Sunday, August 28, 2011


Taylor's Take - Our Season, My Story

Courtesy:Richmond Athletics
Release:08/26/2011

Aug. 26, 2011

Editor's Note: Cross country freshman and Richmond native Taylor Clevinger will share her thoughts and experiences in an ongoing blog that offers readers an inside look into life as a Spider on the course, in the classroom and around the community.

 I am a freshman on the Spider cross country team this year, and I didn't really know what to expect coming into the program. So far I have had a blast though!

We started off the season by traveling to Lexington, Va., for preseason camp. We stayed there for three days. The trip was a great way to meet the team and kick off the season. We had a chance to have fun together and at the same time also work hard and push each other during workouts...

READ MORE HERE 

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Practice at Roslyn

Roslyn Episcopal Retreat Center is a little over a mile from campus and one of the locations we do our workouts...Their property offers lots of hills and lies next to the James River which serves as a perfect backdrop for a hard effort.
Stephanie Paradis and Clare Moretz climb "Jacobs Ladder" at Roslyn just before the sun comes up...Jacobs Ladder is a very steep hill on the property that is well known to runners who grew up in the Richmond area... 
Jacobs Ladder at Roslyn.
Stephanie Paradis and Clare Moretz run along the canal (Note: The canal was built in 1790 as the first commercial canal in the United States, stretching from Richmond to Westham and paralleling the James for 7 miles)... 
...then climb by repeating Jacobs Ladder... 
Billy Fayette and Ryan Lee on Jacobs Ladder...
Shadow runner as the sun comes up...
Ryan Lee, Billy Fayette, Stephanie Paradis and Clare Moretz getting work in between the climbs...
Jason Skipper and Chris York work together...
Liz Schinski 
Adam Owens and Conor Phelan...
The women's team on their recovery...
Matthew Groff, Paul Myer (green shorts), Patrick Love (red shorts) and Tim Becker...
Jill Prentice
Roxanne Henningson, Allie Stapleton and Coach Lori Taylor...
(R-L) Chris York, Conor Phelan and Adam Owens...
Paul Myer and Matthew Groff...
The women's team finishing hills... 
Chris York, Conor Phelan and Adam Owens doing the same...
(R-L) Ryan Lee and Billy Fayette speak with assistant coaches Andrew Benford and Jon Molz following their workout.
Coach Lori Taylor speaks with the women's team following the workout...
Andrew Benford lifting in the Bugg weight room in the Robins Center...

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Charleston Distance Run: Benford Relishes a Climb-via The Charleston Gazette - West Virginia News and Sports -

Andrew Benford shown winning the
2010 Atlantic 10 Conference Cross Country title
(Dan Petty Photo)
This post provides a link to an article on recent Richmond Spider and Ravenswood HS, WV graduate Andrew Benford, previewing the 2011 Charleston Distance Run in Charleston, WV. 

The 15 mile race is one of the oldest road races in the US and is a right of passage for any West Virginia born runner.  If you grew up running  in WV then you know the Charleston 15 Miler and the place it holds for those with roots to the mountain state known by natives as "West by God Virginia"...One of the first races I ran as a child I wore a black Charleston Distance Run sleeveless race shirt that had "A Salute To PRE" screened on the back of it to honor the late Steve Prefontaine who passed a year earlier in a car accident.

The Charleston 15 Milers is a tough, hilly course which starts on the flat lands around the state capitol building before climbing into the hills and mountains surrounding the city and then dropping back to finish with roughly 6 miles through the city at the end. 

Both Benford and Jon Molz ('UR '08) are assistant coaches for their Alma Mater here at Richmond and both plan to compete in the 15 miler next weekend...

Here is the link to the article:

Distance Run: Benford relishes a climb - Sports - The Charleston Gazette - West Virginia News and Sports -

Andrew Benford earned All-American honors at Richmond in the steeplechase, an event in which he is pursuing a U.S. Olympic spot.

By Mike Whiteford
The Charleston Gazette


Andrew Benford's first look at the hilly, 15-mile course, surprisingly enough, brought hope, not despair.

Other runners may shudder in seeing the Charleston Distance Run's excruciating inclines, but Benford sees opportunity, much like the opportunity he sees in the 2012 Olympics.

He also sees a 15-mile course that suits his game.

Benford, a 2006 Ravenswood High graduate and a recent University of Richmond grad, is a veteran cross country runner accustomed to hills, and he even competed in world-class mountain races in Italy a few years ago, negotiating mountainous terrain that makes the South Hills streets look serene.

His specialty and Olympic dream is the 3,000-meter steeplechase, a barrier-filled lung sapper.

"The tougher courses kind of favor me,'' said Benford, who will make his Charleston Distance Run debut on Sept. 3. "I like something that really makes you dig down and grind. The tougher the conditions and the tougher the course usually are better for me. It kind of plays to my strength. And using my speed from track and everything will be good for me too in that last 10K.''

READ MORE HERE

Monday, August 22, 2011

Spider XC Squads Conclude Preseason Camp - RichmondSpiders.com - The Official Athletic Website of the University of Richmond


(L-R) Row 1- Stephanie Paradis, Allie Stapleton, Jill Prentice, Clare Moretz, Roxanne Henningson, Taylor Clevinger, Lydia Morton...Row 2-Amanda Lineberry, Dana Guglielmo, Beth Kelly, Liz Schinski, Jason Skipper, Billy Fayette, Tim Becker, Paul Myer, Matthew Groff...Row 3- Patrick Love, Andrew Valenski, Ryan Lee, Conor Phelan, Chris York, Kyle Ragan, Adam Owens. 

Spider XC Squads Conclude Preseason Camp - RichmondSpiders.com - The Official Athletic Website of the University of Richmond

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Spiders 2011 Preseason Cross Country Camp (DAYS 5 & 6-Whetstone Trail/Pocahontas State Park)

On the Blue Ridge Parkway our team ran the Whetstone Ridge Trail which is part of the National Park Service and George Washington National Park...

Stretching before we run..."Active Isolated Stretching" was introduced to us by Jim and Phil Wharton nearly 20 years ago and has replaced the old static stretches we did in the '70's and early '80's...

Whetstone Ridge Trail sign...

The trail is single track...
POCAHONTAS STATE PARK

Beaver Dam Lake in Pocahontas State Park has great trails around it...

(L-R) Conor Phelan, Chris York and Adam Owens during their long run at Pocahontas State Park. 

Pocahontas State Park is 8,000 acres and holds miles and miles of trails.
Taylor Clevinger and Clare Moretz finish their long run...

Stephanie Paradis and Allie Stapleton...

Allie Stapleton and Stephanie Paradis...
Jason Skipper and Ryan Lee drop off the freshmen near the end of their long run....No one got lost and turned their long run into an "extra long" run....which was good.

Freshmen Andrew Valenski, Paul Myer, Matthew Groff and Billy Fayette...

Fayette, Groff and Valenski finish with Paradis and Stapleton finish.
Kyle Ragan and Patrick Love head toward Swift Creek Reservoir within Pocahontas State Park.

Freshman Tim Becker...

Jason Skipper and Ryan Lee on the cool morning...Still humidity was listed at 100%.
Patrick Love and Kyle Ragan after they finished...

Ryan Lee will compete at the World Mountain Running Championships on September 11...

Roxanne Henningson and Liz Schinski finished...

Ryan Lee
Conor Phelan

Adam Owens

Chris York
Nicol Traynor and Jill Prentice...

Paul Myer

The team gets fluids after and we rush the freshmen to their orientation meeting.
Matthew Groff


More fluids...