CHICO, Calif. – Chico State cross country coach Gary Towne believes the future is bright for his women’s program. Monday, he announced a four-woman recruiting class that can only strengthen that belief. University of Washington transfer Tori Tyler, a former Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, and talented true freshmen Amy Schnittger of Aptos High School, Jonah Weeks of Davis High School, and Samantha Reardon of Modesto’s Beyer High School, will join the squad that finished fourth in the nation last season for the third time in five years.
“We’re extremely excited about the group of young women coming into the program this year. On the heels of what was our best recruiting year ever (last year), I feel that we’re very well set up for success in the coming years,” said Towne. “These four athletes have shown the potential to do some amazing things at this level. The future looks bright for our women’s program.”
Tyler joins the Wildcats after two standout years with the University of Washington. She was the Pac-10 Newcomer of the Year as a freshman and earned All-Pac-10 and All-West Region honors. She led the Huskies in three of their five races and finished second in the other two. On the track, she finished 10th in the Pac-10 in the 10,000 meters and 15th in the 5K. She redshirted on the track last season and only competed in a pair of cross country events, finishing 23rd at the Sundodger Invitational and 39th at the Dellinger Invitational. Tyler was the California State 3,200-meter champion as a senior at Gunn High School in Palo Alto. She also competed in the prestigious Foot Locker cross country National Championships.
Schnittger joins the Wildcats after establishing herself as one of the top distance runners in the Central Coast Section in both cross country and track. She capped her senior cross country season by placing 12th at the Division III California State Cross Country Championships with a time of 18:48. On the track, Schnittger has posted a personal best of 11:00 in the 3,200-meters.
Weeks will make the short move north to Chico in the fall after a wonderful prep running career at Davis High School. Last fall she clocked an 18:40 on the Woodward Park course in Fresno. She also ran an impressive 11:01 3,200-meters in her heat of the highly competitive Arcadia Invitational. Weeks’ high school coach is Chico native Bill Gregg.
Reardon has some solid cross country credentials of her own. During her senior cross country season she crossed the Mount San Antonio College course finish line in 19:13 and went on to finish 12th overall at the Sac Joaquin Section Championships to cap her prep career. Reardon continued her cross country season into the late fall while competing for the Buffalo Babes cross country club at the Junior Olympics in Kansas.
