STANFORD, Calif. – J.J. Clark, Stanford's Franklin P. Johnson Director of Track and Field, announced the addition of 12 – eight men and four women -- to a cross country and track and field recruiting class that now numbers 20.
Men's additions are freshmen Ian Briski (San Diego, Calif./Mission Bay HS), Allan Hunter (Tracy, Calif./John C. Kimball HS), John Kroeger (Yuba City, Calif./River Valley HS), Mason McKhann (Dana Point, Calif./Dana Hills HS), Ky Robinson (Brisbane, Australia/Anglican Church Grammar School), James Stevens (Galveston, Texas/Ball HS), and Bobby Wood (Warr Acres, Okla./Putnam City HS), and graduate transfer Miles Smith (La Plata, Md./La Plata HS/Univ. of Maryland-Baltimore County).
Women's additions are freshmen Elli Deligianni (Papagou, Greece/Athens College), Samantha Thomas (Westlake, Ohio/Westlake HS), and Maya Valmon (Rockville, Md./Holton-Arms School), and graduate transfer Aubrey Roberts (Eau Claire, Wis./Eau Claire Memorial HS/Northwestern Univ.).
They join fall women's signees Zofia Dudek (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS), Lucy Jenks (Newton, Mass./Newton South HS), Kelly Kern (Clayton, Calif./Carondelet HS), Tori Starcher (Ripley, W.Va./Ripley HS), and Hannah Wilson (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Oaks Christian School).
And fall men's signees Thomas Boyden (Salt Lake City, Utah/Skyline HS), Cole Sprout (Littleton, Colo./Valor Christian HS), and Kevin Yang (Roswell, Ga./Chattahoochee HS).
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Ian Briski (San Diego, California/Mission Bay HS)
Personal bests: Javelin – 173-3 ½ (52.81m)
Ian Briski was introduced to the javelin in 2019 by his father and already is among the best high school throwers in the country. Briski was the valedictorian at Mission Bay High and team MVP in volleyball, both beach and indoors, and played baseball for the Buccaneers. His father, Joseph Briski, competed in the four-man bobsled at the 1984 Winter Olympics, placing fifth, and in the 1984 Olympic track and field trials in the hammer throw. Ian's mother, Carolyn, once held at age-group marathon world record.
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Elli Deligianni (Papagou, Greece/Athens College)
Personal bests: 400 – 55.65; 800 – 2:07.23
Elli Deligianni was second at the Greek senior national indoor championships this year in the 800 and the national under-23 outdoor champion in the same event last year. Deligianni has won seven national championships, in the 400, 800, and 4x400 in the U18 to U23 age groups. She captured the U18 400 title while representing Greece at the 2018 Balkan Outdoor Championships in Istanbul, Turkey, and was runner-up in the 2020 Balkan U20 indoor meet in the 800. She also competed for Greece at the World Gymnasiade, an international multi-sport event for school-age athletes, in Marrakech, Morocco, in 2018. Deligianni will be the first Greek track and field athlete at Stanford since pole vaulter Katerina Stefanidi '12, the 2016 Olympic women's champion.
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Allan Hunter (Tracy, California/John C. Kimball HS)
Personal bests: Long jump – 23-9 ¼w (7.24mw), 23-4 ½ (7.12m); Triple jump – 45-11 ½ (14.00m); High jump – 6-4 (1.93m); 110 hurdles (HS) – 15.15
Allan Hunter was runner-up at the 2019 California state meet in the long jump, spanning 23-9 1/4 and also was a state qualifier in the triple jump. Hunter was the 2019 Sac-Joaquin Section Masters meet champion in the triple jump, runner-up in the long jump and a qualifier in the 110 high hurdles. At the 2019 Sac-Joaquin Division III championships, Hunter won the long and triple jumps, was third in the high jump, and fifth in the 110 hurdles. Allan's Identical twin, David Hunter, will compete in track at UC Davis. He was a triple winner (long, triple, 110 hurdles) at the Valley Oak League championships.
