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.

Richmond Cross Country Supports Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation

Richmond Women's Cross Country Team, dressed in pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation, raised money and awareness on October 22, 2011.

(L-R) Coach Lori Taylor, Allie Mannon, Lydia Morton, Taylor Clevinger, Emily Graber, ANDI DEFONCE, Roxanne Henningson, Clare Moretz, Jill Prentice, Dana Guglielmo...Back Rom (R-L) Liz Schinski, Emma Berry, Amanda Lineberry, Beth Kelly and Alyson McGonigle.

Cross Country Team Donated to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation
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Richmond's Nicol Traynor 2nd in Charlottesville Fall Classic 10K

Richmond's Nicol Traynor

Spider All-American Nicol Traynor traveled to Charlottesville, Virginia for the Charlottesville Fall Classic 10K this morning (10/22/11) earning 2nd place among women and 6th over-all among men. 

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Richmond XC Completes Final Conference Tune-Up

The University of Richmond men's and women's cross country teams completed their final tune-up before defending their Atlantic 10 Conference Championship titles...
XC Completes Final Conference Tune-Up - RichmondSpiders.com - The Official Athletic Website of the University of Richmond

Benford and U.S. Teammates Place 8th in Izumo Ekiden Race (Japan)

Andrew Benford (UR '11) last year at the
NCAA Cross Country Championships.

Andrew Benford (Richmond '11) and his USA teammates placed 8th in the Izumo Ekiden held on October 10 in Izumo, Japan.  Their 8th place team finish is the highest ever finish for team USA and led to an automatic bid for the U.S. to return next year.

Julie Rechel (Richmond ’11) earns spot on USA Triathlon Team for the 2012 World University Games

Julie Rechel (Richmond ’11) earned spot on the
USA Triathlon Team for the 2012 World University Games
today on South Carolina.

Congratulations to Spider Alumni Julie Rechel (UR ’11) on qualifying today for the U.S. team for the 2012 World University Games Triathlon Championships to be held next June 29-30 in Yilan County, Chinese Taipei.

No Gimmicks...Simple Hard Work!...My Opinion on FiveFingers.

I was asked my opinion, so here it is...

Andrew Benford wins 4th Annual McLean 5K (October 1, 2011)

Andrew Benford set a course record
in the 4th Annual McLean 5K.

Andrew Benford went to McLean, Virginia yesterday looking for a race.  The end result of his effort was a course record win in the 4th Annual McLean 5K...Benford's winning time of 15:09.0 for the hilly event broke the course record by 35 seconds. The old record of 15:45.5 was set last year by Mark Drath.

Richmond Competes at the 2011 Paul Short Invitational

Beth Kelly, Nicol Traynor and Coach Lori Taylor walk to the start line for the Open Race at the 2011 Paul Short Invitational hosted by Lehigh University.  A total of over 2500 athletes competed in the college/university and high school races.  (Tom Prentice photo) 

DeFonce Running Down Time at Richmond

Current Richmond senior Andi DeFonce, shown dropping the hammer on her competition at the 2011 Atlantic 10 Conference Championships, was featured in a recent article from The Daily Harrison. DeFonce recently ran the Spider Alumni Open over 1 minute faster than last year and helped the Spiders to victory over William & Mary.