Spiders Busy Weekend at 2012 Mt SAC Relays, Princeton and CNU

VIDEO PLAYLIST from 2012 Mt SAC Relays


Our teams were split this past weekend between the Mt SAC Relays in Walnut, CA...the Princeton Invitational in Princeton, NJ and the CNU Invitational in Newport News, VA...Here are our results:

Jason Skipper (JR) and Liz Schinski (SO) were victorious this weekend
for the Spiders.

Underclassmen Strong as Spiders Wrap up Weekend

Richmond's Gibson Sets New School Mark at 2012 George Mason Invite

VIDEO PLAYLIST
Courtesy:Richmond Athletics 
Release:04/14/2012

FAIRFAX, Va. - The Richmond track & field squads turned in a number of strong showings, including a school-record performance by sophomore Grace Gibson, at Saturday's Mason Invitational in Fairfax, Va.

After equaling her own program mark in the pole vault at the Fred Hardy Invitational two weeks ago, Gibson (Virginia Beach, Va./Princess Anne) completed the feat with a new school-record jump of 3.45 meters to tie for seventh in the event.

Senior Meaghan McGovern (North Kingston, R.I./North Kingston) had another fine finish in the hammer throw, turning in a season-best toss of 55.70 meters to conclude the event as the top collegian and in second overall.

Richmond's McGovern, Mannon Make Away with Wins at 2012 Colonial Relays

VIDEO PLAYLIST
Courtesy:Richmond Athletics

Release:04/07/2012

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - Senior Meaghan McGovern and sophomore Alli Mannon each came away with wins to highlight action for the Spiders at William and Mary's Colonial Relays this weekend.

McGovern (North Kingston, R.I./North Kingston) opened the meet with a top finish in the women's hammer throw on Thursday. The senior, who is just one week removed from setting a new meet and facility record at the Fred Hardy Invitational, turned in a toss of 51.82 meters (170') to win the event by more than two meters over Delaware's second-place finisher.

Mannon (Litiz, Pa./Warwick) followed McGovern's lead in the 3,000 meters, which she won with a time of 9:57.84 as one of two runners to record sub-10 minute times. Classmate Elizabeth Schinski (Geneseo, N.Y./Geneseo) crossed the line in 10:14.80 to secure a seventh-place finish.

Also earning a top-three finish this weekend was senior Nicol Traynor (Basking Ridge, N.J./Basking Ridge), who captured third in the 3,000 Meter Steeplechase with a time of 10:17.88. Newcomer Alli Stapleton (Commack, N.Y./Commack) finished 17th in 11:25.00.

Richmond's 2012 Fred Hardy Invitational (March 29-30)

Both days of the 2012 Fred Hardy Invitational were streamed live on SpiderTV. Links to both day's video streams along with a complete timeline detailing each event's and interview's start time in relation to the video stream can be found below

Friday's Full-Length Video Stream

Spiders Wrap Up Rainy Day in Williamsburg

Spiders Wrap Up Rainy Day in Williamsburg

Courtesy:Richmond Athletics
Release:03/24/2012

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The Richmond men's and women's track & field squads completed their second meet of the outdoor season on Saturday with what was a consistently rainy affair at William and Mary's Tribe Invite in Williamsburg.

Sophomore Sean Livesey (Philadelphia, Pa./Devon Preparatory School) locked up his first-ever top finish in the javelin, recording a toss of 45.68 meters (149'10") to capture the event.

Senior Meaghan McGovern (North Kingston, R.I./North Kingston) continued her strong start to the season in the hammer throw, hurling the hammer a distance of 46.90 meters (153'10") to take third in the event.

READ MORE

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."

READ MORE

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.