 "Photo: Daily Texan file photo")
The Texas Women's Track and Field team has signed nine athletes to letters of intent for the 2008-2009 academic season.
The Longhorns plan to welcome five UIL state champions along with two Texas qualifiers. A Connecticut state record holder in the 55-meter dash and a member of a championship relay team from California will also be joining the Texas women next season.
"We went to work with this class," coach Bev Kearney said. "We hit the ground hard."
There were five sprinter signees, including Angele Cooper, Alexandria Pegram, Stacey-Anne Smith, Ashley Starks and LaKeidra Stewart. According to Kearney, the Longhorns added much-needed depth to their field events with three state champions: pole vaulter Jessica Doyle, high jumper Victoria Lucas and thrower Amanda Van Dyke. Julie Amthor is a distance state qualifier and will be running with the distance group next fall.
Texas is currently known for strength in the sprint and hurdle events. Kearney maintains that help from the distance and field facets of the team has been a vital part of the Longhorns' success over the past few years and that additions in these areas are most important.
Cooper is a sprinter and jumper from Long Beach, Calif., a school known for its track program. While attending Wilson High School, Cooper won a gold medal as part of a champion 4-by-400-meter relay team at the 2006 California Interscholastic Federation, running the anchor leg.
Smith is another talented sprinter. She is the Connecticut state record holder in the 55-meter dash with a seven-second finish. Smith also excels in longer sprints with New England Interscholastic championship finishes in the 100- and 200-meter sprints.
"She is a very talented athlete," Kearney said. "She has a range anywhere from the 100- to the 400-meter."
The coach expressed nearly identical views towards Cooper.
Starks, Pegram and Stewart make up the local portion of the sprinter prospects. Starks (Lancaster) holds three state championships in the 300-meter hurdles, the 4-by-100 and 4-by-400-meter relays. She was named the Dallas Morning News Girl Athlete of the Year in 2007. Pegram (McKinney) is a top-three sprinter in Texas in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes. Stewart (Arlington) was the anchor of a state championship 800-meter relay team.
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