SPARTANS ADD THREE FRASER VALLEY ACTION U21 RECRUITS

Left to Right: Whitmarsh, Santaga and Demeda

WOMEN’S SOCCER
THURSDAY, JUNE 2, 2011
RECRUITS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SPARTANS ADD THREE FRASER VALLEY ACTION U21 RECRUITS

LANGLEY, British Columbia – The Trinity Western University women’s soccer team added to its depth for the upcoming season with the signing of goalkeeper Cara Santaga (New Westminster, B.C.) and defenders Melissa Demeda (Surrey, B.C.) and Jolayne Whitmarsh (Langley, B.C.), all of which most recently played for both the Fraser Valley Action U21 team and Semiahmoo Metro.

The three local recruits will join an already strong Spartans women’s soccer recruiting class that includes midfielder/defender Vanessa Kovacs (North Delta, B.C.), midfielder Alessandra Oliverio (Calgary, Alta.) and forward Sarah-Kim Bergeron (Calgary, Alta.).  

Santaga joins the Spartans after a successful high school career at Saint Thomas More Collegiate, four years with the Semiahmoo Metro team and two years with the Fraser Valley Action U21 squad.

The 5-foot-6 goalkeeper helped the Action to a league championship last year in which the team went 13-0-3 and only allowed 13 goals all season.

“We are delighted that Cara decided to come to Trinity Western and are excited that she brings depth and cover for our squad at the goalkeeper position,” Roxburgh said. “What impresses me about Cara is that she knows that her role initially will be to provide depth for this position as she develops at the university level. As a coach, you want to add players to your squad who are keen to do what it takes to get a chance to play within your program and Cara seems to be willing to work hard to help the team develop in this area. Cara is a great person and will fit in very nicely with our program in terms of representing the Spartans well.”

Santaga was the top goalie for the B.C. U16 provincial squad in 2009 and led her team to a bronze medal at the national championship.
“Trinity Western offers everything I wanted in one place:  a small university setting with a Christian perspective, high academic standards and an opportunity to continue playing competitive soccer,” Santaga said. “I'm very excited to join the Spartan's soccer team.”

Santaga, who was an honour roll student throughout high school, plans to enroll in pre-veterinary studies with a major in biology.

Melissa Demeda is an all-around gifted athlete. Although she has decided to pursue soccer at the university level, coming out of high school Demeda excelled in nearly every sport she played.

The 5-foot-9 central defender, who will graduate from Fraser Heights Secondary, was her high school’s Athlete of the Year from Grades 8 through 12 and was her team’s MVP for soccer, volleyball and basketball on multiple occasions.

“I am excited that Melissa has decided to join our program as I think that she will provide solid depth for our squad at the centre back role and I believe she can develop into a very good CIS player down the road,” Roxburgh said. “I have been impressed by her passing ability, her sense of reading the game and positional soundness. I like what she brings to our program both on and off the field and believe she is a good addition to the Spartans.”

Demeda, who played for Semiahmoo Metro for three years and is in her third year with the Fraser Valley Action U21 side, plans to pursue an undergraduate degree in international studies and history.
“Trinity Western is a fantastic school not only because of their soccer program, but academically and culturally as well,” Demeda said. “These factors made my post-secondary decision a lot easier to make and I’m very excited to be attending TWU in the fall.”

Jolayne Whitmarsh, who graduated from White Rock Christian Academy will join the Spartans back line after spending the last five years playing with Semiahmoo Metro and the last three years, including this season, playing with the Fraser Valley Action U21 team.

The 5-foot-7 defender, who was named Semiahmoo Metro’s most inspirational player each of the past three years, will be the second Whitmarsh to play for the Spartans women’s soccer team after her sister Karina played in 2008 and 2009.

“Jolayne has been a player I have watched develop over the past few years and I like her energy, her enthusiasm and her ability to attack from an outside back position,” Roxburgh said. “She can play on either side at the back, and she possesses a very good left foot. She will provide us some needed depth at our outside back position and will add more competitiveness to the squad, which is always needed.

“I really like what I see in her as a person as well. She has great character and is so excited to be at TWU and you always want players who will do whatever they can to help the Spartans.”

Whitmarsh plans to study education or communications at Trinity Western.

“I can’t believe that I am finally coming to Trinity Western,” Whitmarsh said. “I am really excited to be playing soccer at TWU as I have wanted to be a Spartan for as long as I can remember. I know it is going to be a big step and I am going to have to work extremely hard, but I am very excited.”

The Spartans women’s soccer team has been ranked in the CIS Top Ten for 22 straight weeks, since September 2007, and won back-to-back national championships in 2008 and 2009. After seeing their 2010 season come to an abrupt halt in the Canada West semifinal, the Spartans are hoping to get back on track this fall and regain the form that had them atop the CIS for two straight years. This spring, a refocused Trinity Western women’s soccer team won Victoria’s Keg Spring Cup for the first time in Spartans history after beating UBC 2-0 in the championship match.

About Spartan Athletics:
Since Trinity Western entered the CIS in 1999, Spartan student-athletes have accumulated a number of significant awards including a CIS Athlete of the Year (BLG) award, four CIS Player of the Year awards, a CIS Elite Eight Academic All-Canadian award, three CIS Rookie of the Year awards, a CIS Libero of the Year award, three CIS community service awards and numerous CIS All-Canadian and Canada West All-Star awards. In twelve years as members of the CIS, the Spartans have won six national titles (women’s soccer in 2004, 2008, 2009 and men’s volleyball in 2006, 2011), 15 CIS championship medals, an individual CIS championship in track and seven Canada West championships.

About TWU:
Trinity Western University, in Langley, BC, is a provincially chartered, independent Christian liberal arts, sciences, and professional studies university, enrolling approximately 4000 students. TWU offers 42 undergraduate majors, ranging from biotechnology, education, theatre and music, to psychology, communications and biblical studies. TWU's 16 graduate degree programs include nursing, counselling psychology, marriage and family therapy, business, theology, linguistics, and leadership, and interdisciplinary degrees in English, philosophy and history. TWU holds Canada Research Chairs in Dead Sea Scroll Studies, Developmental Genetics and Disease, and Interpretation, Religion & Culture.

About Canada West Universities Athletic Association
Canada West is consistently the most decorated of the four conferences in Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), winning at least 10 CIS national titles every year, 1997 to 2010. Comprised of 14 schools, from the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, the CWUAA produces numerous major award winners and Academic All-Canadian student-athletes each year, with many going on to athletic success around the globe in pro leagues or events such as the Olympics, Paralympics or Universiade Games. “cwuaa” on Twitter.

About Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Fifty-one universities, 10,000 student-athletes and 550 coaches vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit www.cis-sic.ca.

-TW-

Last Updated: 2011-06-02
Author: Mark Janzen