Track and field head coach Fred Harvey and his staff announced the signing of 22 recruits for the 2012-13 season.
Arguably the top recruit of the incoming class is Traci Hicks, hailing from Long Beach, Calif. In 2012, Hicks’ 100-meter hurdle time of 13.22 was the fastest time in the country and one of the top-10 fastest times in high school history.
“She (Hicks) comes from one of the top high school programs in the country,” Harvey said in a press release. “She knows what it takes to be successful at the national level. She is a program changer.”
Aaron Castle, a graduate of Newport High School in Newport, Wash., was also added to the roster. The Northwest native was ranked in the top 10 in the U.S. as a junior in the shotput and discus. Castle won the Washington 1A state championship in the discus and the shot put last season.
“Castle is the whole package,” Harvey said. “He is a great addition to our program.”
The Wildcats also went international with this recruiting class as they signed Jordan Young, more than 900 miles away from his home in Windsor, Canada. Young competed in all three throwing events — javelin, discus and shotput — for Canada at the World Junior Championship this past summer.
“Jordan (Young) is a sleeper,” Harvey said. “He is a sleeper because he has not had a lot of structured coaching. I am excited about when he gets into our program, with one coach every day, he is going to do really well.”
While Young has to travel far for his new digs, Jared Roth is staying fairly close to home. Roth, a graduate of Ampitheater High School in Tucson, will be a walk-on for the 2012-13 track and field team. A 2012 Arizona D3 High School State Champion in the high jump, Roth also earned a fourth-place finish at the 2012 Junior Olympic National Championship in the high jump. His personal best clearance is 6-foot-9.
Jonathan Giess, a graduate of Blue Valley Northwest High School in Overland Park, Kan., was named the 2012 Gatorade State Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year. The high jumper won the Kansas 6A State Championship with a mark of 6-foot-10, and his personal best rose all the way up to 7-foot-1, good for the nation’s No. 1 performance among prep competitors.
