PORTLAND, Ore. – Portland men's cross country and track head coach Rob Conner has announced the signing of two international recruits to the class of 2022: Pedro Vazquez and Daniel Racle.

Vazquez joins the Pilots as a freshman from Pamplona, Spain. Vazquez was one of the best high school runners in Spain, posting times of 1:56.65 in the 800m, 3:48.24 in the 1,500m and 8:10.0 in the 3,000m. This August, Vazquez will partake in the 2022 World Junior Championships in Cali, Colombia. In 2021, Vazquez also finished first at the Cross Internacional de Italica.

"Pedro is a tremendous talent with big upside," Conner said. "Coming off World Juniors we will likely use August and September as a base building period then let him race in October. Enthusiastic young man who enjoys training with friends, which should be a perfect fit with us. Great student who will be studying bio-chemistry."

Racle comes to Portland as a graduate transfer from Loughborough University. Originally from Manchester, Racle took 16^th at the British University Cross Country Championships in 2020. He's posted times of 3:51.65 in the 1,500m, 8:12.69 in the 3,000m, 14:22.38 in the 5,000m and 29:55.03 in the 10,000m.

"Dan is a well-rounded runner who will help us in the longer distances," Conner said. "He is off to a great start this summer adapting to our training. I think he will surprise people this year. He has big goals and so do I, for him. Going to be a great addition to our culture as well."

The Pilots are coming off a strong cross country season where they finished 16^th at the 2021 NCAA Cross Country Championships, their 18^th top-20 finish since Conner took over as head coach of the Pilots. The Pilots also had Cathal Doyle qualify for nationals in track in the 1,500m, making it 29 times in the last 30 seasons that a Pilot has qualified.