CLAREMORE, Okla. – The Rogers State women's cross country and track & field team and head coach
Matt Kennedy have announced the signee class ahead of the 2020-21 season.
The class, which is the first for Kennedy since taking over the program in December, features 10 newcomers, all freshmen, coming from the state of Oklahoma and Arkansas.
Victoria Baker
Baker will join the Hillcats from Sand Springs, having competed at Charles Page High School where she was a 2019 regional cross country qualifier and 2019 regional track qualifier. On the cross country course, Baker was consistently one of the top two runners for the Sandites in the 3200-meter and 5k events. In track & field, Baker primarily competing in the 800 and 1600-meter races in track. Academically, Baker graduated with honors from Charles Page.
Madison Bradshaw
Bradshaw, a two-time Oklahoma State Cross Country Championships qualifier will be coming to College Hill from Pryor and Pryor High School. Bradshaw was the lead runner for the Tigers this season, finishing in the top 10 in every race during the regular season along with a 14
th at the regional and a 16
th at the 5A state championship meet. Bradshaw was also a star basketball player at Pryor, being named the VYPE Athlete of the Month in February. She also played soccer at Pryor, was a member of the choir and served as a coordinator for the backpack program for Pryor's Elementary Schools.
Aubrey Campos
Campos is the only Hillcat signee coming from outside the state of Oklahoma, as she joins the Navy and Red from Fayetteville, Arkansas and Greenland High School. Campos comes to RSU after a highly decorated career with the Lady Pirates, including an outdoor state championship in the 1600-meter in 2019. She also had a runner-up finish in 2019 at the outdoor state championships in the 800 and finished as runner-up in both events in 2018. In February, Campos claimed the indoor state championship in the 1600. She also has a third and a fourth in the indoor state championships in 2018 in the 1600 and 3200, respectively. Campos also played for the women's basketball team at Greenland.
Sara Crosley
Crosley, a three-time 5A Cross Country All-State honoree, will join the Hillcats from nearby Broken Arrow and Bishop Kelley High School. Routinely a top-three runner for one of the top programs in the state, Crosley has finished in the top 10 in each of the last three state championship meets, including a personal best fifth as a senior. Crosley broke the sub-20 mark with a 19:54.3 in the 5k earlier this season at the Southern Stampede in Joplin, a course the Hillcats run every year within the MIAA. She was named to the Tulsa Area All-VYPE team in 2019. On the track, Crosley is also a four-time qualifier for the state championships in the 800 and 1600-meter events. She has finished fifth twice in the 1600-meter, including a personal best 5:34.41 in 2019. Her sister, Tess, also competes at the collegiate level, running for the University of Evansville.
Elena Fries
Fries, a native of Bartlesville, will join the Hillcats after wrapping up her prep career at Bartlesville High School, which included qualifying for the cross country state championships three times. Fries is coming off a senior season that included four top-five finishes, including a second-place finish at the Claremore Invitational where she edged out fellow Hillcat signee Madison Bradshaw before posting a fifth-place finish and season-best time of 19:59.29 at the Frontier Valley Conference Meet. Fries also has run at the Southern Stampede in recent years, including posting a time of 20:25.7 as a senior. In track, Fries was a state qualifier in the 3200-meter run as a junior, running a personal best 12:02.81. She started 2020 with a win by over 15 seconds in the event at the Santa Fe Invitational before the year was shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic. Fries was also the recipient of VYPE Oklahoma's Character Counts Award in June.
Brya Nyberg
Nyberg comes to College Hill after a decorated career at Seiling High School, which included a pair of podium finishes at the state championships meet in 2019. Nyberg took the bronze medal in the 400 and 800-meter races during the outdoor track season in 2019. Despite not having a full outdoor season in 2020, Nyberg was voted to the 2020 All-State team for class A since the championship meet wasn't run due to the coronavirus pandemic closing the curtain on the season early. The Seiling, Oklahoma native also qualified for the state tournament as part of the 800-meter relay team. Nyberg also racked up some hardware on the hardwood during her time with the Wildcats, as she was named the Region Athlete of the Year as a senior in basketball, averaging 17.3 points per game. She was also named to the Class A West all-state team in basketball and also received the Character Counts Award from VYPE Oklahoma.
Elizabeth Ostermaier
Ostermaier will join the Navy and Red in Claremore from Enid, where she competed in cross country, track and swimming for Enid High School. On the cross country course, Ostermaier was a three-time state championship qualifier at the 6A level and was consistently a top runner for the Pacers. In track & field, Ostermaier competed primarily in the 1600 and 3200-meter events but also ran the 800 for Enid and holds some of the time times in recent program history. Ostermaier was also a four-time state championship qualifier for Enid in the pool, qualifying in the 50 and 100-yard freestyle events in 2019 and 2020. Ostermaier was also named an NISCA Academic All-American for swimming as a senior.
Ashley Riggenbach
Riggenbach comes to College Hill from Bixby, Oklahoma and Bixby High School where she was a state championship qualifier across three different sports, including a four-time cross country championship qualifier. She set a personal best finish at the state championships as a senior, finishing 19
th overall with a season best time of 19:52.0. Riggenbach has broken the sub-20 mark three times in her prep career. She was named to the Tulsa Area All-VYPE team in 2019. In track, Riggenbach qualified for the state championships in the 3200-meter event, placing ninth overall. She also competed in the 1600 and 800-meter events during her prep career. The former Spartan also qualified for a combined 11 state championship events in the pool between the OSSAA, Oklahoma Swimming Short Course and Oklahoma Swimming Long Course championships, including fourth overall in the 800-freestyle during the 2018 long course championships.
Rylee Roberts
Roberts will join the Hillcats after the Noble, Oklahoma native wrapped up her prep career at Noble High School, which included a state championship appearance in cross country in 2019. Roberts competed in track & field prior to her senior season, but made her debut in cross country as a senior and reached the 5A state championship meet. Roberts ran in the 400, 800 and 300-meter hurdles for the Bears and holds top 10 times in all three events in program history. Away from competition, Roberts is a Girl Scouts Gold Award winner.
Tori Wood
Wood, a Claremore native, will join the Hillcats after wrapping up a stellar prep career at Claremore Sequoyah High School. Wood qualified for the cross country state championships all four seasons and also qualified for the track & field state championships a total of 12 times in the 800, 16000, and 3200-meter events. A 2019 graduate, Wood is the only signee who won't be a true freshman this season, as she attended the University of Tulsa last season but did not compete in athletics. While at Sequoyah, Wood was named the Area Athlete of the Month for September 2018 by VYPE Oklahoma. Wood was a dominant runner in the 3200-meter event, finish as high as second and never worse than fifth in the event in four years at the state championships. However, she finished in the top 12 in every appearance at the state championships across all events, including eight top five finishes. In cross country, she also never finished worse than 12
th at the state championships, including a best finish of fifth. Wood was also a leader in the classroom, as she was named a recipient of the 2019 Academic All-State Award by the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence.
For the latest information on the Rogers State Women's Cross Country and Track & Field programs, as well as all RSU athletic programs, be sure to visit rsuhillcats.com or @RSUhillcats on social media.
