(May 10, 2004) - The UC Riverside Head Cross Country and Track and Field Coach Irv Ray announced the signings of seven elite high school middle distance runners to national letters of intent.

“I am very excited about our very talented and motivated recruiting class. In my 20 years of coaching at the college level, this is my strongest recruiting class ever,” Ray said. “We will be working very hard to retain and build this class into Big West Conference Champions and National Qualifiers in the next 2-3 years.”

The 2004 signing class consists of (in alphabetical order):

• Ryan Allen, middle distance, Yucaipa HS – Personal best of 50.0 in the 400, 1:54 in the 800, 4:15 in the 1,600. Ran the Mt. SAC cross country course in 15:12. “Ryan is a very motivated athlete and sees himself reaching the elite levels of Division I,” Ray said. Has a 3.5 GPA at Yucaipa HS.

• Jared Bain, middle distance, Rialto HS – Personal best of 52.0 in the 400, 1:57 in the 800, 4:22 in the 1,600 and 9:28 in the 3,200. “Jared is a talented young runner who will make big improvements and has great potential to become an excellent collegiate athlete,” Ray said. Has a 3.3 GPA at Rialto HS.

• Joel Cota, middle distance, Indio HS – Personal best of 49.0 in the 400, 1:54 in the 800 and 4:14 in the 1,600. “We feel Joel has outstanding potential at middle distance and we are very excited about his future contributions,” Ray said. Has a 4.2 GPA at Indio HS.

• Raul Lara, middle distance, Orange HS – Personal best of 51.0 in the 400, 1:54 in the 800, 4:15 in the 1,600 and 9:10 in 3,200. “Raul will make an immediate impact in the 8,000 and 10,000 events. He is a very strong runner,” Ray said. Has a 4.0 GPA at Orange HS.

• Andrew Tachias, middle distance, Covina HS – Personal best of 52.0 in the 400, 1:57 in the 800, 4:18 in the 1,600, and 9:08 in the 3,200. “Andrew is an exceptionally strong endurance athlete with great will to work hard and improve. He will be a big contributor to our cross country program,” Ray said. Has a 3.2 GPA at Covina HS, where his coach, Kevin Burko, ran under Coach Ray when ray coached at the school in the 1980’s.

• Andrew Trinidad, middle distance, Rancho Cucamonga HS – Personal best of 51.0 in the 400, 1:55 in the 800, 4:17 in the 1,600 and 9:14 in the 3,200. Ran the Mt. SAC cross country course in 15:07. “Andrew is a very strong runner and will combine with Lara to give us an excellent 1-2 punch in cross country,” Ray said. Has a 3.5 GPA at Rancho Cucamonga HS.

• Nathan Wolack, middle distance, Don Lugo HS – Personal best of 51.0 in the 400, 1:56 in the 800, 4:18 in the 1,600 and 15:34 in 5,000 K cross country. “Nathan has excellent balance at both cross country, where he led Don Lugo to the state cross country title, and is making big improvements in track, especially at the 1,600 distancce,” Ray said.

The seven join a solid core of five returning distance runners for the Highlanders, senior Ruben Espinoza, juniors Carlos Handler, Dustin Russell and Andy Padilla and sophomore Santiago Alonzo.

http://www.athletics.ucr.edu/trackfield/tf051004.html