Anna Marie Ricciardi, sophomore guard for the Lady Bucs basketball team has decided to pursue her track career instead of playing basketball in her junior year.
Ricciardi, a two-sport athlete in basketball and track revealed to the East Tennessean on the final day of the Southern Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships on Feb. 27 that she would be leave Karen Kemp’s squad after playing mostly off the bench.
She won the SoCon Indoor Championships high jump with a mark of 1.73 meters opting out of traveling with the basketball team that weekend as they played their final regular season game at Georgia Southern.
“We actually recruited her (Ricciardi) first,” ETSU head track and field coach Dave Walker. “We are really happy to have her competing for us full time now.”
A former runner for Walker, Tim Lanzer, saw Ricciardi compete at Western Reserve High School in Canfield, Ohio. Lanzer told Walker if her did not recruit her soon that somebody else would pick her up.
Besides competing in the high jump, Walker has not decided what other events she might have her compete in.
She has seen some sprinting action, running the 100 meter hurdles in last year’s outdoor season.
“We knew with some more strenght training she could be a top contender in the Southern Conference,” said Walker. “Her win in the SoCon high jump proves that she is a very talented athlete.”
While in high school she was all-state in basketball and track. She was the Ohio state champion in the high jump.

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