Red Storm Track & Field Announces 2014 Recruiting Class

The 2014 Red Storm track & field recruiting class features a host of talented and decorated student-athletes poised to make an immediate impact in the BIG EAST Conference and beyond.

Red Storm Track & Field Announces 2014 Recruiting Class

9/25/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field

Sept. 25, 2014

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QUEENS, N.Y. - St. John's women's head track & field and cross country coach Jim Hurt welcomes the 2014 Red Storm recruiting class, which features a host of talented and decorated student-athletes poised to make an immediate impact in the BIG EAST Conference and beyond.

"We are very excited about this incoming group as it has a number of outstanding student-athletes from around the world," said Hurt. "Many were ranked in the top five of their country at the junior level. It is also a large class that bolsters all of our event areas and promises enhanced scoring opportunities at our championship meets. We have been able to attract some of the best young athletes on the planet to our campus in Queens and we cannot wait to see what they will accomplish in the years ahead."

Nyla Woods | Throws | Fayetteville, Ga. | Henry W. Grady High School

A two-time Georgia Class 3A shot put state champion during her time at Henry W. Grady High, Woods arrives at St. John's looking to bolster the Red Storm's field corps and build upon the program's already decorated throwing tradition. A two-year captain and shot put school record holder at Henry W. Grady, Woods earned All-American status and placed fifth in the hammer throw at the 2014 New Balance Outdoor Nationals after claiming runner-up honors at the high school indoor national championships in March. She brings impressive career-best marks of 185'10" in the hammer throw and 43'11" in the shot put and was elected her high school's Most Valuable Athlete as a senior. Woods, who also boasts a weight throw personal best of 18.30 meters, will look to follow in the footsteps of recently graduated 2014 BIG EAST weight throw champion Danette Hinton.

Izzi Batt-Doyle | Distance | Adelaide, Australia | Seymour College

A versatile runner and steeplechase specialist with considerable international experience, Batt-Doyle is poised to immediately elevate the Red Storm's distance group in her first year at St. John's and in the United States. The Australia native owns impressive personal bests of 10:24.25 for the 3,000-meter steeplechase and 9:48.67 for the flat 3,000-meter run, and can drop down to the 1,500-meters comfortably with a career best of 4:37.11 at the distance. Batt-Doyle recently hit the qualifying mark for the 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and has extensive experience at the Australian Cross Country and Junior Athletics Championships. She was the Australian national runner-up at the U20 level in the 3,000-meter steeplechase this March before placing sixth overall in the open division in April's national championships. Batt-Doyle was honored with the Pierre De Coubertin Award by the South Australian Olympic Committee in 2013 and was named Athletics South Australia U20 Track & Field Female Athlete of the Year for 2013-14.

Julia Schwan | Sprints & Jumps | Novo Hamburgo, Brazil | FundaÃ§Ã£o EvangÃ©lica de Novo Hamburgo

A decorated short sprinter and high jumper with considerable international experience, Schwan arrives at St. John's after ranking as one of the top 100-meter, 200-meter and high jump youth competitors in her native Brazil. While competing for her high school team, IENH, Schwan achieved impressive personal bests of 11.81 seconds for the 100-meter dash, 24.31 seconds for the 200-meter dash and 1.75 meters in the high jump. In 2011, Schwan posted the third fastest 100-meter and 200-meter times among all Brazilian youth athletes and represented her country at the Athletics World Youth Championship in Lille, France, placing 14th in the 100-meter dash and helping Brazil place 9th in the medley relay. In 2012, the Athletic Federation of the State of Rio Grande do Sul awarded Schwan the Distinction Athlete of Adult Category for her outstanding performances throughout the year and she set Rio Grande do Sul State youth and junior category records in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes in 2011.

Maya Stephens | Sprints | Toronto, Canada | St. Roch Catholic Secondary School of the Arts

A three-year captain at St. Roch Catholic, Stephens joins St. John's as one of the top Canadian sprinting prospects of her class, ranking in the top-5 in the 100-meter dash in the entire country in 2013 while owning personal bests of 11.88 seconds for 100-meters and 25.06 seconds for the outdoor 200-meter dash. Stephens has also run 41.63 seconds for the indoor 300-meter dash and 7.73 for the 60-meter dash, and has claimed two 100-meter bronze medals at the Ontario High School Track & Field Championships in the last two years. She ran on the winning 4x100-meter, 4x200-meter and 4x400-meter relays at the 2014 Trinidad & Tobago Relay Carnival and anchored the silver-medal winning 4x100-meter Ontario All-Star Relay Team at the 2013 Toronto International Track & Field Games.

Raquel Ricketts | Sprints | Manchester, Jamaica | Southwestern Christian College

The lone upperclassman of the Red Storm's 2014 recruiting class, Ricketts joins St. John's after establishing herself as one of the top junior college sprinters in the country last year as a sophomore at Southwestern Christian College. A Jamaican international and product of Jamaican sprinting powerhouse Manchester High School, Ricketts owns impressive personal bests of 54.68 seconds for 400-meters and 24.54 seconds for 200-meters, both set in a double winning effort at this past spring's East Texas Invite. She ended her latest outdoor season as an individual and relay All-American as she placed sixth in the 400-meter dash at the 2014 NJCAA DI National Track & Field Championships in Mesa, Ariz. in a time of 55.31 seconds and helped Southwestern Christian claim third in the country in the 4x400-meter relay. Ricketts promises to be an immediate contender in the BIG EAST Conference in the 400-meter dash and adds to an already deep Red Storm relay pool.

