April 17, 2009

The University of Texas-Pan American men and women's golf program announced the addition of three new members to the squad with signings from Stephanie Wright (Ancaster, Ontario, Canada / Westdale Secondary School), Brandon Reyna (Mission, Texas / Sharyland High School) and Kevin Kirakossian (Tualatin, Oregon / Tualatin High School) for the 2009-10 academic campaign.

The newly-inked Lady Bronc comes to the Rio Grande Valley from Westdale Secondary School were she earned MVP honors throughout her prep career. She finished second three times during her tenure at Westdale in the Southern Ontario Secondary School Athletics Championship. Wright also captured the 2007 Golf Association of Ontario District Junior Girl's Championship.

Wright was also a member of the second-place team at the 2007 Ontario Junior Team Championship. She also qualified three-years in a row (2006-09) for the Ontario Federation Secondary Schools Athletics Provincial Championship. In the past two years, she has collected four first-place finishes and 13 top-10 finishes in regional junior golf tours.

"Stephanie will be a great addition to our program with her ambition and dedication to the sport. With her enthusiasm she will help out the team where she needs to," said Director of Men and Women's Golf Ofelia Lopez. "She will push the returners and the team itself to be better and play better."

The men's golf program will be seeing two new faces with the signings of Brandon Reyna and Kevin Kirakossian.

"Kevin (Kirakossian) and Brandon (Reyna) are going to be a great addition to the men's team. These guys are going to come in and want to play hard," said Lopez. "They know that on any given week we won't know who the teams will be, but that will be the competition and camaraderie amongst one another and they are going to see what it is to fight for a spot."

Reyna, a Rio Grande Valley native, joins the men's golf program out of Sharyland High School where he earned Outstanding Player of the Year and qualified for regionals in three consecutive seasons. Reyna was also a state finalist during his freshman campaign.

He was named to the 30-5A All-District team in his tenure at Sharyland High School and has received numerous titles in different golf tournaments.

Kirakossian, brother of Bronc Armen Kirakossian, joins the Broncs golf program from Tualatin High School where he earned MVP honors and was named First Team All-State and All-Conference in 2008. The Oregon native was also a member of the district winning team in 2007.

Kirakossian earned five top-10 honors in some of the top golf tournaments including a tie for first in the Tualatin-Tigard Invite, a first-place finish in the third flight of the 2004 OGA State Junior Matchplay and a first-place finish in the fourth flight in 2007. He also tied for eighth at the Central Oregon Junior and a tie for second at the Stone Creek Invitational.

Wright, Reyna and Kirakossian are the first signees for the men and women's golf program for the 2009-10 academic campaign.

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