August 10, 2009

HAYES HIGHLIGHTS HUGE RECRUITING CLASS FOR WOMEN’S TRACK & CROSS COUNTRY

RICHMOND, Va. – When rebuilding a program, it’s important to have a firm foundation.

Virginia Commonwealth University women’s track & field and cross country Head Coach Jon Riley and his staff looks like they did just that in their first recruiting class with the Black & Gold.

“My staff and I have done a great job of signing top-notch athletes that will make an immediate impact,” Riley said. “We covered just about all of our areas with this class and look to have a well-rounded team this upcoming year. We’re extremely excited and can’t wait to get started.”

Riley and his staff landed 13 signees for the upcoming 2009-10 campaign, 12 of which came from the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Leading the pack is Dionna Hayes (Bowie, Md.) (right), a two-time Washington Catholic Association Conference (WCAC - Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia) Champion sprinter from Elizabeth Seton High School.

Hayes, who runs the 55-meter, 60-meter, 100-meter and 200-meter dash, was the 2008 and 2009 WCAC MVP in track & field. She was the WCAC champ in both the 100-meter with a time of 12.02 and the 200-meter with a time of 24.13. Both times would have placed her in the top-three at last year’s CAA Championship meet.

“I expect Dionna to give us the foundation we need to compete for CAA Championships in the next four years,” Riley stated. “She is the first student-athlete to sign as my staff and I take over the reins and now the foundation is set.”

Hayes was also a part of the second-place 4x100 meter relay team that placed second in the small school’s section at the 2009 Penn Relays. She also ran on Elizabeth Seton’s WCAC-championship 4x100, 4x200 and 4x400 relay squads.

After being recruited by schools from the Big East and Big Ten, Hayes signed with Riley and the Rams.

“I feel VCU offers the best of both worlds for me,” Hayes commented. “It has great medical program, and it’s not too far from home, but just far enough. In addition, I can’t wait to be a part of a great track program.”

Adding Hayes in the sprints will be Kenara Hurt (Bedford, Va.), Derica Owens (Virginia Beach, Va.) and Jay’vonne Bowman (Richmond, Va.).

Hurt was a VHSL AA State Indoor Champion in the 300-meter with a time of 40.61 during her senior season at Liberty High School and also runs the 100-meter, 200-meter and 400-meter.

Owens comes to VCU after a stellar career at Bayside High School where she posted times of 12.18 in the 100-meter, 25.21 in the 200-meter and 58.05 in the 400-meter, all of which would have been top-10 times at last year’s CAA Championship meet.

Bowman returns close to home after spending last year with the Spartans of Norfolk State. The Deep Run High School graduate will add valuable depth in both the 200 and 400-meter dashes for the Black & Gold.

Twin sisters, Jaleesa and Jessica Williams (Virginia Beach, Va.), give the Rams two outstanding talents in the throws.

Jaleesa is coming off a VHSL AAA State Championship in the shot put last season with a toss of 43’ 3”. Jessica finished second in the discus and fourth in the shot put at the state meet, helping the Eagles to their second straight VHSL AAA State Championship.

Shannon Brady (Sterling, Va.), Sarah Earman (Nokesville, Va.), and Hannah Leffew (Virginia Beach, Va.) give the Black & Gold a talented newcomer trio for both the track and the cross country rosters.

Brady ran the 1600m (5:29.56), 3200m (11:55.01) and the 5000m (19:54) at Potomac Falls, while Leffew concentrated on the longer distances of 3200m (11:57.00) and 5000m (19:22) at Kellam. Earman gives the Rams versatility with the ability to run both mid-distances and distance events after a stellar career at Brentsville District High School.  

A teammate of Brady will also join the Black & Gold as Ariana Jones (Sterling, Va.) combines with Brittany Wolf (Yorktown, Va.) to add valuable depth to the mid-distance events for VCU.

Jones posted times of 2:18 in the 800-meter and 5:25.44 in the 1600-meter, both would have placed in the top-10 at last year’s CAA Championship meet, while Wolf gives the Rams even more options with the talent to run the shorter (800-meter, 1600-meter) and longer distances (5000-meter).

Rounding out the outstanding recruiting class is the duo of Chaneka Perry (Newport News, Va.) and Latavia Laprade (Lynchburg, Va.) who give more depth to the Rams in the jumps and hurdles.

Perry comes to the Rams after a standout career at Menchville where she competed in the triple jump (40’ 1 ½”), long jump (17’ 9”), high jump (5’ 4”) and 100m hurdles (14.78).

Laprade is an extremely athletic addition to the Black & Gold that holds the potential to become a multi-event star after competing in the 100-meter hurdles (15.83), triple jump (36’ 4”) and long jump (16’ 5”) at Heritage High School.