Coach Craney announces Yorks first group of ten recruits


TORONTO – Head coach Warren Craney and the York University football program are pleased to announce the first 10 recruits who have signed their letters of intent to join the University and the Lions for the 2011 season.

These 10 men represent the first recruits brought in by Craney and his coaching staff after he was hired in May to take over the reins of the program.

“Recruiting is the cornerstone to any University football program,” said Craney. “We believe the key to recruitment is having a remarkable product and we have one in our coaching staff, our administration and our academics here at York. The amount of work our coaching staff has put into recruiting over the last 16 weeks is impressive and we will reap the rewards we have sown in the very near future.”

Headlining this group is Michael Livingston, a 6’5, 240-pound defensive end from Toronto. The all-time sack leader at Northern Secondary School, he has an impressive high school football resume that also includes the 2008 lineman of the year and defensive most valuable player awards, the 2007 senior rookie of the year award and the 2006 junior MVP.

He also played with the Metro Toronto Wildcats in the Ontario Varsity Football League (OVFL) and is the team’s all-time sack leader. In his time with the Wildcats, he was named the 2009 OVFL lineman of the year and a four-time OVFL all-star.

Wildcats teammate Marko Vukusic is also joining the Lions. The 6’4, 295-pound defensive lineman from East York High School was named the most improved player on the team in 2010.

Craney has begun rebuilding the offensive line with the addition of Joe Tritler, Alex Media and Max Sullivan.

Tritler is listed at 6’7 and 330 pounds and comes to the Lions from the Windsor AKO Fratmen of the Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL). In 2009 he was named an Ontario Football Conference all-star.

Media, a 6’1, 310-pound lineman from Toronto, won the 2007 junior varsity city championship with Chaminade High School and is a three-time honour roll student. He also played football with the Toronto Jr. Argos of the CJFL. A multi-sport athlete, he won two silver medals in track and field at the 2009 Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) championships.

Another Chaminade student joining the Lions in 2011 is Charlie Parisi, a 6’2, 265-pound defensive lineman. In addition to his high football skill, he is also a top student and had the highest grade point average in university math and history in his final year of high school.

Sullivan will join the Lions after a successful high school career at Sir James Dunn Collegiate & Vocational School in Sault Ste. Marie. The 6’4, 275-pound lineman was named the most valuable player on an undefeated Eagles team that won the league, city, regional and OFSAA championships in 2009.

The rest of the recruits will join Livingston and Parisi on the defensive side of the ball.

Alen Mujanovic is a 6’2, 225-pound defensive lineman and former team captain at Port Credit Secondary School in Mississauga. Among his accomplishments are a trio of team awards as he was named the 2009 team lineman of the year, the 2008 defensive player of the year and the 2007 rookie of the year.

Another athlete with multiple high school team awards is Jacob Ward, who comes to York from Thunder Bay. The 6’2, 195-pound linebacker played high school football at St. Patrick High School and was named the squad’s MVP in 2008. He also received Thunder Bay Catholic high school all-star honours in 2007 and 2008.

Rounding out the first group of recruits are defensive linemen George Tabar and Brandon Santos. Tabar, listed at 6’2, 300 pounds, won the 2009 Metro Bowl championship with Markham High School while Santos, a 6’3, 240-pound team captain at St. Thomas More Catholic Secondary School, won the Hamilton Catholic High School title in three consecutive years from 2008 to 2010.

“These 10 young men are the beginning of the new York Lions; these commitments will start the dominoes falling and the pendulum swinging toward success for the program,” said Craney. “We are so excited to have 10 football players of such a high calibre commit to us this early. However, this is still only the beginning. We will continue to work harder than anyone else and bring in more top recruits from the GTA and Ontario, and in the future we will always look back on this day with great memories as these 10 young men represent the future of this program.”

Alyson Fisher

Advocating for football prospects one story at a time.

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