May 25, 2006
The defending Big 12 Champion Texas A&M soccer team?â„¢s 2006 recruiting class has been named the best in the league by Soccer Buzz Magazine, editors of the publication announced this week.
The Aggies welcome four freshman; goalkeeper Kristin Arnold (Centennial, Colo.), defender/midfielder Amber Gnatzig (Humble, Texas), forward Whitney Hooper (Houston, Texas) and defender Nicole Ketchum (Cypress, Texas) to an already highly talented roster which repeated last season as the Big 12 Regular Season and Tournament Champions and made its 11th consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Texans, Gnatzig and Hooper are both Top 50 recruits who have been in the US Youth National team pools for years. Each earned Youth All-America honors more than once and will be joined by their Challenge club teammate, Ketchum, who is a Region 3 Team member. An all-state prepster, Arnold led Real Colorado to a club state title and also played on the Colorado ODP State Team.
The soccer team will begin the 2006 season at 7 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 13 when it hosts the Rice Owls at the Aggie Soccer Stadium. Check AggieAthletics.com for the most up-to-date schedule information.
Soccer Buzz Recruit Rankings- Big 12
1. Texas A&M
2. Iowa State
3. Oklahoma State
4. Missouri
5. Kansas
6. Texas Tech
7. Baylor
8. Nebraska
9. Colorado
10. Oklahoma
11. Texas