April 15, 2005

West Texas A&M University head women's cross country coach Kimberly Dudley has announced the first four signings of the 2005 recruiting class today (April 15). All four are from Texas, as Amy Garcia and Ruby Crox hail from Hereford, while Kallie Gerstberger joins the team from Muenster and Belinda Castanon is from El Paso.

Garcia and Crox are transferring to WTAMU from South Plains College were they spent two seasons competing in cross country leading South Plains to a second place finish at Nationals. Both girls also received All-American and Academic All-American accolades.

Gerstberger will join the team from Muenster High School where she was a four-year district and regional qualifier. Gerstberger was named District Cross Country MVP, All Area Cross Country MVP and was named to the All-State Team her junior year, while receiving All Area Cross Country Team honors her senior season. Gerstberger was also a four-year letterwinner in Basketball and Track.

Castanon joins the Lady Buffs from El Paso Del Valle High School, where she was third in District 2-4A, helping the Conquistadores to the district and regional titles. She earned All-District honors all four years in cross country, helping Del Valle to the 2003 state championship and were state runners-up in 2004. Castanon also earned Academic All-District accolades in both cross country and track.

The Lady Buffs took eighth-place at the Lone Star Conference Championships while freshman Jisel Bailon finished the race in seventh-place, qualifying for a Regional birth. Bailon finished 47th at NCAA-II South Central Regional Championships.

-WT-