The track and field program signed six student-athletes to National Letters of Intent in the November signing period. The Horned Frogs welcomed Remington Crossnoe, Rainey Anderson, Blake Hennesay and Glenn Bender to the men’s squad and Kiana Banks and Mariah Castillo to the women’s team.

“On the men’s side, we wanted to add hurdlers,” director of track and field Darryl Anderson said. “We feel we have a great hurdles coach in Kevin Henderson, and we haven’t had a male hurdler since Lavon Collins and Jordan Moore.”

Remington (Cole) Crossnoe 

Remington Crossnoe is a Bushland High School product from Lubbock, Texas, who competes in the 110 and 300-meter hurdles. His junior year, Crossnoe was named Track Athlete of the Year by Amarillo Globe News, won the 300-meter hurdles Texas 4A State Championship title and won the 110-meter hurdles race at the Texas Relays. His personal bests include times of 14.04 and 37.35 in the 110 and 300-meter hurdles.

“We added Cole, a Texas State Champion, who has great size,” said Anderson. “We feel that he can do really well for us.”

Rainey Anderson

Rainey Anderson is a hurdler from Westlake High School in Atlanta. His junior year, Anderson helped lead his team to a State Championship by placing second in the 110-meter hurdles. Anderson’s personal bests include times of 13.68 and 37.84 in the 110 and 300-meter hurdles race.

“We wanted to get male hurdlers that can compete at the conference and NCAA level,” said Anderson. “Rainey, a Georgia kid, ran a 13.68 100 as a sophomore, and ran a 13.92 last year when he was injured. He runs a 37.84 in 300 hurdles as well.”

Blake Hennesay

Blake Hennesay is a sprinter and hurdler out of Santa Margarita High School in Rancho Santa Margarita, California. Hennesay began running the 300-meter hurdles last season where he became the state championship finalist with a time of 36.95.  He was also a state championship finalist in the 100-meter race and has a personal best time of 10.54.

“Blake is unique in that he does the 300 hurdles and 100,” said Anderson. “He’s made it to the California state final in both events and will be a guy who can do a lot of different things for us.”

Glenn Bender

Glenn Bender is a sprinter out of Allen High School in Allen, Texas. Bender competed in the 4X100 relay at the Texas State meet, helping lead his team to a fifth place finish. Bender is also an All-American, he competed in the 2017 USATF National Junior Olympic Championships in the 4X400, 4X100, 400-meter race and 200-meter race where he placed first, sixth, fourth and second. At the Texas Meet of Champions, Bender set a personal best in the 200-meter race with a time of 21.27. He has also run a personal best of 47.22 in the 400-meter race.

“We really have evaluated him highly and we feel like he can come in and be really good,” said Anderson. “We anticipate that he’s going to have a great senior year.”

Kiana Banks

Kiana Banks is a sprinter out of Spalding High School in Atlanta. During her junior year, Banks ran her personal best in both the 400 and 200-meter race. She won the 400-meter Georgia State title with a time of 52.23 and ran her personal best in the 200-meter race with a time of 24.39.

“Kiana, a state champion out of Georgia, is a quarter-miler with good foot speed and great size,” said Anderson. “We feel she can develop into a conference and national level competitor.”

Mariah Castillo 

Mariah Castillo is a distance runner out of Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, Calif. She has been successful in both track and field and cross country. Her senior year, Castillo won her conference cross country title with a time of 16:56.9. In regard to track and field, Castillo runs the 800-meter, mile, and 3200-meter races with personal best times of 2:14.31, 4:52.88 and 10:36.79.

“Mariah is a distance girl with good foot speed and can run the 800 and up,” said Anderson. “We feel that she will come in and help us immediately and be able to develop into a conference and national level competitor between the mile and the 5K.”

Overall

All five student-athletes signed to the 2018 class have experience competing with high levels of competition, and this is a significant factor that coach Anderson takes into consideration when evaluating athletes.

“One of the things we think about when we evaluate kids is what level of competition have they been in,” said Anderson. “All of these kids have competed at the highest level. You talk about the state meets in Georgia, Texas and California, and those are three of the best track states in the country.”