Sunday, November 14, 2010

Richmond Men's Cross Country Team Qualifies for NCAA Championships

Dan Petty Photo Gallery HERE

The Richmond Men's Team placed 4th to qualify for the NCAA Championships next Monday... (Da Petty Photo)

Amy Van Alstine placed 7th to earn a trip to the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, IN...(Dan Petty Photo)

Andrew Benford and Matt Llano (directly behind) at 4 miles... (Dan Petty photo)

Matt Llano and Andrew Benford led the Spider men with their 8th and 10th place respective finishes... (Dan Petty Photo)

Tim Quinn finished 20th to earn NCAA All-Region Honors for the Spiders (Dan Petty Photo)

Richmond Announced #28 on Pre-NCAA Championship Div. I Coaches' Poll

Spiders receive national recognition following Championship birth.

By KC Krismiller
UR SID

Nov. 16, 2010

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND - The Spider men land in the 28th spot on the USTFCCCA Pre-NCAA Championship Division I Coaches' Poll, announced Tuesday, Nov. 16. It is the first time in the University's history that either cross country team has been ranked nationally.

Following the men's fourth-place finish at the Southeast Regionals Championship on Saturday, Nov. 13, the Spiders received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships. This is also the first time in UR history that the entire team will participate in the NCAA Championships...

READ MORE HERE

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Richmond Men Receive At-Large Bid to NCAA XC Championships

The Spider men will compete as a team, along with Van Alstine running in the women's race.

By KC Krismiller
UR SID

November 14, 2010





UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND - On Sunday, Nov. 14 the NCAA announced the University of Richmond men's cross country team as one of the contenders for the Division I Cross Country Championship.

The event will be hosted by Indiana State University, and it will take place at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center in Terre Haute, Ind.

The men's team finished fourth at the Southeast Regional Championships on Saturday, Nov. 13, giving them the opportunity to be selected. Redshirt-senior Matt Llano led the men, finishing eighth overall with a time of 30:29.8. Andrew Benford finished 10th (30:30.5), along with senior Tim Quinn in 20th (31:02.3). Junior Levi Grandt came in 54th (32:09.5), redshirt-senior Jon Wilson finished 66th (32:23.8), sophomore Chris York came in 79th (32:45.6), and sophomore Jason Skipper...

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XC Men Take Fourth, Women Seventh in SE Regional Championship

Nov. 13, 2010

By KC Krismiller
UR SID

Men's Team Results Men's Individual Results

Women's Team Results Women's Individual Results

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND - Richmond cross country captured two top-ten spots at the Southeast Regional Championships on Saturday in Louisville, Ky. The men finished in fourth-place, while the women finished seventh overall.

"What an amazing day," said men's head coach Steve Taylor. "Our men came in and fought for everything they got out there. We knew they were ready and that they could do it. All season we have talked about how deep our region is this year and knew going in that it's one of, if not the deepest, in the nation. We felt if we were in the top four teams we would be a lock for an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships based on the depth of our region.

At 3K we were in great position with Andrew (Benford) and Matt (Llano) in the top-10, Tim (Quinn) in the top-30 and Levi (Grandt), Jon (Wilson) and Chris (York) together in the top-60. At that point our team was in fifth... By 8K there were looks in the crowd as the scoreboard show us move into fourth. From there it was shear guts and determination to the finish."

Redshirt-senior Matt Llano finished eighth overall in the men's 10K race with a time of 30:29.8. He was followed closely by redshirt-senior Andrew Benford who came in 10th with a time of 30:30.5. Senior Tim Quinn finished 20th and was clocked in at 31:02.3. All three runners received first-team NCAA All-Region honors for their top-25 finishes.

Junior Levi Grandt came in 54th (32:09.5), redshirt-senior Jon Wilson finished 66th overall (32:23.8), sophomore Chris York came in 79th (32:45.6) and sophomore Jason Skipper finished 159th with a time of 34:39.9.

"These athletes are true distance runners and live, breath, eat, sleep, and dream of this sport and that's what it takes. I'm so happy and excited for them. Two weeks ago today we won the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship for men and women. All of us were overjoyed and some people even commented that `it couldn't get any better'. Well today it just got better. They ran with purpose... They ran with heart... They ran to prove something to the non-believers... They ran for each other... They ran for their alumni... They ran to prove their program is among the best in the nation.

We'll have a long night waiting for the `At-Large' team selections to be announced tomorrow (Sunday) evening, but we beat three teams today that were ranked nationally coming into this meet at #18 (UNC), #21 (Louisville) and #20 (Virginia). Our men earned this and have always believed in what we do and our program. And they also believe in each other, knowing that they have all made the sacrifices that are required to be a true distance runner."
Flotrack, a website dedicated to the sport of running, said, "This was probably the team performance of the regional weekend. A team that nobody expected to make the national meet except maybe fans of the team, [or] themselves. The Atlantic 10 champs... has come in, beat Virginia, they beat UNC, they beat Liberty, they beat Louisville... beating a team like Louisville who was second at the Big East meet, that's big."

The women's team placed seventh overall, beating out Wake Forest, Clemson, William & Mary, and Liberty.

Redshirt-senior Amy Van Alstine finished seventh overall with a time of 20:25.3 in the women's 6K run. Her performance earned her first-team NCAA All-Region honors and qualifies her for an individual spot at the NCAA Championships.

"Amy Van Alstine had an outstanding race," said women's head coach Lori Taylor. "She put herself in position from the start and raced with her heart to finish seventh-place and earn a qualifying spot to the NCAA National Championships. What has impressed me most about Amy while she's been here at Richmond is her competitiveness and her willingness to 'go there' when she races."

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