Nov. 27, 2001
OXFORD, Ohio - Miami's women's cross country and track and field program announced it has received commitments from seven athletes in the early signing period, including three middle distance/distance runners, two jumpers and two throwers. It is far and away the largest class of early signees in the program's history.
"We are very pleased to welcome seven outstanding young women to our cross country and track programs," head coach Dr. Rich Ceronie said. "Each of them has competed at a pretty high level in high school and will add to the well-rounded team concept we have here at Miami."
The RedHawks landed middle-distance specialist Lauren Slusser (Columbus Grove, Ohio/Columbus Grove), the 2000 state champion in the 800 meters. Her personal-best 800 time of 2:14 is tops among all returners in Ohio.
Katy Pryor (New Castle, Ind./New Castle) placed sixth at the state cross country meet this fall, completing the 4,000-meter course in a personal best time of 13:56. She then went on to a sixth-place finish at the MidEast Meet of Champions, which is comprised of the top 10 seniors from each of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and West Virginia, running an 18:14 over 5,000 meters.
Another signee who is expected to add depth to Miami's corps of distance runners is Kelly Ardelean (Stronsgville, Ohio/Strongsville). She took sixth in the Division I state cross country race, crossing the finish line of the 5,000-meter course in 18:27. At the MidEast Meet of Champions, Ardelean came in 16th with an 18:42 clocking.
The fourth-place finisher in the high jump at the state championships, Sandy Meyer (Ft. Laramie, Ohio/Ft. Laramie) comes to Miami with a career-best leap of 5-6. The other jumper in the class, Katherine Johnson (LaGrange, Ill./Lyons Township) is a two-time state qualifier in the triple jump and placed fourth in the event at the U.S. Junior Olympic National Championships.
Bolstering an already strong group of throwers is Joanna Borawski (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne) and Lindsey Arundel (Rocky River, Ohio/Magnificant). Borawski is the reigning state champion in the javelin, while Arundel placed eighth in the shot put in Ohio last spring.
"Much credit must go to the hard work of assistant coaches Jen Hardesty and Layne Richards," Ceronie said. "They really did their homework in finding out which individuals were serious about Miami, and making sure we did what was necessary to convince these young athletes to attend Miami."
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