruit. (Obviously he's headed to Oregon but) Andrew Hunter would not have come to Villanova. Grant Fisher, nicely, did a visit but never really considered VU. We need to face those facts. Jaxson Hoey going to PSU? Is that really a big miss? Are his times worth a full scholarship (1:53/4:11)? Jordy Hewitt visited Villanova but wanted to begin studies in the Spring. Nova couldn't do that. USF has a nice distance program, money to spend, and a savvy recruiting coach. Oh, and it's a fantastic city. All things you need to consider from an athlete not familiar with US universities.

Everything will be just fine. Take a deep breath.
 
NovaAlum said:
Nova is not (and definitely should not) be pursuing Josh Torley. At, barely, 16 years of age, he was already competing (and training heavily) for the half marathon distance. This kid is not built like Chris Solinsky. Leave that one be.

These are difficult threads to read because there's a constant negative perspective on Nova's recruiting angle. We need to think like a small, private, religiously-affiliated University should recruit. (Obviously he's headed to Oregon but) Andrew Hunter would not have come to Villanova. Grant Fisher, nicely, did a visit but never really considered VU. We need to face those facts. Jaxson Hoey going to PSU? Is that really a big miss? Are his times worth a full scholarship (1:53/4:11)? Jordy Hewitt visited Villanova but wanted to begin studies in the Spring. Nova couldn't do that. USF has a nice distance program, money to spend, and a savvy recruiting coach. Oh, and it's a fantastic city. All things you need to consider from an athlete not familiar with US universities.

Everything will be just fine. Take a deep breath.
Click to expand...

"We need to think like a small, private, religiously-affiliated University should recruit." This is disconcerting to me. I realize we have hurdles to surmount, but, it is still disappointing to think small. Are we to believe that our best years are behind us? No more national championships? I won't pretend to know very much about how CC/T&F work. I am by no means an expert. I am, however, a big proponent of all our programs doing well. T&F/CC were always a bright spot for our athletic department whether it be in the Olympics or NCAA.
 
Villanova also doesn't have something that a lot of other schools have: off the books scholarship money. Villanova is very expensive and offers relatively little in the way of non-athletic financial aid.

The fact that Villanova has had good track and cross country teams in the past means very little in 2016. The lack of money from a BCS football team and the restrictions imposed via Title IX makes it harder for a school like Villanova to be competitive. It's an unfortunate fact. Oregon, Texas, and Stanford are the Yankees, while Villanova are the Oakland Athletics, which means that they aren't going to get the big "free agents" that often, but will have to rely on their farm system, so to speak.
 
I had hoped that Villanova was in on Blaise Ferro (Christian Brothers Academy, Lincroft, NJ), but evidently that was not the case. Ferro (14:50 PR for 5K XC) just committed to Northern Arizona (where he'll team up with Hugo Beamish's brother Geordie).

The linked story shows that Ferro was not considering Villanova, although Iona and Providence were in the mix. I don't know if Villanova pursued Ferro, but he was one of the final national-class distance guys in the East to make a college choice. I was hoping that he was a late recruiting target for Marcus & Mark Carberry.

http://highschoolsports.nj.com/news...f-cba-makes-his-college-choice-the-winner-is/
 
Don't you think there's a reason a kid like Ferro was making his college choice so late? Very few high-end collegiate coaches must not have considered him a "national-class" athlete (also, with a major injury history) if he's making a decision this late. The offers must simply have not been there...
 
That may be. As I understand it, he had an offer from Iona (which is a reputable program), as is Northern Arizona. Over the past 10 years, each has been at least as good as Villanova in XC (if not better).
 
Perfect example of an XC "specialist" that won't make an impact at Penn Relays, i.e. not Villanova's wheelhouse.
 
FYI, Villanova has gotten a commitment from Council Rock South (PA) pole vaulter Dominique ("Dom") Franco. She was 16th in March 2016 at New Balance Indoor Nationals (at 11' 7"), and 8th in February at the Pennsylvania state indoor meet (at 11' 0"). Her PR of 12' 4" (set on January 15th of this year), ranks 27th nationally.

http://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/Athlete.aspx?AID=6166964#/L0

55398a551fc8f.image.jpg
 
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