South African midfielder highlights recruiting class
The CMU field hockey team signed five student-athletes for the 2005 season Tuesday.
Forward Moyra Betuzzi (Kelowna, British Columbia), defender Allison Kist (St. Louis, Mo.), forward Kelly Jordan (Burt, Ny.), forward Amanda Lucik (Zionsville, Pa.) and midfielder Samantha Sandham (Cape Town, South Africa) signed with CMU.
“This is a talented class from top to bottom,” said coach Cristy Freese. “We’re excited to bring in new recruits.”
CMU is excited about Sandham.
“She’s an amazing player. This is the type of player we needed to compete with the University of Michigan, and teams with the caliber of Michigan State,” said assistant coach Earl Marais.
Sandham played on the South Africa Under-18 National secondary team and was a reserve for the primary team.
“We graduated five players, so we we’re really happy to fill our needs with this recruiting class,” Freese said.
Central graduates defensemen Michelle Fogle and Amy Kauffman, utility players Stasia Burroughs and Kristi Seufert, and forward Kristy Reed.
CMU finished third in the Mid-American Conference last season, losing in the first round of the conference tournament.
“Honestly, it was somewhat disappointing to finish the way we did,” Freese said. “Hopefully with the new student-athletes we’ve recruited, we can turn that around.”
Moyra Betuzzi won a provincial bronze medal as a forward at Mount Boucherie Secondary School in British Columbia.
Kist earned first-team all-conference, and all-metro honors, and was selected to play in the St. Louis senior game.
Jordan was selected as an all-state member, and was a first-team All-Western New York member in 2002 and 2003.
Lucik was a first-team academic all-state member in Pennsylvania for Emmaus High School.
“We wanted to bring in recruits with experience,” Marais said.