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John Kroeger (Yuba City, California/River Valley HS)
Personal bests: Long jump – 23-9 ½ (7.25m); 100 – 10.84; 200 – 21.94; Triple jump – 45-4 (13.81m)
John Kroeger was third at the 2019 California state meet in the long jump, after capturing the title at the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters meet. Kroeger won the 2019 Capital Valley Conference title in the 100, 200, and long jump and followed with a long jump title and 200 runner-up at the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II championships. In 2018 as a sophomore, he was the SJS Division III triple jump champ and advanced to the state meet in the long jump. Kroeger holds school records in the 100, 200, long jump, triple jump, and 4x400. A valedictorian at River Valley, Kroeger was among six high school students to build an airplane from scratch, through the Northern California Aerospace Initiative.
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Mason McKhann (Dana Point, Calif./Dana Hills HS)
Personal bests – Hammer: 185-3 (56.46m); 35-lb. weight throw: 61-2 ¾ (18.66m)
Mason McKhann joins his older brother Max in the hammer throw ring at Stanford. Mason was among the South Coast League's top shot put and discus throwers, but since picking up the hammer, McKhann is now among the best high school throwers in the nation in that event and in the 35-pound weight throw, in which Max ranks No. 5 all-time at Stanford.
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Photo by Image of Sport.
Aubrey Roberts (Eau Claire, Wis./Eau Claire Memorial HS/Northwestern Univ.)
Personal bests: 5,000: 15:32.38; 10,000: 34:17.48; 3,000: 9:13.73; Mile: 4:43.81; 1,500: 4:29.94
Aubrey Roberts is a graduate transfer from Northwestern where she was a two-time All-American. After earning the Wildcats' first cross country All-America honor with an 18th place NCAA finish in 2018, Roberts was 10th at the 2019 NCAA Indoor Championships in the 5,000, earning second-team honors, even though the Wildcats didn't have an official track team. Roberts was second in the 2018 Big Ten cross country championships. At Eau Claire Memorial High, Roberts won three Wisconsin state Division I titles – two in the 3,200 in track and another in cross country. She set a state Division I record in the 3,200 (10:13) in 2016. On the track, she was 13th at the 2015 Foot Locker national cross country championships and sixth at the Brooks PR Invitational in the two mile. She represented the U.S. in the 2017 World Under-20 Cross Country Championships in Kampala, Uganda. With a Northwestern undergraduate degree in neuroscience and science in human culture, Roberts will work toward a Stanford master's in community health and prevention research.
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Ky Robinson (Brisbane, Australia/Anglican Church Grammar School)
Personal bests: 1,500 -- 3:52.75; 3,000 -- 8:19.39; 3,000 steeplechase -- 9:04.92; 5,000 -- 14:32.83
Ky Robinson captured three Queensland under-18 track titles in 2019, in the 1,500 and 3,000, and 2,000 steeplechase, setting a meet record in the latter. He went on to place third in the 1,500 at the national U18 championships. Robinson won The Great Public Schools Association of Queensland cross country championship in 2019 by running 18:12 over 6 kilometers, setting a course record at Brisbane's Limestone Park by 37 seconds. In August, 2019, Robinson placed third in the Australian U18 cross country championships after placing fourth the year before. In 2020, Robinson won the Queensland open title in the 3,000 steeplechase and won the 1,500 in the Queensland under-20 final.
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Miles Smith (La Plata, Md./La Plata HS/Univ. of Maryland-Baltimore County)
Personal bests: 800 – 1:50.95; 1,000 – 2:28.96
Miles Smith is a graduate student from Maryland-Baltimore County, where he had a best America East Conference finish of third at the 2019 indoor championships in the 800 and was sixth outdoors the same year. He was a five-time all-conference selection. Ran his personal best in the 800 of 1:50.95 at the 2019 Florida Relays, the third-fastest in UMBC history. Smith also is part of UMBC's school-record 4x800 relay team. At La Plata High in 2016, Smith won the Maryland 2A state indoor title in the 800 and 1,600. In the 2019 state 2A outdoor championships, Smith won the 800 and was second in the 1,600 and 4x400 relay. Smith graduated magna cum laude from UMBC in mechanical engineering and, at Stanford, will work toward his master's in civil and environmental engineering, with an emphasis in atmosphere and energy.
