Nov. 16, 2007

STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford women's water polo head coach John Tanner on Friday announced the signing of Cassie Churnside (Orange, Calif./Villa Park HS) to a national letter-of-intent. Churnside, who will arrive at Stanford for the 2008-09 academic year and the 2009 women's water polo season, joins Mimi Bury, Alyssa Lo, and Melissa Seidemann to make up Tanner's current recruiting class for next season.

"Cassie is a dynamic, explosive scorer who can make plays in front of the goal or on the perimeter," Tanner said. "As someone who eagerly embraces challenges, she has a bright future in our sport."

A 5-7 left-handed driver and 2-meter player from Villa Park High School, Churnside, along with Wednesday's signees Lo and Seidemann, has been a member of various youth national teams over the past few years. She was a member of the U.S. Youth National Team that captured the gold medal at the 2006 Pan-American Junior Games in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and in 2007, was a starter on the U.S. Youth National Team that went undefeated in youth tournament action in Sydney, Australia. More recently, Churnside participated in the U.S. Water Polo Top 40 Festival and the Top 40 Open Tournament two weeks ago, helping lead her SET club team to the championship game of the Open Tournament.

Stanford women's water polo, coming off of its third national title game appearance in the past five years, returns All-American and leading scorer Lauren Silver (65 goals in 2007) along with MPSF All-Freshmen Team selection Kelly Eaton (24 goals) for the 2008 season.