XC: Gaels Complete 2015 Class

MORAGA, Calif. - The Gaels were busy during the off-season recruiting a total of twelve new athletes to the Saint Mary's men and women's rosters. Nine men and three women will be joining the Gaels next fall in what appears to be one of the most talented incoming classes in program history. "We had a very good season for recruiting. The talent alone makes us better on paper but the attitudes of these young recruits is what is so encouraging. They each want to be a part of something special, continue to develop a positive culture, and begin the climb the WCC ladder," said head coach Marty Kinsey.

Kinsey is coming off his first full season as the head coach of the Men's and Women's programs. In his first year, Saint Mary's saw new school records set in both the women's 5K and 6K, women's team time for both 5K and 6K, men's 10K, and a #2 all-time for men's 8K. "Last season was a great first step, however, despite the school records, we still have a long way to go in order to contend in our improving and expanding conference," added Kinsey. "We had a tremendous spring season. The teams started to gel and just about everyone who raced set new personal bests. I believe the dedication and sacrifice that our current team has established rubbed off on the recruits when they visited. The flywheel has begun to spin."

Indeed the conference is getting bigger and better. With the addition of Brigham Young University next season, the conference adds frequent top 25 programs in both the men and women's divisions. Along with BYU, Portland is a perennial top 25 contender for both men and women, USF women made it as high as 26th in the nation last season, and LMU and Santa Clara each had individual All-Americans over the past few seasons to help further strengthen the WCC field. Assistant coach Mark Carberry added, "The WCC is experiencing some big gains across the board, both as teams and individually. It's an exciting time to be a member of the conference and to be a part of our improving program."

With this knowledge, the Gaels put together one of the strongest recruiting classes to date. Below are some highlights of the future Gaels:

Cristina Garcia, Oaks Christian High School, Calif.
Garcia finished this past track season with a 10:56 3200 meter PR. Currently, she ranks 81st in the country among graduating seniors. Garcia also had a stellar cross country season in which she placed 2nd at the Stanford XC Invitational in the D4 Varsity race finishing with an 18:26 5K PR. At the Mt. Sac Invitational, Garcia would finish with a solid 17:54 for a grueling 3-mile race.

Madison Thompson, Ventura High School, Calif.
Thompson battled illnesses throughout her senior campaign but would still finish with PR's at the Mt. Sac Invitational of 19:42 for 3 miles as well as 5:24 in the 1600 meters on the track.

Karen Pedraza, North Salinas High School, Calif.
Pedraza has improved every year in high school where she would finish with PR's in the 3200 meters (12:08) and 1600 meters (5:34).

Rajpaul Pannu, Diablo Valley College, Calif.
Pannu transfers from Diablo Valley College to Saint Mary's as a redshirt sophomore. Raj held a high school PR of 9:32 for 3200 meters and, since moving on to the junior college level, he hasn't looked back. In Raj's freshman year he would finish with PR's in the 1500 meters (4:01), 5K (15:26), and 10K (32:16) on the track. As a freshman, Raj would go on to place second at the California Junior College State Championships (10K) . This past cross country season, Raj competed unattached in both the USF and Santa Clara Invitationals (8K), finishing both races in the mid 25:30's.

Nick Ellingson, Jacobs High School, Ill.
Ellingson will be joining the Gaels as the Midwestern component to the men's squad. After having a breakthrough junior campaign, Nick had a very solid senior season where he hit a PR of 15:36 for 3 miles at the Peoria Woodruff Invitational. Nick finished up his track season with PR's in the 3200 meters (9:40) and 1600 meters (4:29). Nick's 3200 meter time indoors (9:41) would also claim him a top 45 time in the state of Illinois.

Cormac McCullaugh, Jesuit High School, Calif.
McCullaugh wrapped up his breakout senior cross country season in the CIF State Cross Country Championships (D1) with a solid 15:58 finish. Cormac began a great spring track season with strong midseason PR's in the 3K at the Stanford Invitational (8:58) as well as the mile (4:26). Cormac's track season was cut short by injury but is on the road to recovery and looking for a solid summer of base training.

TJ Brown-Pinizzotto, Jesuit High School, Calif.
Brown-Pinizzotto holds a 16:02 5K personal best from the CIF State Cross Country Championships (D1) recorded from his sophomore season. At the age of 14, he clocked 1:18:18 in the San Francisco US Half Marathon (5:58 per mile). TJ also holds a personal best of 9:48 for 3200 meters. A broken jaw forced TJ to miss training time this past summer but is completely healed and prepared to race in the fall.

Rhett Baynes, La Costa Canyon High School, Calif.
Baynes had a standout senior season finishing 22nd in the seeded race at the Stanford Invitational 5K (15:55) and setting a new personal best of 15:54 at the CIF State Cross Country Championships (D1). Rhett helped lead one of the top teams in California to an 11th place finish at the D1 state championships

Gilbert Mundo, South Hills High School, Calif.
Mundo brings a wide range of talent to Moraga next fall. A mid-distance specialist throughout high school, Gilbert finished up his high school career with consecutive PR's in the 800 meters at the CIF-SS Division prelims and finals. In his final race of the season, he came through the finish line in 1:57.19. In his junior year, he posted a 3200 meter PR of 10:06, his sole attempt at the distance.

Marc Klunk, Novato High School, Calif.
Klunk had a much improved senior campaign including a 17th place finish in the D3 Varsity race of the Stanford Invitational. During the spring, he improved his 3200 meter time by nearly 30 seconds from his junior year to close with a finishing time of 9:55 at the MCAL championships. Klunk would also PR with a 4:35 in the 1600 meters.

Zach Newsom, Sunset High School, Ore.
Newsom finished his junior track season with a personal best 9:08 in the 3K. He would go on to make big strides in his senior cross country campaign with the 8th fastest 5K time in Oregon (15:41) and an invitation to run in the annual Washington v. Oregon BorderClash. Zach finished 13th at the Oregon State 6A XC meet.

Justin Jayme, St. Ignatius College Prep, Calif.
Jayme made marked improvements every year in high school at St. Ignatius Prep in San Francisco. Justin wrapped up his high school running career with PR's in both the 1600 (4:35) and 3200 (10:06).

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GAELS IN THE PROS

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