This Week in Spiders Track & Field (February 5, 2011)

Andrew Benford took control of the New Balance Collegiate Championship 3K...He led from the gun until the final lap...His splits: 31.6/63.7 (32.1)/1:35.7 (31.9)/2:08.1 (32.3)/2:40.5 (32.4)/3:13.2 (32.7)/3:45.7 (32.5)/4:01.0 at 1500M/4:18.4 at 1600M (32.6)/4:50.3 (31.9)/5:22.1 (32.3)/5:54.7 (32.0)/6:27.1 (32.3)/7:00.2 (33.0)/7:34.0 (33.8)/8:09.34 (35.0).....and his splits by 1K…@1K-2:40.5…@2K-5:22.1 (2:41.6)…@3K-8:09.34 (2:47.5)

Here is a link to an article from our Sports Information Office on our teams weekend:

Spiders Shine At New Balance & VMI Invitationals
Track & field triumphs on East Coast.

By KC Rismiller
UR SID

Feb. 8, 2011

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND - Spider track & field competed in two separate meets this weekend, including the New Balance Collegiate Invitational in New York City, N.Y. and the VMI Winter Relays in Lexington, Va.

Richmond opened the weekend at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational where redshirt-senior Andrew Benford clinched third-place in the men's 3000m Championship race, finishing in 8:09.34. He led the race from the start and was on school record pace with two laps (400M) to go before slowing to a 68 seconds for those two laps. The school record for the men's 3000m is 8:02.77, and it is held by 1980 Kenyan Olympian Sosthenes Bitok, a Richmond Sports Hall-Of-Famer.

"We had a good meet here in New York," said men's head coach Steve Taylor. "The athletes we brought competed hard and dropped their personal bests or at least their season bests they competed in. Andrew Benford's effort in the 3000M was exceptional. His split time of 7:00 at 2600M put him on pace for the school record owned by former Kenyan Olympian, Sosthenes Bitok. He took the race from the start and pushed the pace until the last 300M when he started to tie up. I'm pleased with his effort especially considering her has not raced on an indoor track in over two years."

Sophomore Chris York placed 10th in the men's 3000m Eastern race, setting a personal best with his time of 8:37.03. Senior Tim Quinn opened his season with a 17th-place finish in the men's 3000m College race (8:33.48), while junior Levi Grandt quickly followed in 20th-place (8:42.68).

Taylor said, "Chris York and Tim Quinn ran solid races in the 3K. Both have the ability to drop their times substantially in the next two weeks as we go into the Atlantic 10 Conference Championships."

READ MORE HERE