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James Stevens (Galveston, Texas/Ball HS)
Personal bests: High jump – 6-8
James Stevens reached his personal high jump best of 6-8 (2.03m) twice in the short 2020 outdoor season. The first was a best by 2 ½ inches, which showcased Stevens' potential in the event. Stevens was a 2019 USATF Junior Olympic All-American. An excellent athlete, Stevens also played for the Golden Tornadoes' varsity club ice hockey team.
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Samantha Thomas (Westlake, Ohio/Westlake HS)
Personal bests: 400 – 56.11; 400 hurdles – 1:02.94; 200 – 25.24
Samantha Thomas won the Ohio state Division I indoor title in the 400, with a personal best 56.11 on March 7, 2020, just before the track season was shut down, becoming the first female runner from her school to win a state title. It was a great accomplishment in light of an ACL tear from soccer at the beginning of her junior year, knocking her out of soccer, basketball and track in 2018-19. Thomas was the 2018 USATF Youth Outdoor champion in the 400 hurdles, and took eighth in the event at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals the same year. Broke the school record in the 300 hurdles at 44.18 as a sophomore, placing second in both hurdles races at the Southwestern Conference championships and was third in the Division I state meet in the 400. Sam's mother, Deborah, was sprinter/hurdler at Case Western who went on to win USATF masters titles in the 400, 400 hurdles, and outdoor pentathlon.
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Maya Valmon (Rockville, Md./Holton Arms School)
Personal bests: 60 – 7.63; 100 – 11.97, 11.85w; 200 -- 24.73; 400 – 55.20
Maya Valmon ran her personal best in the 400 of 55.20 at the 2018 USATF Junior Outdoor Championships in Bloomington, Ind., coming off her sophomore year at Holton-Arms School, placing 15th. Her 200 best of 24.73 came at the Independent School League Championships in 2018. She also ran an 11.97 in the 100 at the Bullis Invitational as a freshman in 2017and was a Washington Post All-Met honorable mention selection in 2018. Maya was the MileSplit Maryland Girls Track and Field Freshman of the Year in 2017, her first season in the sport. She holds six school records, including in the 100, 200, and 400, as well as three relays. Maya's father is Andrew Valmon, a 1988 and 1992 Olympic gold medalist in the 4x400, an event in which he also holds the world record. Her mother, the former Meredith Rainey, was a two-time Olympian in the 800 and three-time U.S. outdoor champion. Older brother, Travis, was co-captain of this season's Big Ten champion Maryland basketball team.
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Bobby Wood (Warr Acres, Okla./Putnam City HS)
Personal bests: 110 hurdles (HS) – 14.49; 300 hurdles (HS) – 37.92; 400 hurdles – 54.21; Long jump – 21-9 ½ (6.64m)
Bobby Wood placed fifth at the 2019 USATF National Junior Olympic Championships last year in the 400 hurdles, recording a 54.37 in the final after running a personal best 54.21 in the prelims. His 110 hurdles best of 14.49 came during a runner-up finish at the 2019 USATF Region 9 Junior Olympic Championships. Wood was the 2019 Oklahoma state 6A runner-up in the 110 hurdles and in the 300 hurdles. His time of 37.92 in the 300s at the Edmond North regional was the fastest in the state all season. Wood also played the clarinet in the All-State Wind Symphony, the Elite !2, and was principal clarinetist of Oklahoma Youth Winds. His father, Don Wood, was a multi-sport athlete at Air Force, and sister Schuyler Wood-Hilderbrandt is an All-Big 12 long jumper at Oklahoma State. Bobby will graduate as Putnam City's valedictorian with a GPA of more than 4.5.