Richmond Cross Country Gears Up For Paul Short Invitational

Spiders set to run against some of the top ranked cross country teams in the nation.

The Spider women are coming of a strong win at the NC State Wolfpack Invitational two weeks ago...

They will compete against 3 nationally and numerous regionally ranked teams including Villanova (NCAA#1), Georgetown (NCAA #6) and Virginia (NCAA #16)...

While the Spider men will bring their top team of runners to the start line for the first time this season...

The men will face 5 nationally ranked teams including Iona (NCAA #12), Virginia (NCAA #22), Princeton (NCAA #23), Georgetown (NCAA #24) and William & Mary (NCAA #28)...

Follow our travel on TWITTER and our BLOG...

(L-R) Andrew Benford, Matt Llano and Jon Wilson
will have their season debut on Friday for the Spiders.
Llano placed 9th in the 10,000M at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships...
Benford led the USA team at the 2009 IAAF World Mountain Running Championships
last fall placing 12th...and Wilson set several personal bests while redshirting last fall.

Sept. 29, 2010

by KC Rismiller-UR SID

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND - The Richmond men's and women's cross country teams head to Bethlehem, Pa. this week for the Paul Short Invitational on Friday, Oct. 1. Both Spider teams are competing in the top-seeded gold race set to begin at 11 a.m. on the campus of Lehigh University.

"We are looking forward to the race," said men's head coach Steve Taylor. "It will be the first time this season many of our athletes have competed. It's been a calculated decision with their input. Our athletes worked hard this summer and especially the past six weeks. Now it's time for them to have the opportunity to race. There are several things we will work on in this meet. Execution of what we have practiced will be the key to our teams success."

Amy Van Alstine helped the Spiders to victory over NC State
two weeks ago. She qualified for the first round of the
2010 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the 5,000M.

This will be Richmond's third-straight appearance at the Paul Short Invitational. Last year the women came in 10th-place, led by Jenn Ennis who finished 32nd overall (21:16). Tim Quinn placed 29th in the men's race (24:20), helping the team to an 18th-place finish.

"This is always a great meet and certainly one of the top 3 collegiate meets in the nation this weekend," said women's head coach Lori Taylor. "Several of the top nationally ranked teams are entered and the starting line will be packed with nearly 400 runners, so our team will have to be ready for a fast start."

Nicol Traynor led the Spiders to victory two weeks ago.
She redshirted last spring after qualifying
for the 2009 NCAA Championships in the 5,000M.

Tim Quinn and Levi Grandt.
Quinn led the Spiders in every meet last fall
and earned All-Conference honors.
Grandt won the Spider Alumni Open 4 weeks ago.

Going into this weekend, the Richmond women are ranked sixth in the Southeast Region and both Richmond teams are leading the Atlantic 10 coaches' polls. A-10 teams participating in the event include Duquesne University, George Washington University, La Salle University, University of Massachusetts, St. Bonaventure University, Saint Joseph's University, and Temple University.

Freshman Allie Mannon will be returning to
one of the courses she ran last year in high school.

Freshman Roxanne Henningson

The men's gold 8K race begins at 11 a.m. on Friday, and the women's gold 6K starts at 11:45 a.m.

Stay tuned to RichmondSpiders.com for a complete report of Friday's meet.

Sophomore, Chris York is coming off a 37th place

at the IAAF World Jr Mountain Running Championships

in Slovenia. He and fellow Spiders come together on Friday.

For more in-depth coverage on the race, visit Coach Taylor's blog, or follow him on Twitter.