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Aguero brings in top freshman class
LAWTON, Oklahoma (June 27) – In just three seasons of existence, the Cameron Aggie cross country team and head coach Matt Aguero have gone from a startup program to a legitimate contender for the Lone Star Conference Championship. Today’s announcement of the 2008-2009 recruiting class may complete the foundation CU needs to win a number of meets in the very near future.
Today Coach Aguero announced the signing of three freshmen: Edwin Chelashaw of El Doret, Kenya, Mark Merritt of Midlothian, Virginia, and Luis Romero of Houston, Texas. All three runners will join the Aggie squad this fall in the team’s pursuit of the first LSC title in school history.
“This is our smallest recruiting class since we’ve been around, but I think in our case quality is better than quantity,” Coach Aguero said. “These three guys are very good runners and athletes. We did not need to add too many guys this summer since we had some redshirts last year and didn’t lose any seniors. I’m not looking to add anybody else right now, but I’m keeping my eye out just in case.”
Edwin Chelashaw is coming to Cameron directly from Kipsanui High School, and is from the Kenyan city of El Doret where a number of world record holders are from. His current personal record in the 8000-meter run is a blistering 24:35, while his personal best in the 3000-meter run is 8:32. Chelashaw’s best time in the 5000-meter run is 14:54.
“Edwin is a very strong runner and I’m really excited to add him,” Coach Aguero said. “I know he can come in immediately and compete for one of the top spots on the team. He will help us compete for the LSC title and has the potential to be an All-American. If he comes in and gets a little faster, he has a shot of setting some school records, but he is going to have some stiff competition on this team.”
Another of this year’s Cross Country recruits is Mark Merrit, who graduated from Cosby High School this spring. He is currently the CHS record holder in the 800-meter (1:58), 1600-meter (4:25), 3200-meter (9:34), 2-mile (9:37), 3-kilometer (8:55), and 5-kilometer (15:55) runs.
“Mark is definitely an awesome runner,” Coach Aguero said. “One good thing about him is that he’s a winner. He has been on some amazing high school cross country teams and was one of the top runners. He is amazing.”
Merritt is a two-time Dominion District Champion in the 3200-meter run, and was voted his team’s MVP after last season. In 2007-2008 he was also named to the All-District, All-Metro, All-Region, All-State, and All-South teams. In 2006 he led his team to a state championship and a #1 regional ranking.
“I think Mark can come in as a freshman and compete for one of the top spots,” Coach Aguero said. “He’s going to be good, and down the road he has the potential to compete for a spot on the All-America team; maybe not right off the bat but definitely before he leaves.”
The final addition to the 2008-2009 Aggie cross country squad is Luis Romero who graduated from Nimitz High School in May. He currently holds personal records of 17:30 in the 5-kilometer run, 10:20 in the 3200-meter run, and 4:40 in the 1600-meter run. While at NHS, Romero was a teammate of current Aggie runner Juan Ruiz.
“If Luis can come in and do the same thing that Juan did I would be very pleased,” Coach Aguero said. “Juan had amazing year, and Luis has the potential to do that same thing. He broke his ankle before last season and still helped out the team, but I don’t think he’s reached his full potential. I think he can do that here and I expect him to improve a ton.”
These three signings wraps up the recruiting class for the 2008-2009 Aggie cross country season.
“I’m really pleased with the roster,” Coach Aguero said. “By far this is the best team we’ve had in our program’s history. I really think we can compete well in not only the conference, but the region and the nation.”
Regular season action gets underway for the Aggie runners on September 6, when they head to Wichita Falls, Texas, to take part in the Mustang Relays hosted by Midwestern State University.
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