BERKELEY – California Golden Bears Director of Track & Field Tony Sandoval announced today that the program has finalized their upcoming recruiting class, signing 14 student-athletes to National Letters of Intent. In addition, February signee Bethan Knights set the national 2 mile mark over the past weekend at the Brooks PR Invitational high school meet with a time of 9:53.54. Also, Berkeley-bound Asia Chelsey and Ashley Anderson were state champions in the high jump and triple jump, respectively, in Fresno, Calif. a couple of weeks ago.
"This concludes this recruiting class, although we will have a number of Spring admits like we had this year," Sandoval said. "I'm pleased that the staff has continued to recruit across all event areas throughout the spring as we've landed a number of outstanding prospects who emerged during their senior year or in JC."
The following is a list of the newest Golden Bears, along with some of their notable accomplishments:
Men:
Scott Chisea, a transfer from the College of San Mateo and Mountain View, Calif. native, placed third at the California state junior college championships in the javelin and has a PR mark of 214-7.
David Chukwu, a Fremont, Calif. native from American HS placed fourth at the California state meet in the high jump, clearing a height of 6-8.00. His PR in the high jump is 6-10.00 and won the NCS Meet of Champions, clearing a height of 6-9.00.
Steve Correa was a Los Angeles city section double winner in both the 1600-meters and 3200-meters and has a PR in the 1600 with a mark of 4:14.91. Additionally, the former San Pedro Pirate won the 3200-meters at the Mt. SAC high school Invitational with a PR of 9:07.84. His superior mile PR of 4:14.02 was set at the Arcadia Invitational.
John Hogan, a San Francisco native from Lowell HS, placed seventh at the California state meet in the 1600-meters with a time of 4:11.42. His PR in the mile was set earlier in his senior year at the Azusa Distance Meet of Champions with a mark of 4:12.46.
Walt Jones, Jr. is transferring from Oregon State, where he played one year of football. The Redlands, Calif. native placed third at the California state meet in the long jump in 2013. His PR’s are: 24-11.75 (long jump), 10.66 (100-meters) and 21.38 (200-meters). His father, Dr. Walt Jones, Sr. is ranked tenth on Cal’s All-Time Performers List in the 400-meters (46.45 in 1986) and was a member of the fourth ranked 4x400-meter relay team (3:05.77 in 1986).
Max Leach, a Seattle native, placed second at the Washington state 3A meet in the 1600-meters with a mark of 4:09.60. He also won the 2,000-meter steeplechase at the Oregon-Washington Border Duel in 6:01.30. His PR in the 800-meters is 1:54.23 and also was a seventh place finisher at the Washington state 3A cross country championship.
Ellis Newton placed fourth in the California state meet in the 800-meters with a PR time of 1:51.84. The Lakewood, Calif. native had a spectacular double win at the Southern Section CIF Division 2 Championships in the 800-meters (1:51.86) and 1600-meters (4:06.71). He improved his 1600 time by over 16 seconds from his junior season.
Matt Schwartz placed seventh in the California state meet in the pole vault with a PR clearance of 15-9.00 as a senior at Burroughs HS in Los Angeles.
Cameron Tu ran a PR in the seeded 3200-meters in 9:08.12 at the Arcadia Invitational and set his PR in the mile at the Stanford HS Invitational (4:20.20). Additionally, the Alameda HS standout also placed 10th in the California state cross country championships.
Women:
Ashley Anderson was the California state triple jump champion last year with a PR mark of 41-3.00. The Los Angeles native from Carson HS was undefeated as a senior and won the triple jump at the Arcadia Invitational.
Leann Jarvis recorded a PR in the mile of 5:02.23 at the Stanford Invite, PR’ed in the seeded 3200-meters with a 10:53.97 at the Arcadia Invitational. She also finished 14th at the California state cross country championships during her senior year at River Valley HS in Yuba City, Calif.
Destiny Parker, a Fontana, Calif. native, placed eighth in the shot put at the California state meet with a PR throw of 46-4.
Nuria Tio Peig, a Barcelona native from the Institut Lluis Peguera School, is the 2013 Spanish Junior Outdoor 800-meters champion, the 2014 Spanish Junior Indoor 800-meters champion and finished sixth at the 2014 Spanish National Indoor Championships in the 800-meters. Her PR in the 400-meters is 56.87, in the 800-meters is 2:07.81 and 1500-meters is 4:39.30. She also qualified for the Spanish junior team at the European Cross Country Championships.
Erica Wilson, a transfer from Laney College was a 2013 State junior college champion in the 100-meter hurdles. The Antioch, Calif. native’s PR in the 100-meter hurdles is 13.39, when she won the California Community College State Championships and 23.91 in the 200-meters.
