Note: This article was updated on Friday, June 12th to include two more CUI commitments

IRVINE, Calif. - The Concordia University Irvine track and field teams are excited to announce the incoming class of 2024 which includes a combined 34 new student-athletes.  The list features 20 newcomers joining the women's squad while 14 men will don the Green and Gold. 
 
In addition, this class comes from ten different states, including Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Colorado, and will also welcome a new Eagle coming all the way from New Zealand. Half the class of student-athletes hail from the state of California. 

"This year's recruiting class is an incredibly special one," said CUI track & field/cross country head coach Keegan Bloomfield. "We have more geographic diversity than ever before, 10 states, and an international student-athlete!  It's a testament to our Concordia community and what God is doing through CUI.  I feel incredibly blessed to have such a great group of student-athletes joining our program from all over the country and world."
 
On the men's side, eight distance runners join the Green and Gold. This includes Joshua King who comes from the Ocean View High School pipeline to join former teammates Hector Arteaga, David Brito, Jason St. Pierre and Adriana Gil at CUI. California High School graduate Fernando Aguirre will get to toe the starting line with his older brother, CUI senior Angel Aguirre, while Joshua Scheetz comes to the Eagles as a transfer from Concordia Portland.  Nevada natives Vincent Thomson and Bryce Tondryk will look to make an impact along with local products David Berardi, Nick Beucler, and Ethan Stinnett. 
 
The Eagles also have exciting additions joining a strong foundation of CUI sprinters.  El Modena product Jason Islas and Jaedyn Oliver of Etiwanda High School enter the mix from California along with three out-of-state products. New Jersey native Quincy Jones and Malakai Dotstry of Arizona will both compete in jumps and sprints, and are joined by Washington state speedster Chinedu Acholonu and Colorado jumper A.J. Adams. 

"Our coaching staff is excited about this group on the men's side," said Bloomfield. "I think we have one of our best top-to-bottom recruiting classes.  We're bringing in a great group of men's sprinters and jumpers that will immediately make an impact.  Overall the men's recruiting class will come in and compete at the top of our team scoring points at the conference level."

For the women's team, USTFCCCA All-American Paige Johnson will look to blaze her legacy at Concordia along with Jayla Powell in both the sprints and jumps.  Johnson qualified for the NCAA National Indoor Championships in both the 60m hurdles and the 60m race just a few months.  Haley Chang and Logan Nelson both join the sprinters from the state of Washington, while Maria Sartin comes to Southern California from New Zealand.  Sartin and Oregon native Sarah Quinlan will look to rack up points for the Eagles in the hurdles as well. Sprinter and Rosary High School alum Kylie Dunkleberger is also staying in SoCal and comes to Irvine from Simi Valley.
 
Johnson and thrower Sarah Fajer are both transfers from Concordia Portland, just like Joshua Scheetz.  Fajer will be reunited with her twin sister, Katie, who is also a member of the Eagles squad.

"Another really special piece to this recruiting class is the chance for us to give three Concordia Cavaliers a chance to continue to compete at a Concordia," said Bloomfield.  "Paige, Sarah, and Josh are going to make impacts right away.  They're all capable of the conference and national marks.  They're a testament to what Coach Jerret Mantalas and Coach Branko built (in Portland).  I'm excited that they've chosen CUI as their new home and can't wait to see what they do in the Green and Gold."

Newcomers Khaiaya Simpson and Tatiana Sosnovsky will also work with the Fajer sisters as throwers.  Meanwhile, Emma Jones of California and Keziah Glidden of Idaho will look to climb to new heights in the pole vault. 
 
The California quartet of Naliyah Bailey, Maddie Jahshan, Hayley Killion and Kelli Vierra will do double duty for CUI by running cross-country in the fall and distance in the spring.  Joining them to round out the talented distance group of incoming freshmen are Angelique Antonini of Pennsylvania, Porshe Eismann of Nevada, Alexis Hecker of Arizona and Kylee Smith of Hawai'i.

"For the women's team, this class keeps strengthening us in all areas," added Bloomfield. "We have every event group represented.  The young women we're bringing in are all competitive, athletic, and driven on the track and field and in the classroom.  I think we were able to fill some critical spots for our women's team to continue to succeed."

Despite competing in only one outdoor meet before the COVID-19 outbreak canceled the remainder of the 2020 spring season, the Eagles are coming off a strong indoor track and field campaign and look to reach new heights in 2020-21. The previous spring, the CUI men's track and field team earned third place at the PacWest Conference Championships, which was the program's highest finish since moving up to the NCAA DII level.  The CUI women's squad also finished in the top four. Tamia Prince qualified for NCAA Nationals in three different events, where she ultimately earned Second Team All-American honors by finishing in the top 12 in both the 200 meter dash and the 100 meter hurdles. Prince also was invited to the 2020 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships but was unable to compete when the event was canceled due to COVID-19.

Both CUI cross-country teams had historic performances last fall and finished in fourth place at the PacWest Conference Championships. Those finishes were the highest in program history in the NCAA DII era and included ground-breaking performances by three seniors on the women's side who made the All-Conference Team. The Eagles were recently featured as No. 12 in our Top 20 for '20 series that reflects back on 20 of the most memorable moments for CUI Athletics during the 2019-20 school year.

Be sure to follow the Eagles throughout the season on both Twitter (@cuitfxc) and Instagram (@cuitfxc) and on the main CUI Athletics account for both social media platforms as well (@cuieagles and @cuieagles).