Spider SR Cassels Collects Academic All-Conference Honors

Cassels Collects Academic All-Conference Honors

Courtesy:Richmond Athletics
Release:03/13/2012

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Senior Devin Cassels was one of ten men selected to the Atlantic 10 Indoor Track & Field Academic All-Conference team by the conference office on Tuesday. Cassels' selection is his first, and with it he becomes the fourth Spider in three years to earn the illustrious league honor.

"Devin is an exceptional student-athlete who works hard each day to achieve the goals he's set for himself," said head men's coach Steve Taylor. "He excels in both areas and is equally impressive in both. He holds the second-highest pole vault mark in school history and with his academic performance led our men's team to the highest track & field team GPA in the nation last year. He's very deserving of this honor and a great ambassador for our program."

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Logan Venderlic's “Jerkwater Town” 2012 Music Video Debut

Logan Vinderlic's "Jerkwater Town"
music video debut was yesterday.

I find it really exciting that one of my former high school teachers (Denny & Kristi Venderlic) in St. Marys, West Virginia has a son who has a new music album coming out next month (April 2012).  In my opinion Logan's distinct voice and sound, somewhat similar to Mumford and Sons, are excellent and I look forward to the full release of his album. 

Our hometown is small but as he states the mountains always pull you home.  That's hard to explain unless you've lived there for a length of time or grown up there.  I've actually spent more of my life living in Virginia than West Virginia, yet my veins still run with the blood from the mountains and all they represent.  From the coal mine wars in the early 1900's that molded our state to the consistent fight West Virginian's are known for, it's unique and not found anywhere else that I've lived.  

Richmond's Traynor Sets Program Record at Notre Dame (3-2-12)

Nicol Traynor set a Spider program record of 16:35.38
in the indoor 5,000M at Notre Dame's Alex Wilson Invitational.

Traynor concludes the indoor season ranked
in the top 2 in 5 different events
within the Atlantic 10 Conference rankings:

5000M-16:35.38 (#2 Rank)
3000M-9:29.20# (#1 Rank)
Mile-4:46.57 (#1 Rank)
1000M- 2:51.43 (#2 Rank)
Distance Medley Relay-11:35.13# (#1 Rank)



Traynor stopped by the IHOP in South Bend
for a prerace meal on Dr Seuss' birthday.

Richmond Track & Field Announces 2010-11 Year End Awards

The University of Richmond announced its 2010-11 year end awards for men’s and women’s cross country and track & field this past fall.  During the 2010-11 year the Spiders programs continued to make great progress and improvement with 5 All-American honorees, 10 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Qualifiers, a 24th place at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, USTFCCCA All-Academic Team honors for the 9th consecutive year in M&W XC and M&W T&F, and the men's T&F team receiving recognition for achieving the highest GPA in the nation.  Here are some of the top awards Richmond student-athletes earned during the 2010-11 cross country and track & field season’s….  

2010 CROSS COUNTRY Awards:   

Richmond's lead pack at the
2010 Atlantic 10 Conference Championships.

All-American 3KSC runner-Andrew Benford

Spiders Post Records in 2012 Atlantic 10 Indoor Championships

Stephanie Paradis and Alyson McGonigle in the 800M Trails...

Below are a couple article links from UR Sports Information and several photos by Mike Scott detailing our team’s success at the 2012 Atlantic 10 Conference Championships.  The meet was hosted by URI on their 200M flat track within Mackel Fieldhouse.  

NOTES:  Congratulations to Spider Nicol Traynor who ran 2nd fastest 3K in the NCAA for this weekend. Her A10 meet record setting time on a flat track (9:32.20) converts to 9:29.20# for the NCAA DI rankings... 

Also, Spiders Women's Distance Medley Relay (Alli Mannon-SO, Taylor Clevinger-FR, Stephanie Paradis-JR, Nicol Traynor-SR) ran the 5th fastest time in the NCAA for this weekend. Their A10 meet record run of 11:39.03 on a flat track converts to 11:35.13# for the purpose of NCAA rankings.

Spiders Preview for 2012 Atlantic 10 Indoor Championships

Ryan Lee and Nicol Traynor look forward to the
2012 A10 Indoor Championships.

Spiders Set for A-10 Indoors This Weekend

Courtesy:Richmond Athletics
Release:02/15/2012

RELATED LINKS

LIVE RESULTS

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

COACH TAYLOR TWITTER

COACH'S BLOG

SpiderTV PREVIEW

Spiders Heading To A-10 Indoor 

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - The Richmond men's and women's track & field teams travel northward this weekend for the Atlantic 10 Indoor Championships in Kingston, R.I. The two-day meet, hosted by Rhode Island, is set to begin on Friday at 9 a.m. in the Rams' Mackal Field House with day two action also scheduled to start at 9 a.m.

Final Meet Before 2012 A-10 Indoor Championships

Meaghan McGovern won the Weight Throw in a personal best
at CNU while many team members were in
New York City for the New Balance Games.

