Recruiting class ready to take on the challenge of building the program from the ground up

RINDGE, N.H. (June 14, 2012) – Franklin Pierce University women’s track & field/cross country head coach Zach Emerson announced on Thursday his recruiting for the 2012-13 season. The upcoming year promises to be a historic one as the University sponsors the sport of track & field for the first time, while also adding emphasis to the cross country program.

This year’s recruiting class is filled with young, talented and experienced runners. The distance group will be led by Alyssa Lambert, who had a breakout year for Salem High School (N.H.) in 2012.  Lambert evolved into one of the top runners in the state of New Hampshire as she pieced together a phenomenal senior season highlighted by qualifying for the New England Championship in the 1000-meter run. 

Sarah Barnard of Hopkinton High School (N.H.), Kristyn Bliss of Pinkerton Academy (N.H.), Danielle Koch of Coventry High School (Conn.), Doria Brown of Passaic Valley High School (N.J.), Ashley Maresca of North Warrant Central High School (N.Y.), Rachel Ross of Gorham High School (N.H.) and Cape-Ann league standout Shannon Lozier of Pentucket High School (Mass.) are all accomplished high school runners expected to make immediate contributions to the women’s distance squad. Barnard is certainly well-versed in winning team championships as she was a member of New Hampshire powerhouse Hopkinton High on both the track and the trail.

Some exciting track talents will also be looking to step up in distances as they begin their young collegiate careers. Mikayla Dreher of Dartmouth High School (Mass.) is a multi-event threat on the track, but is also looking to expand into the middle-distance events. In a similar fashion, sprinting standouts Kayla DiGiantommaso of Manchester Memorial (N.H.) and Hadley Doubleday of Silver Lake High School (Mass.) will look to use their proven leg speed to compete on a whole new level in the longer events in college.

"A focus for this young group of long-sprinters/middle-distance runners is not simply to get faster, but to get stronger as they transition to competing in college,” Emerson said. “We know they are fast, but we want to get them to the point aerobically where they can run their fastest for longer. That's when magic can happen for a runner at this level."

On the track and in the field, Jackie Price of Brick High School (N.J.) will lead the charge. As one of the top hurdlers in the state of New Jersey, Price holds Brick High records of 8.51 in the indoor 55-meter hurdles and 14.9 in the outdoor 100-meter hurdles. She was also crowned champion in the 100 hurdles at the Central Jersey Championships. Price will also bring extensive experience in the horizontal jumps to the Rindge campus. Nicolette Zeigler of Pine Bush Central (N.Y.) is expected to make an impact in both the shorter events and in the relays as an accomplished sprinter. Zeigler has an impressive best mark of 7.54 in the 55-meter dash and has competed well in the long jump.

In the jumping events, Ashley Donavan of Weymouth High School (Mass.) progressed into one of the top high jumpers in the state of Massachusetts with a best of 5-2 this past season. She will be joined by Sara Moore of Ellington High School (Conn.) and Danielle Demers of Auburn High School (Maine) who are both standout performers in the horizontal jumps.

In the throwing events, Micaila Olson of Whitinsville Christian High School (Mass.) is an accomplished multi-event athlete and her resume is highlighted by an outstanding throw of 126-7 in the javelin, which ranked her third in the state of Massachusetts last season. Nadine Hyde will be coming to campus all the way from Tacoma High School in Washington state, bringing with her a tremendous discus best of 121 feet. Lisa Prioli of Braintree High School (Mass.) and Alexa Wallace of Woodstock Academy (Conn.) are also expected to contribute in the throwing events for the women’s squad. 

“We are very excited to roll up our sleeves and get to work with this young group,” said Emerson. “There will be some extraordinary talent on this team, but when you splice in the hard work that we will do over the next four years, a lot of athletes are going to reach their full potential in this fantastic environment.”

For more information on Franklin Pierce women’s track & field/cross country, please visit the program’s respective team pages at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.) To follow the program even further, please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens).