Women’s Track and Field Announces 2007 Recruiting Class

13 Freshmen to Join the Tribe

08/24/07 5:26PM

WILLIAMSBURG - Director of Track and Field Dan Stimson and head women’s coach Kathy Newberry announced the 13-member Tribe recruiting class of 2007 today. Seven of the women will begin their careers this fall on the cross country trails, and six will first don the Green and Gold in December with the start of the indoor track season.

The seven cross country runners bring a wealth of experience to the College, combining for 17 all-state citations and leading their teams to five state championships. Sarrah Hadiji (Annandale, Va.) earned All-America distinction this summer at the Nike Outdoor Nationals, placing eighth in the 3,200m. Also a three-time state champ at 3,200m for W.T. Woodson High, Hadiji has run 10:27.73 at that distance. In 2005, she was the runner-up at the Virginia AAA state cross country championships. Kelsey Budd (Oakton, Va.) led Paul VI Catholic to back-to-back state championships at both the Virginia Independent Schools meet and the Virginia Catholic Schools meet, earning all-state honors at all four championships.

Liz Milewski (Rosemont, Pa.) earned all-state accolades while leading Radnor High to the Pennsylvania AAA state cross country title, and earned All-Main Line honors for 10 consecutive seasons between cross country, indoor, and outdoor track. She has run 5:04.45 for 1,600m and 10:20.76 for 3,000m. Betsy Graney (Harper Woods, Mich.) was a three-time all-state honoree for Grosse Pointe North, and earned four region titles at 1,600m with a personal-best time of 5:00.45. An outstanding student as well, Graney earned three academic all-state citations and led her cross country team to the Academic State Championship in 2005.

Meredith Tighe (Oak Hill, Va.) earned all-state honors at 1,600m both indoors and outdoors in 2006-07, and led Oakton to a runner-up showing at the 2005 Virginia AAA cross country championships. Elizabeth Fortenberry (Falls Church, Va.) helped George Mason High to top-three showings at the district, region, and state cross country meets in both her junior and senior years. Shannon Ralston (Virginia Beach, Va.) was the first female state qualifier in the history of Landstown High, and holds every distance record for the Eagles.

Headlining the track and field-only recruits is 12-time Kansas state champion Katie Guevel (Burlington, Kan.). The 2007 USAT&F Junior National bronze medalist in the heptathlon with 4,996 points, Guevel won state titles in the 100m dash, 200m dash, 100m hurdles, and 300m hurdles in each of her last two years, and was a four-time champ in the 100m hurdles. She enters the College with best times of 12.08 for 100m, 24.71 for 200m, 14.10 for the 100m hurdles, and 1:00.74 for the 400m hurdles. Jennifer Garrott (Burke, Va.) is transferring to W&M after a stellar freshman year at the University of Mary Washington. Garrott, a history major, won the Capital Athletic Conference pole vault crown as a freshman, and holds the UMW outdoor pole vault record of 10’ 8.75”. At Lake Braddock Secondary, Garrott was a six-time all-state honoree and won the district pole vault title outdoors as a senior.

Kathleen “KB” Brower (Downington, Pa.) earned All-American honors indoors as a sophomore as part of Downington West’s seventh-place sprint medley relay. She earned four all-state mentions during her career, culminating with a bronze medal in the high jump at the 2007 state championships, and won four gold medals at the county championships as a senior. She has jumped 18’ 5” in the long jump, 38’ 1” in the triple jump, and 5’ 4” in the high jump. Sarah Rybarczyk (Snohomish, Wash.) posted a pair of top-10 finishes at the state championships and earned two district titles for Monroe High in the sprints and hurdles. A first-team all-conference selection, she has run 26.5 for 200m and 47.1 in the 300m hurdles.

Erica Shifflett (Winchester, Va.) was the Virginia AA state runner-up indoors in the high jump as a senior, and was Virginia’s top-ranked high jumper throughout the outdoor season en route to winning the district and region titles and earning all-state honors. Also a competitor in the horizontal jumps, Shifflett has cleared 5’ 5” in the high jump. Emily Jeremiah (Mechanicsville, Va.) came to pole-vaulting as a senior after a standout gymnastics career, and posted a personal-best vault of 10 feet. She was the district runner-up, and placed 11th at the state championships.