STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford landed three of the top cross country/track and field prospects in the country, including Caitlin Collier and Rebecca Story, rated as the nation's top female running recruits by MileSplit and Flotrack, respectively.
In addition, the Cardinal signed Joshua Schumacher, the nation's top high school returner in the 1,500. In all, Stanford signed 16 – eight women and eight men -- to national letters of intent.
"We are really excited about this incoming freshmen class on both the men's and women's sides," said Chris Miltenberg, Stanford's Franklin P. Johnson Director of Track and Field. "In addition to being some of the very best athletes in the country, they are all, most importantly, a great fit with Stanford and our program. This class covers all of the event areas extremely well and will certainly be key drivers in our mission to be one of the very teams in the country across the board."
Men's signees are Meika Beaudoin-Rousseau (San Jose/Bellarmine College Prep), Keyshawn King (Liberty, S.C./Liberty HS), Clayton Mendez (Chicago/Whitney Young HS), Andy Monroe (Central Point, Ore./Crater HS), Charlie Perry (Superior, Colo./Monarch HS), Joshua Schumacher (Portland, Ore./Jesuit HS), Sal Spina (Alhambra/St. John Bosco HS), and Miles Zoltak (Camarillo/Thousand Oaks HS).
Women's signees are Caitlin Collier (Jacksonville, Fla./The Bolles School), Jordan Fong (Kent, Wash./Kentlake HS), Kennedy Gamble (Houston/The Kinkaid School), Mary Gillett (Longmont, Colo./Niwot HS), Allie Jones (Santa Barbara/San Marcos HS), Lindsey Payne (Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard West HS), Rebecca Story (Knoxville, Tenn./Christian Academy of Knoxville), and Alex Stout (Santa Cruz/Pacific Collegiate School).
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Meika Beaudoin-Rousseau:
Meika Beaudoin-Rousseau is a local product out of San Jose's Bellarmine College Prep, and led the Bells to the Central Coast Section cross country title Saturday by repeating as the individual champion in the Division I race. Third last year, he is the top returning runner in California Division I. Beaudoin-Rousseau was a state finalist in the 3,200 meters in track last spring, and ran a personal best 9:07.16 at the Arcadia Invitational. In 2016, he advanced to the Foot Locker national cross country championships and placed 19th.
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Caitlin Collier:
Caitlin Collier is the nation's No. 1 overall female track and field recruit by MileSplit and the No. 2 distance runner in her class -- behind fellow Stanford signee Rebecca Story – by Flotrack. Collier is the reigning U.S. junior national champion in the 800 (2:03.63) and the nation's top returning high school runner in that event with a best of 2:03.32, which won the Festival of Miles in St. Louis. Collier ran for the U.S. at the Pan Am Under-20 championships in Peru, placing third in 2:05.26. Collier is a 13-time Florida 2A high school champ. Her title are broken down like this: four in the 800 (including as an eighth-grader), three in the 1,600, two in the 3,200, three in the 4x800, and one in cross country. She also has won a combined seven state team championships – four in cross country and the school's first three in track. In 2A state track last year, Collier swept the distance races, won the 4x800 and captured the team crown. She's been undefeated against in-state competition since February, 2015. Collier was fourth at the 2017 New Balance Outdoor Nationals in the mile and has a 4:46.63 personal best in that event, and a 4:19.05 in the 1,500.
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Jordan Fong:
Jordan Fong of Kentlake High is a hammer specialist who set her personal best of 167-4 ¼ (51.00 meters) at the Fall Hammer Classic in Seattle last month. She is the No. 5 returnee in the country and is No. 4 in her class. Though hammer is not sanctioned in Washington high school competition, Fong won the 2017 state hammer championships with a throw of 163-3 (49.75m). Fong was one of two to qualify for the state 4A championships in three throwing events, placing fourth in the shot put and javelin, and sixth in the discus. Fong also is an All-South Puget Sound League volleyball player.
