June 14, 2007
PENSACOLA, Fla. - West Florida Men's and Women's Cross Country Head Coach Matt Dobson recently announced the incoming student-athletes for next season. Ten men and six women will run for West Florida for the 2007-08 cross country and track season.
The ten incoming men's cross country runners are all freshmen and each one signed a national letter of intent. Sean Jansen comes to West Florida from Sickles High School in Tampa. Jansen, who will also run in middle distance races, was a member of the Sickles team that finished seventh out of 24 teams at the 2006 Florida High School Athletic Association Class 4A State Meet.
Twin brothers Andrew and Nicholas Maedel will start their collegiate career at West Florida. The Ridgeview, Fla. natives both ran for four years for head coach Terry Smith at Orange Park High School. Nicholas was named a Foot Locker South Cross County Top 10. He set personal bests with a 4:31 mile and 9:48 two mile. Nicholas also helped Orange Park to a sixth place finish at the 2007 state cross country tournament by finishing 25th in the FHSAA Class 3A state meet. Andrew helped lead Orange Park to a 19th place finish at the FHSAA Class 3A state meet. At the 2007 St. John's River Conference Meet, he finished seventh in the 1,600 meter run.
Two student-athletes from Leon High School in Tallahassee will be making the trek west to Pensacola. Jared Black was the top Leon finisher in 22nd place at the UF Gator Invitational. He also earned a pair of Top 10 finishes at the Lincoln Invitational and the Miccosukee Madness 5K. James Griner was the top Leon finisher with a fourth place time of 17:12.71 at the Lincoln Invitational. He also earned an eighth place finish with a time of 17:52.11 at the Miccosukee Madness 5K.
Dobson also signed two student-athletes from the Fort Myers, Fla. area. Scott Lydick is a graduate of Fort Myers High School who ran for head coach Kelly Heinzman-Britton. Tyler Stowell is from nearby North Fort Myers High School.
Nicholas Farrington earned two cross county and four track letters at Lecanto High School in Lecanto, Fla. He earned third team all-state honors as a senior after finishing 16th at the state meet. He set personal records in the 5,000 meters (16:28), mile (4:28) and the 800 meters (2:00).
Two other runners will join the Argonaut program as walk-ons. Tallahassee product Tyler Endicott of Florida High School in Tallahassee will also run middle distance races. Endicott was a 2007 All-Big Bend Cross County selection and participated in the state meet in the 4 x 800 meter relay. James Headley will also run in middle distance races after running at Clearwater High School.
Of the six incoming women runners, two are transfers. Katherine Ragia, of Daytona Beach, Fla., will transfer to West Florida after running for two seasons for Webber International in Babson Park, Fla. Ragia set the school record in the 3K, 5K, 10K and half marathon. She was also an NAIA national marathon qualifier. Ragia posted the sixth-fastest 5K time during the 2006 season with a 20:37 at the Stetson Hatter Invitational.
Sophomore Ashley Collis will transfer after a one year stint at Truett-McConnell Community College. She helped lead the Lady Bears to an National Junior College Athletic Association Region XVII title with a 16th place finish in the championship race.
Three of the four incoming freshmen signed national letters of intent. Kelli Midden was a Foot Locker South Cross Country Finalist at Pope John Paul II High School in Boca Raton, Fla. She was a 2007 Boca Raton News All-Area selection in the 3,200 meters and a state track and field honor roll honoree.
Along with cross country events, Marisa DeFeo and Shannon Collins will also run middle distance races. DeFeo ran for head coach Terry Muntain at Orange Park High School. She qualified for the state meet in the 800 meters with a time of 2:16. Collins ran for head coach Amanda Martin at South Lake HS in Mineola, Fla. Kiana Overton from Pensacola's Escambia High School will walk-on and participate in hurdles and middle distance races.