Spiders Complete Final Conference Tune-Ups

Courtesy:Richmond Athletics
Release:02/05/2012

NEW YORK CITY/NEWPORT NEWS,VA- At the New Balance Collegiate, junior Stephanie Paradiscame out strong to win her Women's 800 Meters heat with a time of 2:16.07. Paradis returned to the track to team up with freshman Taylor Clevinger and sophomores Alyson McGonigle and Alli Mannon in the 4x800 Meter Relay. The foursome would turn in a fourth-place finish with a time of 8:57.30 and break a 30-year old school record of 8:57.44 set in 1982 by Josephine White, Betsy Spillman, Alsyon Hendricks and Melissa Mullet.

Local Runners Setting The Pace At Richmond-Via The Mechanicsville Local

Amanda Lineberry and Taylor Clevinger are now teammates for the Spiders. Below is an feature article from the Mechanicsville Local Newspaper on February 7, 2012. 

Published: February 07, 2012 

By Charlie Leffler
cleffler@mechlocal.com

As middle-distance and cross country runners for Hanover and Lee-Davis, Taylor Clevinger and Amanda Lineberry faced off in both cross country and track early in their high school careers. As such, the pair, who are separated by a year in age, were friendly but not exactly friends. “We knew each other but we were also competitors,” Lineberry said. “She was in my district so I was racing against her for that district title in the 800 every season. We didn’t really hang out or anything but we were friendly competitors."

That can no longer be said as now the two are training partners, friends and teammates at the University of Richmond.

READ MORE HERE.

Spiders Compete in 2012 Navy and George Mason Indoor Invitationals

Clevinger, McGonigle and Paradis after the 800M

Our women and men split this weekend (January 28, 2012).  The U.S. Naval Academy hosted a women's only running events meet (without field events), while George Mason hosted their annual Patriot Games Invitational.  We had a great weekend as our team continues to knock the rust off their competition shoes.  Below you will find links to press releases on both meets and a release on freshman Taylor Clevinger earning Rookie of the Week honors for the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Spiders Open 2012 Season at UNC Dick Taylor Invite

A solid start to the season...

Sophomore Grace Gibson broke her own Spider record
in the Pole Vault.

Clevinger, Gibson Shine on Day Two of Dick Taylor

Courtesy:Richmond Athletics
Release:01/14/2012 

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Freshman Taylor Clevinger and sophomore Grace Gibson were stellar for the Spiders on Saturday as Richmond Track & Field wrapped up its first meet of the indoor season at UNC's Dick Taylor Invitational.

Gibson (Virginia Beach, Va./Princess Anne) headlined the second day of field action for the Spiders in Chapel Hill, recording a leap of 3.40 meters in the pole vault to reset her own school record and secure a sixth-place finish.

Richmond Spiders on 2011 U.S. Track & Field Performance List

U.S. Track & Field News recently released their 2011 year end national track & field performance rankings and the University of Richmond had several athletes on the list….Women’s 4X1500M, Andrew Benford (3KSC), Nicol Traynor (3KSC) and Matt Llano (10K)…See lists below: 

University of Richmond Head Coach Lori Taylor encourages one of 10 Richmond Spider athletes competing in 12 different events at the first round of the 2011 NCAA DI Track & Field Championships in Indiana. The Spiders ended the year with 5 NCAA All-American honorees (Andrew Benford-3KSC-2011, Matt Llano-10K-2010, Heather Roush-Javelin-2011, Nicol Traynor-3KSC-2011, Amy Van Alstine-5K-2011).  (Dan Petty Photo)

Even the Smallest SPIDERS have Giant Brains

Did you know that the smallest of Spiders have huge brains?  Spiders brains are so large they even extend into  their legs!  Now for those of us here in the track & field office at the University of Richmond, where our official mascot is the Spider...we are not surprised at all by this fact.

According to a recent New York Times Article: "Researchers measured the central nervous systems of nine species of spiders in a range of sizes. While the smallest had smaller brains in absolute terms, relatively speaking their brains were enormous."  READ MORE HERE.

2011-6th Annual Ryan Jobes Memorial 5K

Richmond's NICOL TRAYNOR Breaks Record in 6th Annual RYAN JOBES MEMORIAL 5K 
Spider Graduates ANDREW BENFORD and JON MOLZ go 1-2 

Andrew Benford (1st-15:15), Nicol Traynor (1st-CR 17:46) 
and Jon Molz (2nd-15:44) after the 
2011 Ryan Jobes Memorial 5K in Williamstown, WV 
held December 17.  

2011 Spiders Support Local Communities Through Running

Andrew Valenski (#676) on his way to victory in the 
National Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Long Island Chapter 5K.

Several members of the Richmond men's and women's cross country teams went home for Thanksgiving and supported their local charitable groups through participation in and providing contributions to road races that raise awareness and funding for the non-profit organizations:

Spiders Compete in 2011 HCA Virginia 8K

Nicol Traynor and Ryan Lee earn top finishes...

The start of the 2011 HCA Virginia 8K  held November 12th in Richmond, VA.
(Click on this photo for slide show)

(Richmond, VA) Nicol Traynor and Ryan Lee joined several of their University of Richmond teammates to compete in the 2011 HCA Virginia 8k on November 12th on the streets of Richmond to support Donate Life Virginia.