June 11, 2007
OXFORD, Ohio - Fourteenth-year head coach Warren Mandrell and the Miami University men's track and field team announced today (June 11) the signing of seven student-athletes to National Letters of Intent. Jayson Coniglio (Rockford, Ill./Boylan), Justin Eddie (Cleveland, Ohio/Villa Angela-St. Joseph), Robbie Fisher (Grosse Pointe, Mich./Grosse Pointe North), Nick Helmuth (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike), Michael Perry (Cincinnati, Ohio/Winton Woods), Adam Ruiz (Mascoutah, Ill./Mascoutah) and David Serrano (Pickerington, Ohio/Central) will join the RedHawks beginning in the 2007-08 season.
"We went in trying to find student-athletes in certain events, and we ended up getting some of the best kids in the best events," Mandrell said. "We wanted to get another thrower, and Ruiz fits in very well as a state champion in the shot put and a state qualifier in the discus. In the high jump, Tom Herrmann was our only graduating MAC scorer, and Serrano has jumped high enough to score at the conference meet and should fill that event."
The first two athletes in Miami's 2007-08 singing class are Ruiz, a thrower from Mascoutah (IL) High School, and Serrano, a high jumper from Pickerington Central (OH) High School. Ruiz won the Division AA state title in the shot put and has a personal-best toss of 61-11, which ranks him among the nation's prep leaders in the event. Ruiz also registered a personal-best throw of 162-9 in the discus. Serrano won the 2006 Ohio Division I state high jump title with a leap of 6-8 and added a fourth-place state finish as a senior. Serrano's career-best clearance would have placed him among the top-eight finishers at the 2007 Mid-American Conference Championships.
Mandrell also inked three distance runners to National Letters of Intent that will compete on both the cross country and track teams. Fisher, a Grosse Pointe (MI) North product, finished in the top 10 at the Division I state cross country meet in both his junior and senior seasons, placing third in 2005 and seventh in 2006. On the track, Fisher turned in a pair of top-five state finishes in the 1,600 meters, finishing fourth as a junior and fifth as a senior.
Joining Fisher in the Miami distance corps are Helmuth, who competed at Pike (IN) High School in Indianapolis, and Perry, a Cincinnati prep athlete from Winton Woods High School. As a senior, Helmuth placed 11th at the Indiana state cross country meet and followed with a personal-best and 10th-place time of 9:36 in the 3,200 meters at the indoor state track meet. Perry, meanwhile, finished third at the 2006 Ohio Division I State Cross Country Meet with a personal-best 5,000-meter time of 15:27. An accomplished track athlete, Perry placed fourth in the 1,600 meters with a personal-best time of 4:15 and sixth in the 3,200 meters at the 2007 state track meet. Perry won both the 1,600 and 3,200 meters at the Southwest Regional Championship, which included a personal-best 3,200-meter time of 9:17, and he placed first in the 2,000-meter steeplechase at the 2007 Don Mitchell Roosevelt Memorial with a new track-record time of 6:10.75.
"This is a nice group because all three are solid cross country runners who also can contribute on the track," Mandrell said. "We have almost our entire cross country team back next year, so these three will give us a lot of depth. Perry is one runner who has tremendous upside in both cross country and track, but I would expect Helmuth and Fisher to have an impact and give us a deep group of talented athletes."
A pair of sprinters round out Miami's signing class, including Coniglio, who comes to Oxford after a successful prep career at Rockford (IL) Boylan High School. Coniglio was the Illinois state runner-up in the 55-meter dash during the indoor season (6.42) and has registered a personal-best 100-meter time of 10.74. Eddie, a prep standout at Villa Angela-St. Joseph in Cleveland, joins Coniglio as Miami's other incoming sprinter. The Division II/III indoor state champion in the 60-meter dash (7.06), Eddie also excelled during the outdoor season, placing as the state runner-up in the 200 meters, finishing fourth in the 100 meters and turning in a sixth-place time in the 400 meters. In addition to being a standout sprinter, Eddie adds depth to Miami's jumping corps, as he won the state indoor long jump title with a leap of 22-3/4 and was the Ohio outdoor state long jump runner-up.
All told, Miami's seven-member signing class has won state titles in four different events -- the shot put, high jump, long jump and 60-meter dash. The signing class also has totaled 10 top-three state finishes in three different states -- Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.
MIAMI SIGNEES QUICK FACTS:
Jayson Coniglio: Sprinter ... comes to Miami from Rockford (IL) Boylan High School ... indoor state runner-up in the 55 meters (2007) ... ran personal-best time of 10.74 in the 100 meters ... brother of Miami junior defensive lineman and two-year football letterwinner Joe Coniglio.
Justin Eddie: Sprinter and jumper ... comes to Miami from Villa Angela-St. Joseph (OH) High School ... 2007 indoor state champion in the 60 meters (7.06) and long jump (22-3/4) ... indoor state runner-up in the 400 meters (49.91) ... placed among the top six in four events at the outdoor state meet, including second-place finishes in the long jump and 200 meters.
Robbie Fisher: Distance runner ... will compete in both cross country and track ... comes to Miami from Gross Pointe North (MI) High School ... turned in pair of top-10 state cross country finishes as a junior and senior ... registered back-to-back top-five state finishes in the 1,600 meters.
Nick Helmuth: Distance runner ... will compete in both cross country and track ... comes to Miami from Pike (IN) High School ... placed 11th at Indiana state cross country meet as a senior ... turned in career-best 3,200 meter time (9:36) at indoor state track meet in 2007.
Michael Perry: Distance runner ... will compete in both cross country and track ... comes to Miami from Winton Woods (OH) High School ... posted third-place finish at 2007 state cross country meet ... won the 1,600 meters and 3,200 meters at the Southwest Regional Championship ... has run personal-bests of 4:15 in the 1,600 meters and 9:17 in the 3,200 meters.
Adam Ruiz: Thrower ... comes to Miami from Mascoutah (IL) High School ... won the 2007 Division AA state shot put title ... has personal-best throws of 61-11 in the shot put and 162-9 in the discus.
David Serrano: High jumper ... comes to Miami from Pickerington Central (OH) High School ... 2006 state high jump champion ... placed fourth in the high jump at 2007 state meet ... has personal-best clearance of 6-8.
MIAMI MEN'S TRACK AND FIELD
2007-08 SIGNING CLASS
Jayson Coniglio (Rockford, Ill./Boylan) - Sprints
Justin Eddie (Cleveland, Ohio/Villa Angela-St. Joseph) - Sprints/Jumps
Robbie Fisher (Grosse Pointe, Mich./Grosse Pointe North) - Cross Country/Distance
Nick Helmuth (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike) - Cross Country/Distance
Michael Perry (Cincinnati, Ohio/Winton Woods) - Cross Country/Distance
Adam Ruiz (Mascoutah, Ill./Mascoutah) - Throws
David Serrano (Pickerington, Ohio/Central) - Vertical Jumps
|
|
 |
|
|
||
| MuRedHawks.com WEB | ||
