Kennesaw, Ga. - The Kennesaw State track and field programs added six more signees to their 2016 class in the early signing period.  Runners Bonnie Mckinnon, Max Warner, and Will Hasse will join the Owls distance program in the fall of 2016. Dominique Martin and Aseneth Williams will join the team as a high jumpers.

 "80% of the student-athletes on our roster graduated high school in the state of Georgia, Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Andy Eggerth said.   None-the-less, we've modified our recruiting strategy to focus even more on Georgia student-athletes.  We worked hard last spring trying to get out to as many in-state high school meets as we could and I'm excited to announce five more early signees, all in-state."

Haase (Cumming, Ga. / Forsyth Central High School) will run cross country in the fall and the long distance track events in the spring. He was a member of the of the cross country team for four years and heads into his fourth year of track. He competed in 37 cross country meets in high school including three Region 7 AAAAA Championships and two state championship meets. He is a two time Most Valuable Performer of his cross country team.  He won the Region 7 AAAAA Championship meet in 16:30.17 and finished 11^th in the Class AAAAA state championship meet. As a junior he had four top 10 finishes in 10 events which helped earned him Second Team All-County honors from the Forsyth News. He led his team to back to back Region 7 AAAAA championship wins and a pair of top five finishes in the Class AAAAA state championship. In track he has competed in mostly in the 400m, 800m, 1600m and 3200m.

Warner  (Cumming, Ga. / Forsyth Central High School) will run cross country in the fall and the long distance track events in the spring for the Black and Gold. He was a member of the of the cross country team for four years and heads into his fourth year of track. He competed in 44 cross country meets in high school including four Region 7 AAAAA Championships and two state championship meets. He was the team captain of the cross country team for four seasons and will begin his fourth season as captain of the track team beginning in the spring of 2016. He led his team to back to back Region 7 AAAAA championship wins and a pair of top five finishes in the Class AAAAA state championship. He competed in the USATF Junior Olympics three times. In track he has competed all the way from the 400m to the 3200m.  He is also very strong academically as he is a member of both Spanish and Technical Honor Society and a Scholar-Athlete.

"Coach Poteet has done a great job bringing in Max and Will to begin rebuilding our distance program from the ground up with primarily in-state talent," Eggerth said.  "With only 5 guys on the XC roster this year and last minute plugging a mid-distance guy into his first 8k ever we were able to pull off a 5^th place finish at the A-Sun Championship.  Will and Max will make an immediate impact on our program.  Hopefully the other in-state talent will see the direction we're going and want to get in at the ground level." 

 McKinnon  (Cumming, Ga. / Forsyth Central High School) will run cross country in the fall and the long distance track events in the spring for the Black and Gold. She was a member of the of the cross country team for four years and heads into his fourth year of track. She competed in 39 cross country meets in high school including four Region 7 AAAAA Championships and two state championship meets which were the school's first two in their 60 year history. She was Forsyth Central's top finisher in every cross century race she ran in from 2012-15.   She finished third at the Region 7 AAAAA championship meet in 2015 in 19:55.99. In the nine races she ran in 2015 she finished inside the top 20 in all but two of them. She holds the school record in the 5k in 19:39.04 at the Warpath Invitational. She is strong academically as well. Is an AP Scholar and Honors student at Forsyth Central.

"Likewise on the women's side.  We've made our first push for Georgia girls, extending several offers.  Bonnie is a leader, able to see beyond only the money on the one hand, or the bling of fancy facilities on the other hand, to see the substance.  She believes in the way we're building the distance program, but far beyond that to what we're doing to build better people and not only graduate but actually help student-athletes get into their career."
 
Martin (Buford, Ga. / Buford HS) comes to Kennesaw State as a high jumper. She has participated in track for three years. She has a personal best jump in the high jump of 5-4 which came at the 2015 GHSA State Track and Field Championships in she finished fourth. As a sophomore, finished sixth in the state in high jump. Finished second at the region 5 AAAA meet as a sophomore and as a junior.

"The same could be said of Dominique; she's a great fit with the program coming for the right reasons," Eggerth said.  "Amongst our 3 girls and 2 guys that signed early we're getting a snowball effect going and looking forward to continual bigger and better things."
 
Williams (Decatur, Ga / Columbia HS) will compete in the jumps and sprints at KSU. She has competed in three years of track in high school. Is the school record holder in the triple jump with a jump of 36-5.5 at the GHSA Class AAAA regional meet and the long jump with a jump of 17-9 in the Atlanta Games Invitational. Named team MVP as a sophomore and junior. Runs the 100m, 200m, and 400m in the sprint events.

 "Aseneth has a great build and plenty of potential so long as she's willing to put in the work," Eggerth said.  "Her marks look modest, but that's why we got out there to see her compete and look past the numbers.  After putting in her time, I foresee a conference title in her future."

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