June 26, 2009
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State track and field team has signed seven athletes to National Letters of Intent, interim co-head coaches Jennifer Nanista and Mike LoBue announced. The group of seven includes three impact collegiate transfers, three incoming freshmen and a world-class triathlete.
Whitney Ashley transfers to SDSU from Cerritos College and will have two years of eligibility left. At Cerritos, Ashley helped the Falcons to back-to-back state championships by scoring in the shot put, discus and hammer. Her best throws of 151 feet, 10 inches (discus) and 157-0 (hammer) would put her in the Aztecs' top 10 list, while her best shot put toss of 43-9.25 would be just outside the top 10.
In the spring, Ashley took second in the hammer and fourth in the discus at the California State Championships, a year after winning the discus, and taking second and fifth in the shot put and hammer, respectively. She also grabbed the Southern California and South Coast Conference discus titles in 2008 en route to being named the SCC Field Events Athlete of the Year.
Ansherae Devine comes from Western High School in Las Vegas, Nev., where she was a state champion in the 800 meter run and a member of the school's 1,600-meter relay state championship team. Devine was also a runner-up in the 400 meters.
Devine led Western HS to the state title with a personal-best time of 2 minutes, 11.82 seconds in the 800, which ranked as the 62nd-fastest time in the nation. Her 400-meter best is 56.33 seconds, which is just outside the top 100.
A versatile athlete, Alexandria Evans brings a background in the triple jump and 100 and 300 hurdles to San Diego State after excelling at Hightower High School in Missouri City, Texas. Her mark of 39-8.5 in the triple jump ranked 41st in the nation.
Evans, who boasts personal-best times of 14.55 in the 100-meter high hurdles and 44.84 in the 300 hurdles, will also be asked to long jump at SDSU when she comes to The Mesa in the fall.
Marianne Hogan joins the Aztec program with a ton of international experience as a world-class triathlete. Currently at College Lafleche and part of the Canadian CJet program, Hogan will strictly focus on running for the first time and will compete on both the cross country and track and field teams at SDSU.
Hogan finished second at the 2008 Canadian Junior Championships in the triathlon and third in 2007. Hogan, who has a personal-best time of 17:21 on a 5,000-meter road course, also took third in each of the past two PATCO Pan American Junior Triathlons, eighth at the 2006 Junior World Duathlon Championships and 11th at the 2007 Junior World Triathlon Championships.
Josefine Koskinen comes to San Diego State from University of Stockholm and should contribute right away with the Aztec distance program after placing eighth at the 2008 Swedish Cross Country Championships.
Koskinen owns impressive personal-best times of 4:40.23 in the 1,500 meters, 2:10.49 in the 800 and 57.72 in the 400, while continuing to train through the summer.
A transfer from California to complete a graduate degree in criminal justice or homeland security, Katie Morgan will add to the rich tradition of Aztec pole vaulters when she comes to SDSU this fall. The 2008 NCAA outdoor track and field champion (current Aztec Stephanie Bagan was second) and three-time NCAA championships qualifier, Morgan's personal-best vault of 13-10 would be the third-best mark in San Diego State's history.
The school-record holder at Cal, Morgan heads into this year's U.S. Outdoor Track and Field Championships ranked 20th in the country and 56th in the world, after posting the 12th-best vault in the NCAA's last spring.
Moriah Roberge comes to The Mesa as one of the most heralded recruits in the nation. A native of U.S. distance legend Steve Prefontaine's hometown of Coos Bay, Ore., Roberge is a three-time Oregon state champion in the pole vault with a personal-best and state record clearing of 12-9.5. The mark, which would seventh on SDSU's all-time list, has Roberge ranked No. 8 in the nation and No. 3 for recruitable seniors.
In addition to the pole vault, Roberge did everything her coach asked of her at Marshfield High School, including the javelin, long jump, triple jump, 100, 400 and 3,000 meters, 100 and 300-meter hurdles, and various relays. Roberge also excelled in cross country and basketball at Marshfield HS, where her sisters Celina (2002) and Muriel (2005) were former state champions in the pole vault as well.