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Kennedy Gamble:
Kennedy Gamble has had great success as an individual, but even more in the 4x100 relay. She won AAU national Junior Olympic titles in 2017 in the 17-18 age-group and in 2016 as an anchor in the 15-16 competition. She anchored The Kinkaid School to the Southwest Preparatory Conference title in the 4x100 last year, giving her three championships with the addition of the 100 and 200 crowns. Overall, she has won four SPC titles, including two in the 200. Gamble was a TTFCA Meet of Champions finalist last year, placing third in both the 100 and 200. Her all-condition 2017 best 100 of 11.73 (she also ran a wind-legal 11.76 in the SPC meet) makes her the No. 39 returner in the country and No. 19 in her class.
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Mary Gillett:
Mary Gillett is the reigning Colorado 4A Girls Athlete of the Year after finishing among the top two in four events at the 2017 state championships. She won the 400 and 200 and was second in the 100 and long jump. Gillett is No. 25 nationally in her class in the 400 with a best of 55.12 and her 200 best is 24.83. She achieved both while scoring 36 of Niwot's 86 points in a state runner-up finish. Gillett is the captain of her school's track and basketball teams. She is the Boulder County meet-record holder in the 400 (56.29) and comes from the same high school as Stanford All-America runner Elise Cranny. Also an adept hurdler, Gillett has a 300 hurdles best of 43.64.
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Allie Jones:
Besides being a California state finalist in the 100 hurdles and Santa Barbara County record-holder at 13.81, Allie Jones is a superb combined-events athlete. She is No. 1 nationally in her class in the heptathlon at 4,837 and was No. 5 among all high school athletes last spring. Jones was sixth at the 2017 U.S. junior nationals in the heptathlon and third at the Arcadia Invitational in her first year training for the event, after soccer, which she had played for 10 years. Jones trained at the Santa Barbara Track Club alongside Olympic heptathlete Barbara Nwaba, who occasionally coached her. In the hurdles, Jones was second at the CIF-Southern Section Masters Meet (13.90) and seventh in the state. Jones is the nation's No. 16 returning hurdler and is No. 10 in her class. She also was second in the county in the shot put.
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Keyshawn King:
Keyshawn King is a two-time South Carolina AA champion in the triple jump, achieving his best of 48-5 (14.75m) in that meet this year. He followed with a 10th-place finish at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals (48-2, 14.68m). King is the nation's No. 16 returner and holds the same position in his class. As a long-jumper, King won the Region 2-2A title and placed third in the state. His best is 22-2 (6.75m). King also plays basketball for the Red Devils.
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Clayton Mendez:
The Chicago product is No. 9 nationally in his class after running an 8:59.46 this spring in the 3,200. This fall, he captured the Chicago Public School League, 3A Whitney Park Regional, and 3A Lake Park Sectional cross-country titles before finishing second in the Illinois 3A championship race. On the track, Mendez was fourth in the New Balance Outdoor Nationals in the 3,200 and third in the state 3A championships. He also won the 1,600 at the Midwest Distance Classic in a personal best 4:11.26.
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Andy Monroe:
Andy Monroe has won five Oregon 5A titles. Three came in track and he won his second consecutive cross country championship earlier this month, while leading Crater to the team title. Going into this season, Monroe was ranked No. 17 in the nation by Flotrack. Monroe was the 25th-fastest miler in the country last year and will enter this season as the No. 6 returner. Monroe ran his best of 4:09.45 at the Jesuit Relays. Last year, he earned his second consecutive state 5A 3,000 title (his best is 8:32.75) and also has a 1,600 crown from 2016, which he won despite tearing his plantar fascia midway through the race. He was fourth in the 2016 Nike Border Clash and third in the Nike Cross Northwest Regional the same season.
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Lindsey Payne:
Lindsey Payne is the No. 8 returning cross country runner in the country based on results of the 2016 Foot Locker nationals. She placed 17th in the race and is among four from that top 17 who have joined the Cardinal. Payne placed in the top five at the Illinois 3A cross country championships all four years. On the track, she won the state 3A title in the 3,200 in 2016 and last year earned runner-up finishes in the 3,200 and 4x800. Payne will consider a major in astrophysics.
