Friday, August 12, 2011

Richmond Spiders Nab Ninth-Straight All-Academic Team Honors

Men’s Team Earns Highest Track & Field Team GPA in the Nation!

2011 NCAA Championships Qualifiers for the Spiders
(L-R) Jill Prentice (5K), Jenn Ennis (3KSC), Heather Roush (Jav),
Matt Llano (10K), Meaghan McGovern (Hammer),
Andrew Benford (3KSC and 5K), Nicol Traynor (3KSC and 5K),
Amy Van Alstine (5K)...not in photo Monica Howard (Discus)
and Julie Rechel (10K)
Below is part of an article (and a link to the remainder) regarding our men's and women's track & field teams earning USTFCCCA All-Academic Team honors for the 9th consecutive year and our men's team achieving the highest NCAA DI Track & Field team cumulative GPA in the nation for the 2011 season.

As you recall our men's and women's cross country teams also earned their 9th consecutive honor this past fall.  Along with winning the 2010 Atlantic 10 Conference Cross Country team titles last fall our men finished 24th as a team at the NCAA DI National Championships in Terre Haute, IN.

Lori and I feel this latest honor for our track & field teams compliments their achievements from this past track & field season where 10 athletes qualified to the NCAA Championships (first round).  Additionally, 5 athletes qualified to the NCAA Championships Final where they earned 4 All-America honors and 1 honorable mention All-America.  During the season our women set 11 school records and the men and women combined to establish 5 new Fred Hardy Facility Records (see below):

RICHMOND OUTDOOR RECORDS SET IN 2011

Women:
1500M------4:19.38-----Amy VanAlstine (5/8/11-A-10 Championships)
3000M------9:29.54-----Amy VanAlstine (3/25/11-Fred Hardy Inv.)
3000M SC--10:02.94----Nicol Traynor (6/22/11-NCAA Champs Final)
5,000M-----16:06.15----Amy Van Alstine (6/22/11-NCAA Champs Final)
10,000M----34:50.65----Julie Rechel (5/28/11-NCAA Champs-1st Round)
Discus-------49.86M-----Monica Howard (5/8/11-A-10 Championships)
Javelin-------48.08M-----Heather Roush (3/2511-Fred Hardy Inv.)
Triple Jump--12.08M-----X’auntasia Johnson (5/8/11-A-10 Champs)
Pole Vault----3.40M------Grace Gibson (5/8/11-A-10 Championships)
4x1500M----17:58.21----VanAlstine/Traynor/Ennis/Mannon
 (4x1500M splits-VanAlstine-4:19.7/Traynor-4:23.2/Ennis-4:40.5/Mannon-4:34.9) (4/30/11-Penn Relays)

RICHMOND INDOOR RECORDS SET IN 2011 Women:
Pole Vault----3.30M------Grace Gibson (2/5/11-VMI Relays)

FRED HARDY FACILITY RECORDS SET IN 2011
Men:
3000M-------8:17.34------Matt Llano (Richmond) 2011
3000M SC---8:56.87------Andrew Benford (Richmond (2011)
Women:
1500M-------4:31.17------Nicol Traynor (Richmond) 2011
3000M-------9:29.54------Amy VanAlstine (Richmond) 2011
Javelin--------48.08M------Heather Roush (Richmond) 2011

2011 OUTDOOR T&F ALL-AMERICA HONORS EARNED
5,000M--------Amy VanAlstine (2nd Team)
3,000M SC----Nicol Traynor (2nd Team)
Javelin----------Heather Roush (2nd team)
3,000M SC----Andrew Benford (2nd Team)
10,000M------Matt Llano (Honorable Mention)

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS QUALIFIERS 2011
3,000M SC----Andrew Benford (8:39.71)
5,000M--------Andrew Benford (13:55.88)
10,000M------Matt Llano (28:43.30)
3,000M SC---Jenn Ennis (10:30.27)
Discus---------Monica Howard (49.86M)
Hammer-------Meaghan McGovern (55.85M)
5,000M-------Jill Prentice (16:39.79)
10,000M------Julie Rechel (34:50.65)
Javelin---------Heather Roush (48.08M)
3,000M SC---Nicol Traynor (10:02.94)
5,000M-------Nicol Traynor (16:10.37)
5,000M-------Amy Van Alstine (16:06.15)

Plus, Amy VanAlstine was named "2011 Most Outstanding Track Performer" of the Atlantic 10 Conference. She won both the 1500M (4:19.36) in Meet Record Time and the 5K (16:39.56)...VanAlstine's 4:19.38 also broke Joan Nesbit's 1500M facility record set in 2000 (4:23.14).

Here is the article courtesy: Richmond Athletics

The Richmond Men's Track & Field Team
earned the highest track & field team GPA
among all NCAA DI programs for the 2011 season.
Shown here (R-L): Jon Wilson, Chris York, Ryan Lee and Jason Skipper
Richmond Spiders Nab Ninth-Straight All-Academic Team Honors

Men’s Team Earns Highest Track & Field Team GPA in the Nation!

Courtesy:Richmond Athletics
Release:08/11/2011

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND - For the ninth-consecutive season, the University of Richmond men's and women's track & field squads have been named NCAA Division I All-Academic Teams by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). The Spider men added to their honor by recording the highest cumulative GPA (3.51) in the nation ahead of second-best Harvard and Duke.

"Once again, we are very proud of our athletes and their efforts in the classroom," said men's head coach Steve Taylor. "We place this achievement on our list of goals every year, and our athletes work hard to reach it. As a staff we expect them to work hard and challenge themselves in the classroom, while also expecting them to balance their academic career with their athletic career in order to achieve at the highest level in both. Over the years, we have witnessed that achieving success in the classroom complements success within the sport of track & field, and this award exemplifies how these student-athletes know how to prioritize both academically and athletically at an amazingly high level."

The Spider men join three other Atlantic 10 teams in La Salle, Massachusetts and Temple on the list of programs earning the USTFCCCA's distinction as a result of a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or better. On the women's side, Richmond and five other conference squads in Charlotte, Dayton, La Salle, Saint Louis and Temple received academic team honors from the organization.

"We are proud of the tradition our track & field and cross country teams have established over the years," added Director of Track & Field Lori Taylor. "The fact that both our men's and women's programs have earned All-Academic Team honors for nine consecutive years demonstrates that our student-athletes understand balance. As coaches, we are educators first and understand that our student-athletes are here for their degree programs. The University of Richmond is a great school and our student-athletes choose to come here because they know they will have opportunities for a great educational and athletic experience. This is an exceptional achievement."

Read More HERE

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