CHICO – Chico State women’s track and field Head Coach Oliver Hanf, fresh off a California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) championship and the No. 18 ranking in the nation, has not wasted any time in replenishing his roster for next spring. The reigning CCAA Coach of the Year stayed fairly close to home in selecting his latest batch of recruits, as Chico High School’s Kasey Barnett, Daniella Dumitras of Live Oak High and Davis High’s Kaitlin Clancy have each signed their National Letter of Intent to compete for the Wildcats in 2011.
Interestingly, all three athletes have Chico State connections. Barnett and Dumitras were coached by former Wildcat track and field athletes, while Clancy’s parents are both Chico State alums.
Hanf is anxious to see how his new recruits will contribute to the Wildcats’ fortunes. “We get a real boost in our field events with these three young ladies,” he said. “They each have impressive high school credentials that should translate into productive collegiate careers. The fact that they all have strong ties to Chico State only adds a positive element to our ‘family’ tradition.”
Barnett, who will receive the Burton Feingold Memorial scholarship, was a four-year standout for the Panthers, chalking up Eastern Athletic League championships in the long jump, triple jump, 100-meter dash and 4x100 relay. Barnett owns Division I Northern Section championships in the long jump, triple jump and 100-meter dash; reached the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) State qualifier in all three events, and competed in the long jump at the CIF State Championships four consecutive years.
“Kasey possesses an unbelievable competitive nature,” Hanf said. “Her desire to excel was quite apparent to me the moment I met her. She also always did her best in the biggest meets. To have qualified for the state meet in all four years is quite an achievement.”
During her Chico High career, Barnett posted PR’s of 17-foot-4.50 in the long jump, 36-feet-5.50 in the triple jump and 12.74 seconds in the 100-meter dash. She was coached by Kristi (White) Stanley, a Chico State alum who is ranked on the school’s all-time top 10 list in both the high jump (5’5) and long jump (18’4”).
This past spring at the Northern Section CIF Track and Field finals, Barnett won the Robert F. Russell award for best female competitor with first place finishes in the long jump (16-feet-06.75), triple jump (36-feet-1.75) and 100-meter dash (12.96 seconds), as well as contributing to a third place finish in the 4x100 relay. Barnett was also honored by the Chico State Hall of Fame as Chico High’s top female senior athlete.
Hanf plans to introduce Barnett to the pole vault this spring, an event Chico High does not offer. “She has such a nice combination of speed, strength, jumping ability and body control,” Hanf said. “The pole vault is a natural event for her.” Not surprisingly, Barnett is also a star gymnast for Athletic Horizons in Chico.
Dumitras emerged as the top high jumper in the Northern Section during her senior year. After averaging 4-feet-10 as a junior, Dumitras opened her 2010 senior season by clearing 5-feet-2 in her first two meets, eventually winning nine of the 12 meets she competed in. She posted a PR jump of 5-feet-5 to win the Sacramento Valley League North meet, then cleared 5-foot-4 two weeks in a row to take top honors in the CIF Northern Section finals and earn the Northern Section Master’s crown en route to qualifing for the State championships. Dumitras’s coach is Chico State alum Greg Sanchez.
Clancy was the team captain of a strong Davis High School squad that won the Delta Valley Conference (DVC) league meet three consecutive years. Specializing in the high jump and triple jump, Clancy holds the Davis High school record in the triple jump (37-feet-03) and qualified for the CIF State championships in the high jump with a PR leap of 5-foot-3 in 2009, and was honored as Davis High’s Most Valuable female track athlete that year. This past spring, Clancy took home the DVC meet championship with a 36-feet-1.5 leap in the triple jump.
“I’m really excited to add two young high jumpers of Daniella and Kaitlin’s talents,” Hanf said. The CCAA champion in that event the past four years (UC San Diego’s Linda Rainwater) has graduated, and our own Julianne Conrad will be a senior next year; she placed second at conference and ninth at the national championships. We have a history of scoring lots of points in the high jump, and with our new additions I have a feeling we will do just fine in that event for the next four years.”