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Charlie Perry:
Charlie Perry set the Colorado 5A cross country championship meet record on Oct. 28 by winning the 5K race in 15:36.8, a 30-second improvement over his time in placing third in 2016 and helping Monarch to the team title. On the track, Perry placed fifth in the 3,200 at the Arcadia Invitational last spring while running a personal best 9:07.07. The time makes him the nation's No. 20 runner in his class at the distance. Perry was runner-up in both the 1,600 and 3,200 at the 2017 state 5A meet. Perry, who lived in Switzerland in the three years before high school, expects to major in management science and engineering.
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Joshua Schumacher:
Joshua Schumacher is the nation's top high school returner in the 1,500 and No. 2 in the two mile and 5,000. His 5,000 best of 14:29.42 makes him No. 1 in his class in two events, along with his 1,500, with a best of 3:50.21. Schumacher was fourth at the U.S. junior nationals in June and his two-mile best of 8:53.62 was good for fifth at the Brooks PR Invitational. Schumacher set the Oregon sophomore two-mile record of 8:58.21 in 2016. He won the Oregon 6A title in the 3,000 and was second in the 1,500 last season. In cross country, he was a Foot Locker national finalist in 2016 and was fourth in the state 6A meet this year. Joshua is the son of Jerry Schumacher, coach of the Nike Bowerman Track Club and a former 1,500 All-America at Wisconsin.
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Sal Spina:
Shot putter Sal Spina of Southern California sports powerhouse St. John Bosco High of Bellflower strengthens the Stanford throws program. Spina is a standout two-sport athlete. He is a three-star defensive lineman and tight end on the football team in addition to his work in the ring. In track, Spina has a personal best in the shot of 53-4 ½ (16.26m) and great potential in the event.
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Rebecca Story:
Rebecca Story is the top-rated female distance recruit in the country by Flotrack. She also is the nation's top cross-country runner in her class, based on the results from the 2016 Foot Locker nationals. Story was third in that race and later helped the U.S. to victory at the Great Edinburgh Cross Country Challenge in Scotland. Story is a 13-time state champion and Tennessee's Gatorade award winner as the best in the state in cross country and track and field, the latter in 2016. Story holds state records in the 1,600, mile, 3,200, and two mile. Her mile best of 4:45.63 is the No. 3 returning mark in the country and she ran 9:59.85 in the 3,200 in the fall of 2016 at the Hoka One One Postal Nationals, making her among four current high school runners who have broken 10 minutes at that distance. Story is coached by 2000 U.S. steeplechase Olympian Tony Cosey.
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Alex Stout:
Alex Stout is the reigning Central Coast Section champion in the 1,600 and 3,200 and still has much untapped potential. In fall of 2016, Stout emerged as the state Division V cross country runner-up. Just prior to that, she won the CCS Division V title in 17:53.1 on Belmont's rugged 2.95-mile Crystal Springs course, running 2:47 faster than she had the previous year. Stout, who transferred from Castilleja School in Palo Alto to Pacific Collegiate of Santa Cruz as a junior, went from 232nd at the Stanford Invitational Division V cross-country race to first in two years. Stout advanced to the California state finals in two events in June, setting personal bests of 10:37.10 in the 3,200 and 4:51.73 in the 1,600. Stout, who aspires to become a surgeon, has competed in junior lifeguard competitions since she was 6.
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Miles Zoltak:
Miles Zoltak captured the 2017 CIF-Southern Section Division II titles in both the 200 and 400, the latter in a personal best 47.73 despite running from Lane Nine. He was a finalist at the CIF-SS Masters Meet in both events. Zoltak also is the reigning Ventura County champion in both event and was the Mt. SAC Relays 400 winner. He ran his 200 best of 21.16 in winning the Marmonte League title. Zoltak plans to major in computer science, with a linguistics focus. Zoltak ranks No. 16 in the country in the 200 for his class, and No. 28 in the 400.