COLLEGE SPORTS: BSU teams sign volleyball, basketball, track athletes

BEMIDJI - Bemidji State’s recruiting push has heated up.
Various BSU programs have finalized their recruiting classes for the 2016-17 season, and more are on the way.
Since last Wednesday - the first day of the early signing period - a number of athletes have signed National Letters of Intent to play for BSU athletic teams, including volleyball, basketball and track and field.
Volleyball signs two
The BSU volleyball team recently announced the signing of Setter Shelby Hanney (Cedar Park, Texas) and defensive specialist/libero Kelli Auer (Maple Grove) for next season.
Hanney, a 5-foot, 8-inch Texan, was a captain at Vista Ridge High School and a member of the Texas Eclipse Volleyball Club which won a bronze at the 2014 Mid-East Qualifier tournament.
Auer, a 5-foot-5 defensive specialist, was a four-year letter-winner at Osseo High School and was a member of the Northwest Suburban All-Conference Team in 2014 and 2015.
Women’s basketball adds sixth recruit for 2016-17
The BSU basketball team announced five signings last week, and BSU head coach Chelsea DeVille announced a sixth player who will join the Beavers on Monday.
Erica Gartner, a 5-foot-6 guard from Parsons, Kan., is a seven-time letterwinner in basketball and golf at Labette County High School. She earned three Kansas all-state and three all-league honors and averaged 12.3 points, 6.2 assists and 1.8 steals per game during her junior season last year.
“Erica is a true point guard with a high IQ that can score off the bounce and from the arc,” DeVille said in a press release. “She is so talented coming off ball screens and making plays.”
Gartner is the fourth guard of DeVille’s 2016 recruiting class.
Hurdler joins track team
The BSU track and field team also announced a signing.
Hurdler Aaliyah Banner, of Buena Park, Calif., will join BSU in 2016-17, being the first new recruit under new head coach Kevin Kean’s tenure.
Banner, a 100-meter and 300-meter hurdler, is a three-year team captain and team MVP at Buena Park High School. Banner is a three-time Freeway League champion and a two-time CIF finalist.
She posted two of the fastest times in Buena Park history in both the 100-meter high hurdles (15.32) and the 300-meter low hurdles (45.53).
Bemidji State begins its indoor season Dec. 4-5 in Duluth at the College of St. Scholastica Multi and The Opener.