TAMPA - Head Coach Warren Bye and the University of South Florida track and field program announced their 2010 signing class today, highlighted by three state champions, including one two-time state title winner who ranks in the top 10 in the nation in the triple jump. In addition, three more recruits finished as runner-ups in their respective events at the state meets.

A total of 13 student-athletes will join the Bulls in the fall and add to a roster that will return a good nucleus of talent to the 2010-11 women's track and field team but will lose several key members from the men's team. The incoming recruits boast seven state championships combined during their high school days.

USF will add six members to next year's women's team, which brings back nearly every BIG EAST qualifier. Of USF's 36 different conference qualifying marks for the 2010 BIG EAST Outdoor Championships, 32 belong to athletes returning next season.

The men's team brings in seven new additions for the fall who will add depth to a team that will lose several key members following the completion of the 2010 season. Of the 27 BIG EAST qualifying marks in 2010 posted by the men's team, eight belong to student-athletes moving on in their careers.

Marqueshia Stallworth out of Seminole Ridge High School will arrive in Tampa after capturing back-to-back state triple jump titles. The Loxahatchee, Fla., native had the best jump in the state after winning the 4A title with a leap of 40-9, a distance that would have won the BIG EAST title in 2010 as well. Her mark of 40-9 ranks seventh in the nation among high school athletes. Stallworth won the 2009 state championship after clearing 39-1.25.

Mount Dora Bible School's Brian Kilts joins the Bulls following his 1A long jump crown where he posted an all-time best 23-5 at the state finals. He also competed in the triple and high jumps, finishing sixth in both. Kilts holds a career-best mark of 6-8 in the high jump, achieved at the 1A Region 2 meet where he placed first in all three events. Kilts won state titles in all three events as a junior.

Local product Terrence Mitchell will bring his talents to the football field for the Bulls in addition to the track. Mitchell won the 3A long jump title with a leap of 23-3 and also finished third in the 100 meters with a time of 10.74. He finished second at the state meet in the long and triple jumps in 2009. He owns all-time bests of 10.49 in the 100 meters and 24-2.5 in the long jump, marks that would have qualified him for the final at the 2010 BIG EAST meet. Mitchell has also competed in the triple jump and 300 hurdles during his time at Hillsborough High School.

The Bulls will also bring in three student-athletes who finished second in their respective events at the 2010 Florida state championships.

Lindsay Arnold of Zephyrhills High School in Zephyrhills, Fla., took second in the 100 hurdles at the 3A finals after running a personal best of 14.52. She also competed in the 300 hurdles at the state meet following her third-place showing in the 3A Region 2 meet in a PR of 45.76.

Niceville, Fla., product Rachael Klinger will give the Bulls depth in the high jump and hurdles after placing second in the high jump at the 3A championships as well as sixth in the 100 hurdles for Niceville High School. Klinger leapt 5-4 in the high jump for her second-place showing, slightly off her all-time PR of 5-6, and ran 14.91 to place sixth in the 100 hurdles. She owns an all-time PR of 14.72 in the hurdles. She also competes in the 300 hurdles, where she owns an all-time best of 45.53.

A leap of 15-0 in the pole vault gave Kendall Shafers a second-place showing in the 4A state meet for Olympia High School. Boasting an all-time PR of 15-4, more than two feet better than he had done prior to 2010, the Orlando native is also a 2009 USA Track & Field Junior Olympic qualifier in the pole vault.

The Bulls will also welcome the services of sprinter Kevin Bell, who missed the state 4A championships after having to pull out due to injury at the District 1 meet. Bell, who hails from Mandarin High School in Jacksonville, placed second in the 200 as a junior at the state championships as well as fifth in the long jump and sixth in the 100 meters. Bell owns all-time marks of 10.68 in the 100, 21.46 in the 200 and 22-11 in the long jump.

The Bulls went out of state to pull in high jumper/thrower Joseph Hall out of Northwestern Lehigh High School in New Tripoli, Pa. Hall excels in the javelin and shot put and will compete in the PIAA state track and field championships later this month. He threw 182-5 as a sophomore in the javelin and 47-10.5 in the shot put at the 2010 Colonial League Championships for his all-time personal bests. Hall also tied his PR in the high jump at the Championships after clearing the bar at 6-7. He also has thrown 145-7 in the discus.

The coaching staff brought in two sprinters to give a boost to the women's team, in Christine Poole and Ashanti Stewart.

Poole placed fifth in the 400 meters and sixth in the 200 with times of 56.94 and 25.20, respectively, at the 2A state championships running for Godby High School in Tallahassee, Fla. Poole arrives at USF owning all-time bests of 55.79 in the 400 and 24.69 in the 200 and has also run the 800 and other longer distance events during her high school career.

Ocala Forest High School runner Stewart placed sixth in the 400 meters at the 4A state meet after running a time of 56.99. She also participated in the triple jump at the state meet and has competed in the 200 meters and the long jump during her high school days. Stewart achieved a career-best 56.47 in the 400 at the Region 1 meet and has also gone 25.31 in the 200 as well as 37-1.5 in the triple jump.

USF's last three recruits will bring a wealth of talent to the running events, including a pair on the men's side who will give the Bulls a boost in cross country as well.

Sebring High School's Connor Bauer placed seventh in the 1,600 meters at the 3A championships, the same position he took in the 5,000 meters at the 2009 state cross country championships. As a junior, Bauer took eighth in both events. The Sebring, Fla., native created a new personal best in the 1,600 in 4:23.81 at the 2010 championships and has also run 15:59.00 in the 5,000.

Steven Fernandez, who hails from Colonial High School in Orlando, Fla., took ninth in the 1,600 at the 4A championships after placing eighth in the 5,000 at the state cross country championships in the fall. Fernandez ran a PR of 4:22.18 in the 1,600 meters at the Region 1 meet and owns personal bests of 9:35.80 in the 3,200 and 15:35.04 in the 5,000.

Jessie Prendergast out of Lake Highland Prep High School in Orlando rounds out the recruiting class for the Bulls. Prendergast competed in the 3,200 meters at the 2010 state 2A championships and in the 5,000 meters at the 2009 cross country championships. She brings with her PRs of 5:20.11 in the 1,600 meters, 11:23.64 in the 3,200 and 18:56.14 in the 5,000 meters. Prendergast is the sister of current Bull Allie Prendergast.