Marlow Schulz | Sprints & Middle Distance | Whitefish, Mont. | Whitefish High School

A three-year captain at Whitefish High, Schulz arrives in Queens following a decorated high school career which saw the multi-distance standout graduate as one of the most accomplished athletes in her class in the state of Montana. Between 2011 and 2014, Schulz won 11 Montana state titles ranging from 100-meters to 800-meters, culminating this past spring when she became just the fourth girl in Montana history to win four-consecutive 100-meter dash championships. A holder of multiple school and class state records, Schulz boasts personal-best times of 24.6 seconds for the 200-meter dash, 54.28 seconds for 400-meters and 2:12.1 for 800-meters. She was named Best of Preps in Flathead Beacon four years in a row, three-time Archie Rose Outstanding Female Athlete and helped guide Whitefish to runner-up honors at the 2011 Montana state meet as well as a pair of third-place finishes in 2012 and 2014. Shulz should have an immediate impact for the Red Storm in the long sprints and middle distance events.

Anointing Onuoha | Jumps & Sprints | Valley Stream, N.Y. | Valley Stream North High School

One of New York State's top jumpers over the last couple of years, Onuoha joins St. John's after setting school records at Valley Stream North in both the long and triple jumps while being named her high school's Athlete of the Year as a senior. Onuoha was the 2013 NYS champion in the long jump while also earning all-state honors in the triple jump and helping Valley Stream North to a Nassau County indoor championship during the 2013-14 campaign. With personal bests of 19'3" for the long jump and 38'6" for the triple jump, Onuoha should make an immediate impact in bolstering the Red Storm's field event group. Onuoha, who was Valley Stream North's captain as a senior, also owns a 300-meter dash personal best of 44.69 seconds.

Jazmin Acosta | Jumps | Port Chester, N.Y. | Port Chester Senior High School

An accomplished competitor who holds the long jump school record at Port Chester Senior High, Acosta brings the experience of three New York State meets and numerous league and class championships to the Red Storm's jumping corps. She boasts a long jump personal best of 18'10.25" and triple jump personal best of 33'10", and placed sixth indoors and fourth outdoors at past New York State championship meets. A three-year team captain at Port Chester, Acosta earned all-league and all-county accolades while staring for the Rams, adding Class A indoor and outdoor long jump titles to an impressive high school resume.

Chenoa Sebastian | Hurdles & Sprints | North Stonington, Conn. | Ledyard High School

One of the most dominant hurdlers in the state of Connecticut over the last four years, Sebastian joins the Red Storm following a decorated career at Ledyard High that included five individual state titles including three in the outdoor 100-meter hurdles and a pair in the indoor 55-meter hurdles. Sebastian, who won individual hurdle titles at the Eastern Connecticut Conference Championships every season throughout her high school career, was also a state meet runner-up in the 300-meter hurdles and a state relay champion in the 4x100-meter relay. With impressive personal bests of 14.61 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles and 8.40 seconds in the 55-meter hurdles, Sebastian will immediately bolster St. John's hurdling group. She graduated with Ledyard school records in the 55-meter hurdles, 60-meter hurdles and 100-meter hurdles, and as a senior captain was named All-Area Girls' Track Athlete of the Year by The Day, a publication which covers a 20-town region in eastern Connecticut.

Jasmine Burkett | Sprints & Middle Distance | Jacksonville, Fla. | Bolles High School

A proven winner on and off the field of competition, Burkett joins the Red Storm as a nine-time track & field Florida all-state selection and after leading her Bolles High School squad to its first Florida 2A Track & Field State Championship this past year. Burkett also helped Bolles secure five-consecutive district crowns and four-consecutive regional titles, personally running on a pair of state-winning 4x800-meter relay teams. She captained her team as a senior and graduated with Bolles High School records in the 400-meter dash and 800-meter run as well as in the 4x400-meter and 4x800-meter relays. Burkett owns personal-best times of 55 seconds for 400-meters and 2:13 for 800-meters, and won individual district and regional titles at the 400-meter distance. A National Honor Society member who met all graduation requirements as a junior, Burkett was also a standout basketball player at Bolles as she was twice selected to the Florida High School Association All-State Team while setting Bolles school records with over 1,300 career points.

Erica Graham | Jumps & Sprints | Atlanta, Ga. | Arabia Mountain High School

A long jump specialist with considerable sprint relay experience, Graham placed ninth in the long jump at the 5A Georgia state meet this past year after placing fifth at her regional championships in the same event. Despite only debuting in track & field as a junior, Graham qualified for the state championships in her first two years of competition in the sport, helping Arabia Mountain High to place third in the 4x400-meter relay at the 2013 state meet. Graham boasts a long jump personal best of 17'4.25" and a 100-meter dash career best of 12.69 seconds, and ran on her team's 4x400-meter relay team which clocked a time of 3:55.76. An all-star cheerleader since the age of four, Graham won individual titles at the Golden Bears Relays and Miller Grove Quad Meet during her time at Arabia Mountain High School.

Chelsea Scott | Sprints | Fort Washington, Md. | Bishop McNamara

A three-year letterwinner and senior captain at Bishop McNamara, Scott, who has been competing in track & field since the age of seven, excelled in the short sprints and as a relay team member. Achieving personal best times of 12.24 seconds for 100-meters, 26.4 seconds for 200-meters and 42.3 seconds for 300-meters, she was named first team all-conference in the 4x100-meter relay as a junior and senior and second team all-conference in the 100-meter dash as a sophomore. Scott also earned all county accolades twice in the indoor 4x100-meter and is poised to add yet more depth to St. John's sprinting unit and relay pool.