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Published: Thursday, July 2, 2009 12:22 a.m. MDT

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SOUTHERN UTAH

Track and field head coach Eric Houle announced the signing on 15 student-athletes to the cross country and track & field programs, including local Cedar City product Shaye Maurer.

"This is a great group of athletes joining our program," Houle said of the signings. "We feel that everyone in this group could be a program changer for us and help us continue to improve as a team."

On the women's side, the seven signees include four state champions, a state record holder and five in-state products. Headlining the group is Cedar High School's Maurer, a state-record holder in the 200-meters (24.78) and state champion in the 200m, 100m hurdles, 300m hurdles and long jump. Maurer is currently ranked first in the nation in the heptathlon after accumulating 4963 points in the event at the Great Southwest Track and Field Classic in Albuquerque, N.M.

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Also in the mix will be Dayna VanArsdol (Grand County HS) and Jessica Leonhardt (Bear Lake HS (ID)) who each captured state championships in cross country. Shelli Richardson (Millard HS) finished second to VanArsdol at the state cross country championships, but captured state titles in the 1,600-meters and 3,200-meters during the track & field season.

Whitney Curtis (Mountain Crest HS; eighth-place at the 4A state cross country meet), Sarena Ostberg (Kearns HS; fourth-place in the women's 800-meters at state) and Theah Smith (Otero JC; 3A state runner-up in the women's 300-meter hurdles in 2007) round out the women's signings.

The men are equally impressive with three state champions and six recruits from the state of Utah. The list of state champions include Chris Chischilly (Page HS) who claimed the Arizona 4A state championship title in the men's shot put with a distance of 55 feet four inches, a mark that would have ranked first on the team this year. Donovan Lewis (Durango HS) claimed the Nevada 4A state championship title in the men's 300-meter hurdles, while Snow Canyon HS product Hayden Hawks will make the short trip north on I-15 and bring 4A state championships in the men's 1,600- and 3,200-meters.