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Soccer: 2013 Signing Class Headlined by Local StandoutsLAFAYETTE – The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns women’s soccer program and head coach Scot Wieland announced the addition of 13 student-athletes – five who hail from Louisiana – who have signed National Letters of Intent for the upcoming 2013 campaign.
The group includes two athletes who starred in Lafayette at nearby St. Thomas More High School – Eleanor Cook and Taylor Kennedy. Other Louisiana natives include Kim Grasso (Houma), Emily Segura (Baton Rouge) and Kassidy Zeringue (Lutcher). The Ragin’ Cajuns 2013 signing class also includes athletes from the states of California, Colorado, Texas and Michigan. “I am very excited about this signing class as it is very diverse and fills a lot of needs that we have going forward into next season,” Wieland mentioned. “This is also a big class as we graduate a big senior class this year and we also needed to address some deficiencies that we felt were very important going forward. “With the Sun Belt Conference going through some changes we really feel that it’s our time to make a significant mark and the depth of this team has the potential to do special things for our program,” Wieland added. “This group has players from all over the country and we feel that it’s full of athleticism, speed and experience at a high club level, both regionally and nationally.” Cook was recently recognized by the Louisiana High School Athletic Association as a member of the composite Academic All-State team. Cook maintained a 4.0 overall GPA each of the previous six semesters. She is coming off a senior season that produced all-district and is a reigning all-Acadiana selection. Kennedy, like Cook, garnered all-district honors in helping lead STM to the quarterfinal round of the LHSAA Division I playoffs. Kennedy was named Division I First Team All-District 3 on defense and is a member of the National Honor Society. Grasso served as team captain at Vandebilt Catholic High School this season, leading the Terriers to the No. 1 seed in the LHSAA Division II playoffs. VCHS has advanced to the semifinal playoff round where they seek the school’s fourth straight appearance in the championship match. An all-state performer in 2012, Grasso was recently named to the Division II All-District 8 first team on offense. Segura has been a three-time captain at Baton Rouge Magnet High School and four-time captain of the Baton Rouge Soccer Club. Segura served as the defensive anchor of a BRHS squad that landed veteran coach Sheila Achee her 400th career victory in the bi-district round of the LHSAA Division I playoffs on Feb. 3, advancing the Bulldogs to the regional round. Zeringue serves as captain at Lutcher High School and she was set to square off with fellow Cajuns signee Kim Grasso as LHS met Vandebilt Catholic in the Division II playoffs semifinal round on Feb. 15. Zeringue was recently named a Wendy’s Heisman Award finalist. She scored the match-winning goal in a 1-0 win by Lutcher over No. 4 seed Neville on Feb. 9. Also joining the Ragin’ Cajuns is Tory Diehl (Sugar Land, Texas/Clements HS), Olivia Frace (El Dorado Hills, Calif./Oak Ridge HS), MacKenzie Higgins (Commerce Township, Mich./Mercy HS), Yazmin Montoya (West Covina, Calif./Bishop Amat HS), Natalie Newman (Arlington, Texas/Arlington Martin HS), Christina Sanchez (Chino Hills, Calif./ Mt. San Antonio JC), Bailey Scott (Aledo, Texas/Aldeo HS) and Mary Walters (Denver, Colo./Valor Christian HS). “We will be faster next year and our overall depth technically will be much higher,” Wieland said. “We return a great core group of players that have a lot of experience and chemistry and it will be vital to our success next season that they lead this group.” MEET THE 2013 RAGIN’ CAJUNS WOMEN’S SOCCER SIGNEES
Eleanor Cook (5-6, Forward, Lafayette, La.) High School: St. Thomas More High School
Club: Cajun Soccer Club
Club: Space City Futbol Club
Olivia Frace (5-6, Defender, El Dorado Hills, Calif.)
Club: Cal Blues Soccer Club
Kim Grasso (5-3, Midfielder, Houma, La.)
Club: Chicago Fire
MacKenzie Higgins (5-2, Forward, Commerce Township, Mich.)
Club: Michigan Hawks Soccer Club ECNL
Taylor Kennedy (5-7, Midfielder, Lafayette, La.)
Club: Cajun Soccer Club
Yazmin Montoya (5-7, Midfielder, West Covina, Calif.)
Club: Legends FC
Natalie Newman (5-7, Midfielder, Arlington, Texas)
Club: Dallas Texans
Christina Sanchez (5-7, Defender, Chino Hills, Calif.)
Junior College: Mt. San Antonio Junior College
Club: Legends FC
Club: Dallas Sting Soccer Club
Club: Baton Rouge Soccer Club
Mary Walters (5-5, Midfielder, Denver, Colo.)
Club Team: Colorado United Soccer Club
Kassidy Zerinque (5-5, Forward, Lutcher, Louisiana)
Club: Baton Rouge Soccer Club Matt Hebert Cox Communications Athletics Center Office: (337) 482-6330
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