BUFFALO, NY - University at Buffalo head cross country and women's track and field coach Vicki Mitchell and head men's track and field coach Perry Jenkins have announced their 2005 recruiting class consisting of 12 student-athletes who will join the Bulls in the fall to continue their athletic and academic careers.

On the women's side, three middle and distance runners have signed with the cross country and track and field squads. They are Jessica O'Neill (Skaneateles, NY/Skaneateles), Mary Veith (Derby, NY/Lake Shore) and Jessica Schultz (Rochester, NY/Eastridge).

O'Neill has personal bests of 4:44.81 in the 1500-meters and 10:24 in the 3000-meters and a 5k cross country top time of 18:20. She will be a strong addition to the cross country squad and in the distance events in track. O'Neill also excels academically and is a member of the National Honor Society. Veith specializes in the 800-meters and 1,500-meters (personal best of 4:44.45) and also has a solid background in cross country training.

"I am very excited to have such a talented and highly-motivated individual like Jessica O'Neill to add to my distance team," said Mitchell. "She is dedicated to her athletics and will be a lot of fun to coach. Mary Veith will be a great addition to our team. She is hard-working and has a lot of talent. Jessica Schultz will add depth to the cross country squad as well as the track and field middle distance team."

Also signing with the women's track and field team is Caitlin Godin (Rochester, NY/Greece Arcadia), Heather Jaroszynski (Falconer, NY/Falconer), Lisa Romano (Eden, NY/Eden) and Desiree Rudloff (West Falls, NY/East Aurora).

Godin was the runner up in the 2005 New York State Indoor High Jump competition (5-7) and is a member of the National Honor Society. UB jumps coach Jim Garnham Jr. said he is "very excited to get a jumper like Caitlin who has great jumping ability as well as great academic success."

Jaroszynski comes to UB as a combined event athlete. She scored 2,974 points in the pentathlon in 2004, ran 15.69 in the 100-meter hurdles and has high jumped 5-4. According to Garnham, "Heather will join one of the most dominating combined events programs in the MAC. I am looking forward to working with her next season."

Romano will be joining the UB sprint squad. She was the 2004 outdoor New York State Champion in both the 100-meters and 200-meters. Rudloff, meanwhile, recently won the 2005 Section VI State Championship title in the 400-meter hurdles (1:03.66). Her personal best in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles is 62.95. Mitchell expects both Romano and Rudloff to be great additions to the team.

The men's cross country and track and field teams will welcome distance runner Dan Healy (West Seneca, NY/West Seneca West), sprinter Robin McRae (Clifton Park, NY/Shenedehowa), pole vaulter Ryan Gregory (Clifton Park, NY/Shenedehowa) and throwers Jake Madonia (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) and Alexandros Stamatakis (Hania-Crete, Greece/First Technical High School).

Healy has developed into an excellent high school miler and steeple chaser under his coach at West Seneca West, former UB runner Rick Stewart. He is expected to continue to improve on the track as a steeple chaser as well as be a solid contributor to the cross country team.

McRae has great speed with personal bests of 48.75 in the indoor 400-meters and 54.40 in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles. Gregory, McRae's teammate at Shenedehowa, is an accomplished pole vaulter with an indoor best of 15-3. He earned All-America honors this past indoor season, finishing third at the Indoor National Scholastic Meet in New York City.

Madonia is also an indoor All-American in the shot put (54-1.75). He finished fourth at the New York State Indoor Championships with a throw of 53-6. Madonia is also ranked second in the state in the discus (176-8).

Stamatakis, an international student-athlete from Greece, will be primarily a discus thrower. He has thrown 156-6 with the 2k discus and 180-0 with the 1.75k international discus. Along with Madiona, Stamatakis will bring more depth to UB's men's throwing corps.

We are very excited about the incoming freshman class," Mitchell summed up. "They bring a background of diversity to our team and will have a very positive impact on our performances."