ATLANTA -- Georgia State cross country head coach Chris England announced the official signing of a class of five newcomers for the 2011 season. The class includes three male and two female runners.
Two of the three male runners come from Belgium, the third is from the Atlanta area. The women's signees come from Virginia and Ohio.
The three male recruits (alphabetical):
Austin Boetje - One of the top prep runners in the state of Georgia, Boetje excelled for Mill Creek High in Lawrenceville. At the 2010 state meet, Boetje finished a third of 225 runners behind only Alec Klassen (Duke recruit) and underclassman Josh Brickell. In track in the spring, he earned second place in the 3200-meter race and fourth place in the 1600 meters at the state championships. Boetje set the Mill Creek school records in cross country (15:37), in the 1600m (4:23) and the 3200m (9:210). Austin is the son of Mike and Lisa Boetje and was coached in high school by Andy Christie.
Pierre Brogniet - Brogniet will enroll at GSU after being runner-up in the Belgium Junior Cross Country Championships last year. The Renlies, Belgium, runner competed for College Saint-Joseph E.S.M.
Valentin Poncelet - A transfer after one year at American International College in South Easton, Mass., Poncelet will have three years to compete at Georgia State. This past year he was the Northeast-10 Conference Rookie of the Year after running 25:06 at the conference championship meet. The spring, Poncelet ran a 14:56 in the 5000m at the Penn Relays and a 32:30 in the 10,000m at the Northeast-10 conference championship. He is the son of Nicolas and Beatrice De Schriyver and comes from Lillois, Belgium.
Georgia State returns six letterwinners from last year's team.
The two female recruits (alphabetical):
Sarah McCarthy - A stellar runner in the metro Washington, D.C. area, McCarthy was the Virginia Independent School state champion in both the 3200m and 1600m events and was the runner-up at the VIS state cross country championship. She was a six-time All-State honoree competing at Bishop O'Connell High in Arlington, Va. She clocked 10:46 in the 3200m race and a personal best 18:18 in the 5k cross country meet. McCarthy is the daughter of Doug and Mary Jo McCarthy and moved with her family to Virginia from their native Canada. She was coached by Cindy Walls.
Hannah Stefanoff - A talented distance runner from Columbus, Ohio, Stefanoff was third last year in the Ohio cross country state championship and fifth in the 3200m race at the state track championships. Her previous year as a junior, she was fifth in cross country and second in track in the state championship events. Her best cross country time for Grandview Heights High was 18:09. She is the daughter of James and Monica Stefanoff. She was coached by Brian Schoch and Jon Wilhelm.
The Georgia State women's cross country team returns nine letterwinners from last season.
Cross Country competition begins on Saturday, September 3 at a UGA meet in Bishop, Ga. Georgia State will play host to a regular season meet on Sept. 17 on the Panthers' home course at Nash Battlefield in Hampton and then play host to the CAA Championship Meet on Oct. 29 at that site.
