Six sign for Vanguard

Vanguard men’s and women’s cross country coach Bryan Wilkins will

begin his 17th year with the program this fall with six recruits.

According to the Vanguard athletic department, Wilkins recently

signed five new athletes to the women’s roster and one additional

runner to the men’s team, ranked as high as 15th in the NAIA last

year.

The loss of four strong runners from last year’s men’s team leaves

a large hole to fill, but Wilkins attracted a freshman from Spokane,

Wash., that he hopes will help strengthen the Lions immediately.

Travis Hartanov comes to Vanguard from Mount Spokane High, where

he ran cross country and track and field.

Hartanov served as team captain and won the Leadership Award for

his team while performing at an all-state level. His best 5K time is

15:37.

The Lion women are missing two from a team that placed fifth in

the Golden State Athletic Conference meet in 2003.

Leading the cast of newcomers are transfers Laura Bowman, Sara Ann

Medlen and Irma Gonzalez.

Bowman was a three-sport athlete at Dos Pueblos High before

running a season of cross country at Santa Barbara City College. She

has a personal-best time of 19:31.15 in the 5,000 meters.

Medlen, a Huntington Beach resident, transfers to Vanguard from

Orange Coast College and has a three-mile time of 19:20. Gonzales, a

transfer from Modesto College, was the Nor Cal Junior College Cross

Country champion in 2002 and 2003 and has a personal best of 18:39 in

the 5K as a junior.

Wilkins pads an already deep women’s roster with Amanda

Shingleton, a returning Vanguard student, and Allison Kunkel, an

incoming freshman. Shingleton, from North Carolina, has ran the 5K in

22:00.

Kunkel, from Arrowhead Christian Academy in Redlands, has ran

three miles in 21:00.

Vanguard begins its season at the Cal State Fullerton Invitational

Sept. 4.