Second Annual Spider Alumni Open
09/06/2003 | Cross Country
Sept. 6, 2003
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Richmond Freshman Danielle Binns crossed the finish line in 11:13.7 and won the women's 2-mile race in record time at the second annual Spider Alumni Open held this morning at Bandy Field. Richmond Senior Kevin Rhue made it a sweep as he won the men's 5K race with a record time of 15:29.2, breaking his own course record in the process by nearly 10 seconds. Under soft and at times muddy conditions both records fell.
The Spider women competed against the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) women's team and earned a perfect win (15-50), sweeping the top seven places. Binns was one of more than 40 competitors on the women's side, including 10 alumni.
Binns took the lead from the start and was followed closely by Richmond's 5K school record holder Lyndsey Webber, freshman Amanda Russell, freshman Caitlin Smith, senior Alison Belicose and sophomore Nicole Kurtain through the opening mile. Binns moved on to win the race in record time. The course record was held by former Richmond 3K steeple record holder Sherry Sikora in 11:14.6.
Rounding out the top seven on the women's side were senior Lyndsey Webber (11:19.8), freshman Amanda Russell (11:26.7), sophomore Alison Belicose (11:35.6), and freshman Jenna Downey (11:48.4).
"I was pleased with the effort," women's coach Lori Taylor said. "After two weeks of training, it was nice to watch us come together as a team. Our women's team is talented, young (4 freshmen and 1 sophomore in the top 7) and they are working hard."
The rest of the top five on the men's side were red shirt freshman John Ciccarelli (15:45.3), senior Tim Cararmore (15:49.6), senior Reynolds Chapman (16:03.2) who ran unattached.
"Every athlete ran faster than one year ago. John (Ciccarelli) was over a minute (1:10) faster than last year. It shows our team is making progress. We like using this meet as a bench mark to start the season", said men's coach Steve Taylor.
The race preceded a dedication ceremony when the University of Richmond department of athletics named its track after legendary head coach Fred Hardy, who coached at Richmond for 35 year (1950-85).
The Spider cross country team returns to action at the UVA Invitational in Charlottesville, Va. on Saturday, Sept. 13. The race starts at 10 a.m.
Complete Results - Spider Alumni Open
Women's 1. Danielle Binns (UR) 11:13.7 2. Lyndsey Webber (UR) 11:19.8 3. Amanda Russell (UR) 11:26.7 4. Nicole Kurtain (UR) 11:28.1 5. Caitlin Smyth (UR) 11:34.4 6. Alison Belicose (UR) 11:35.6 7. Jenna Downey (UR) 11:48.4 8. Emily Thompson (VCU) 11:55 9. Diane Morse (UR) 12:07.6 10. Jean Addison (VCU) 12:09.1 11. Nicole Erby (UR) 12:13.7 12. Samantha Beese (UR) 12:27.6 13. Emily Ward (UR) 12:30.7 14. Virginia Bunker (UR) 12:32.2 15. Danielle Eaton (UR) 12:32.8 16. Michelle Kidd (VCU) 12:37.2 17. Prisilla Wallace (VCU) 12:39.8 18. Katie Whitehead (VCU) 12:50.6 19. Reagan Mirriam (VCU) 12:55.8 20. Celeste Thompson (VCU) 13:01.1 21. Evan Dove (VCU) 13:11.4 22. Kristina Rios (VCU) 13:24.6 23. Alexis Felt (VCU) 13:26.2 24. Lauren Hofman (VCU) 13:48.2 25. Remy Miriam (VCU) 14:03.5 26. Valarie Wong (VCU) 14:32.1 27. Rhyan Johnson (VCU) 14:55.7 28. Teneisha Campbell (VCU) 16:05.8TEAM 1. Richmond 15 2. VCU 50
Men's 1. Kevin Rhue (UR) 15:29.2 2. John Ciccarelli (UR) 15:45.3 3. Tim Caramore (UR) 15:49.6 4. Jon Lauder (UR) 15:53.7 5. Reynolds Chapman (unattached) 16:03.2 6. Charlie Ban (UR) 16:09.8 7. Patrick Barkhuff (UR) 16:12.8 8. Paul Miguel (Richmond TC) 16:32.0 9. Matt Hannay (Alumni) 16:33.3 10. Andrew Gorby (Richmond TC) 16:39.3 11. Paul John (unattached) 16:51.0 12. Nick Lauerman (Richmond TC) 16:59.4 13. Pete Jennings (Alumni) 17:08 14. Jeff Watson (Alumni) 17:19 15. Stephan O'Zwoldike (Richmond TC) 17:37.2 16. Brian Gildea (Richmond TC) 17:48.4 17. John Alpern (Richmond TC) 18:12.3 18. Jacob Neal (Richmond TC) 18:29.8 19. Don Bragg (Alumni) 25:45.5