SPOKANE, Wash. - The Whitworth men's and women's golf program, already one of the strongest on campus and in the Northwest Conference, has added a gifted recruiting class for the 2007-08 season, according to head coach Warren Friedrichs.

Two men and three women have confirmed their admission to Whitworth and are expected to play when the season tees up in the fall. Connor McCracken (Eagle, Idaho - Eagle) and Ryan Young (Mill Creek, Wash. - Jackson) will join the three-time defending NWC champion men's squad, while Kaylin Carlson (Clarkston, Wash. - Clarkston), Sophie Sestero (Boise, Idaho - Bishop Kelly) and Ruthie Parsons (Bremerton, Wash. - Olympic) will play with the up-and-coming women's team.

McCracken and Young have both participated at the highest levels of each's respective state competition. McCracken finished fourth at the Idaho State 4A tournament, while Young was 18th at the Washington State 4A tournament.

The pair joins a Pirate men's team that has won three straight Northwest Conference titles and finished 23rd in its first ever NCAA Division III tournament this spring.

Carlson was the Player of the Year in the Great Northern League and finished sixth at the Washington State 2A tournament. Sestero was part of a State 4A championship team at Bishop Kelly and was an individual participant in the state tournament, while Parsons was also a participant in the Washington State 4A tournament.

The trio will play with a Pirate team that finished third in the NWC in 2007 with four freshmen.

"This group of players will really help us continue to get better," said Friedrichs, the three-time NWC Men's Coach of the Year. "I think they are all quality people who will really add to the personality of our teams."