The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Sategna adds Crouser, Tjernagel to 2015 signing class
05.12.2015 | Track & Field / Cross Country
Thrower, sprinter add strong depth to event areas
AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Track and Field Head Coach Mario Sategna announced the signing of two more recruits to his 2015 class on Tuesday afternoon.
Raquel Tjernagel and Haley Crouser both signed National Letters of Intent this week to become members of the track and field team this fall.
Crouser will transfer to Texas from Oregon where she posted a personal best mark of 50.12 meters (164-5) in the javelin last year during her freshman season. She qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds last season as well and won her only outdoor meet this season. She will be eligible immediately for the Longhorns and have two years of eligibility remaining.
Crouser comes to Texas with a long history of success in her family. Her brother Sam is the defending NCAA men's javelin champion and is a senior at Oregon. Her father Dean coached her and Sam in high school and was a two-time NCAA champion himself at Oregon. Three-time NCAA shot put champion and Texas senior Ryan Crouser also is Haley's cousin.
As a junior in high school Haley Crouser set the national high school record in the javelin.
Tjernagel, a Canadian, signs with Texas and will be a freshman this fall. Last summer, she finished 12th in the 200 meters at the IAAF World Junior Championships with a time of 23.90 seconds. She ran 23.75 in the prelims to set a new British Columbia record.
A senior at New Westminster Secondary, Tjernagel runs for the Coquitlam Cheetahs. In April she competed at the Brian Clay Invitational and ran 52.52 in the 400 meters. That time is the fastest in the world this season by a female under 20 and would rank her No. 17 in the NCAA right now. She also improved on her 200 meter time at the same meet, running 23.34 seconds. Tjernagel then ran 11.58 seconds in the 100 meters the next day at the Long Beach State Invitational.
According to her coach, Tjernagle's times in the 200 and 400 are Canadian high school records.
"The addition of these two young ladies to our 2015 signing class is huge for us," Sategna said. "Haley Crouser comes from a great pedigree of throwers and will add depth to our throws group that will make significant contributions at the conference and national level. Raquel is a phenomenal, record-setting sprinter from Canada and will add even more depth to our women's sprints group, which has long been a storied tradition here at Texas."
Sategna and his staff signed 20 recruits to NLI's during the fall signing period. Crouser and Tjernagel join the 11 women's signees that included four who were ranked No. 1 in their respective events already.
Players Mentioned
