May 20, 1999 Part 1: The Best of the Best Part 1 of a Series... While the Fall always brings with it the color of Carolina blue in the Women's College Cup, the Spring continues to be another season where blue reigns. Rivaling its '89 and '94 classes, the University of North Carolina 1999 recruiting class may arguably be one of the most impressive ever put together. Coach Anson Dorrance has inked six new players, all with current US National Team or Youth National Team credentials. Three other programs would have claimed the #1 ranked class in any other season. Stanford, Florida and Notre Dame have incoming classes that place them among the best in the nation behind North Carolina while Portland rounds out the Top 5 Recruiting Classes of 1999. In all, the top 12 classes all are headed by US National Team (Full, U-20 or U-18) players while several other programs inked top talent across the US and abroad. (See our upcoming articles on the remainder of the Top Recruiting Classes) (Note: The 1999 Recruiting Series is a five-part look at the best recruits and annual college signings in 1999 for women's soccer. The series will culminate with the official Soccer Buzz Recruiting Rankings which will include the best classes Nationally as well as Regionally. The following details are highlights of the signings to date and our official "ranking" will be made once the entire series is completed to allow for late player signings). Check out all the 1999 recruits using our comprehensive database in Rookie Attack. THE BEST OF THE BEST North Carolina The Tar Heels bring five High School All-Americans and Vanderbilt transfer, Kalli Kamholz (U-20 NT and '98 All America HM). Most impressive about Dorrance's new group is the range of skills as all four major positions (G, D, M, F) were filled. National High School Player of the Year (Parade), Susan Bush, will bring instant offense to Chapel Hill as she should step right in for the graduated Cindy Parlow. UNC recruited well in Texas and California as the Heels also signed Elizabeth Ball (M, TX), Kim Patrick (F, CA), Jordan Walker (M, TX) and Jennifer Branam (G, CA). The addition of Kamholz solidified this class as tops in the nation as UNC needed more depth in the defensive back. Jordan and Patrick were Players of the Year for Texas and California, respectively, while Ball and Jordan both come from the heralded Dallas Sting Soccer Club. "We are thrilled with this class," said Tar Heel head coach Anson Dorrance. "They are all outstanding students and wonderful young women. We had some specifics needs because of our graduation losses this year and attracting [six] players of this calibre to Chapel Hill will go a long way in helping to fill the holes in our lineup next year." Stanford Close behind UNC's pool of new talent is the Cardinal of Stanford. With four consensus All-Americans, Coach Steve Swanson has laid the groundwork for a quick rise up in the national rankings. Three US U-18 teamers head this group including Allyson Marquand (D, CA), Becky Myers (M, IL) and Marcia Wallis (F, CA). Joining these three are two more All-American honorees in Callie Withers (M, CA) and Kelsey Carlson (M, CA). Coach Swanson also signed Katherine Harrington (D, TX) of the Texas Image Soccer Club to match the Heels with five recruits from Texas and California. "What impresses me so much about this class is not just their ability on the soccer field, but more importantly what kind of people they are," said Head Coach Steve Swanson. "Along with being excellent students, they are extremely hard workers, have tremendously competitive attitudes and are positive players, always putting the team first. I have always maintained that with good people you can accomplish great things." Florida In terms of sheer numbers, the University of Florida wins the recruiting battle. Coach Becky Burleigh follwed up her National Championship campaign with an equally impressive crop of player signings. Four players bring US U-18 team experience and the latest signee, Danielle Murphy, is a member of the English National Team. Topping the Gators' class are Kristin Fisher (M, MI), Erica Schubert (F, NJ), Andrea Velasco (M, NJ) and Kara Rao (M, FL). Those four plus Kristin Chapman (D, MS) and Regan Wiesemann (G, KY) give the Gators six High School All-Americans, tying Stanford with that honor. Fisher, Chapman, Velasco and Wiesemann all earned State Player of the Year honors. Florida also inked local defender, Danielle Rust of the Tampa Bay Heather. "This is definitely one of the best classes that we have signed at UF," Burleigh said. "These players bring a vast amount of experience from their club and high school programs, which will be a big benefit as they adapt to the college game. We are really excited by the contributions this group can make to the Florida program." Notre Dame While most coaches get some surprises and gifts (of good news) during recruiting season, perhaps no one experienced more generosity this year than Randy Waldrum. The new coach at Notre Dame held together a class previously recruited and signed largely by former coach Chris Petrucelli, now at Texas. All four incoming Irish have US U-18 experience and three were named All-Americans in high school. The biggest signing came when Vanessa Pruzinsky (F, CT), NSCAA HS Player of the Year, picked the Irish. Notre Dame went west to also get Nancy Mikacenic (M, WA) and Sani Post (G, CA) while also snagging Ali Lovelace (F/M, GA). The Irish have filled their needs nicely and will benefit from the return of redshirt junior Monica Gonzalez in 1999. Portland With an extremely thin roster in 1998 made thinner with the graduation of six seniors and the transfer of Regina Holan (UC-Berkeley), Coach Clive Charles of Portland signed big numbers for 1999 in the hopes of returning his program to the College Cup again. Two US U-18 players, Lauren Orlandos (D, CA) and Erin Misaki (M, CA) headline a group including Erin Goodling (M, WA), Emily Patterson (F, CA), Betsy Barr (M, CA) and Valerie Fletcher (M, OR). The Pilots may also have brought in the surprise recruit of 1999 by getting striker Susanna Heikari from the Finnish National Team. Heikari stars on the young Finnish team with Notre Dame All-America, Anne Makinen. Orlandos and Misaki are both HS All-Americans while Goodling earned Oregon Player of the Year honors. "I'm very pleased with the class coming in," Charles said. "I feel it's one of the strongest groups we've ever had." Find out the remainder of the Top 1999 Recruiting Classes in our next article on the rest of the Top 10 Programs... Check it out in Part 2 of Soccer Buzz' 1999 Recruiting Series. Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5