University of Richmond Athletics
Indoor Track & Field Preview: Men And Women Looking To Finish At Top Of Atlantic 10
12/09/2005 | Women's Track & Field
Dec. 8, 2005
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - The University of Richmond men's and women's track & field teams enter the 2005-06 indoor season very confident to call themselves complete track & field teams.
Due to the improvement of their returnees and the addition of some newcomers, Richmond head coaches Steve Taylor and Lori Taylor believe they have a men's and women's teams that are strong in the distance, middle distance, sprints, hurdles, jumps and throws.
"We have added depth and talent to areas where we need it, areas where we had a hard time in the past," Steve Taylor said. "We have been strong in the distance and middle distance areas, but now we have a complete track & field team, which is what we've been aiming for."
The Richmond women's team finished third at last year's Atlantic 10 Indoor Championship and the men's team took sixth, but each squad is looking for an improvement this year.
"Our goal, as always is to win the conference championship and get athletes qualified for NCAA's," women's coach Lori Taylor said.
"Our goal is to finish in the top four of the conference," men's coach Steve Taylor said. "That's a good goal and a realistic goal for us. With the addition of Charlotte to the conference that makes it that much harder, so it will take a good performance by us. But that's a realistic goal."
The Richmond women's team has added a trio of freshman to an already talented team.
"We're excited about the young women who have joined our program and we're looking forward to continued improvement as we prepare for the conference championship," Lori Taylor said.
The Spider women's team is especially strong in the throws, where they return a pair of Atlantic 10 champions and NCAA provisional qualifiers. Senior Lindsey Smith qualified for the NCAA Outdoor National Championships in Sacramento, Calif. last spring in the javelin, but will be competing in the shot put indoors. Crocus also specializes in the javelin outdoors, but will compete in the weight throw indoors. Smith won the 2005 Atlantic 10 Outdoor javelin title, while Crocus won the hammer and took second behind Smith in the javelin.
"They're both much stronger than last year and we expect them both to have tremendous years," Lori Taylor said.
Richmond will also be strong in the distances after finishing third at the Atlantic 10 Cross Country Championships this fall.
Junior Amanda Russell, an all-conference runner in both track and cross country, is almost back to 100-percent after a nagging injury that ended her cross country season this fall. She was a NCAA provisional qualifier in the 10,000 meters outdoors and will look to help in the 3,000 and 5,000 this winter.
Sophomore Kylee Schuler was an all-conference selection this fall in cross country, finishing eighth at the Atlantic 10 Championship, and has really made progress and continues to improve.
Senior Nicole Kurtain spent most of the fall dealing with a nagging injury, but was the Atlantic 10 indoor mile champion in 2004. She will help in the mile, 3,000 and 5,000. Junior Jenna Downey and sophomore Shelby Faircloth will also help add depth in the mile, 3,000 and 5,000. The Spiders also have two very talented freshmen distance runners in Karen Guthrie and Mary Bertram.
In the middle distance, the Spiders are led by Diana Morse, who was an all-conference runner in the 1,000, along with Danielle Eaton, the conference champion in the 800. Those two and senior Amy Thesing made up three of the spots on Richmond's Atlantic 10 champion 4x800 relay team.
Thesing will compete in the middle distances and the longer sprints. Sophomore Tara Markay, who scored at the Atlantic 10's in the 500 last year, will also add depth to the middle distances, along with freshmen Lisa Sinkovitz and Emily Nagle.
In the sprints, the Spiders boast four very talented freshman in Jasmine Major, Jessica Young, Angeline Cicero and Paloma Krakower.
Major specializes in the shorter sprints and can also compete in the long jump.
"Jasmine will definitely help us in the sprints," Lori Taylor said. "Her high school times are equal to our school records.
Young had one of the fastest times in the nation last year in the 400 as a high school senior and her personal best last year breaks the current University of Richmond school record by two seconds.
"We expect her to not only compete at the conference level, but at the national level," Lori Taylor said. "She has the ability and potential to be an NCAA provisional qualifier this year."
Cicero's specialty is the 400 hurdles, but she was the Ohio state champion in the 300 hurdles and a state finalist in the 100 hurdles. She will drop down during the indoor season and help the Spiders in the 55 hurdles.
Krakower is another talented of the freshmen sprinters, who all have the fastest times of any student-athletes brought in during Taylor's tenure at Richmond.
Joe Mallory is one of a number of Richmond football players who will be helping the track & field team this winter.  |
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The Richmond men's team is looking to have the same type of mix between improved upperclassmen and promising newcomers.
"Our men's team is getting stronger, the middle distance and distance runners really made improvements and we're adding a good group of newcomers," Steve Taylor said. "With the addition of a number of football players who had success as a team this fall, we've really added some depth in areas where we have been lacking in the past."
"We certainly have an improved group of distance runners and more depth, especially in the middle distance, the 800 and 1,000," Taylor said. "We have several incoming freshmen that should help us out and the addition of some good football players will help us in the sprints, hurdles and throws."
The Spiders are very young in the distances, with the exception of senior John Ciccarelli, the 2004 Atlantic 10 cross country champion and the defending conference champion in the 3,000.
"John will be looking to repeat as the conference champion in the 3,000 and he will certainly be tough in the mile, 3,000 and 5,000," Taylor said. "As a team we had a great fall cross country season, the sophomores are much improved, so we're hoping that will translate on the track."
Sophomore John Molz was an all-conference performer last winter in the 1,000, taking second at the Atlantic 10 Championships and will be strong in the 800, 1,000 and 3,000. Sophomore Hunter Willis finished sixth in the 5,000 meters at the 2005 Atlantic 10 Indoor Championships.
"John Molz had a great fall and Steve Taylor said.
Sophomore Peter Norquist also will run in the 3,000 and 5,000, along with freshmen Sean McKinney and Mike Gaubinger, who each were in the top five on the cross country team this fall.
Sophomore Ryan Jobes is the top returning middle-distance runner returning for the Spiders. He finished third in the 800 at the Atlantic 10 Outdoor Championship last spring and will focus on the 800 and 1,000. Junior Paul John has a personal best time of 1:53.22 in the 800 and will contribute in the middle distance events.
A trio of very talented freshmen - Garrett Graham, Jeff Strojny and Sean Welsh - will also compete in the middle distance events.
"The three of them come out of high school with great performances in the 800, 1,000 and mile, and will add depth to the team," Steve Taylor said.
Richmond has several student-athletes who were a part of the Spiders football team as it won the Atlantic 10 Championship this fall. Those football players will help out in the hurdles, sprints and throws.
Sophomores Joe Mallory, will look to translate their football success to the track as sprinters.
Senior Will Van Thunen and junior Rusty Burrell, who specialize in the 400 hurdles outdoor, will help at the 400 and 500 indoor. Burrell will also compete in the high jump, along with sophomore footballer Brooks York.
Junior Ryan Cameron and freshman Pierre Turner, two more football players, will both compete in the shot put and weight throw. Turner's specialty is actually the outdoor discus, as he was the Georgia high school state champion as a senior last spring.
The Taylors feel that defending men's and women's champion Rhode Island along with newcomer Charlotte will be at the top of the conference in both the men's and women's indoor conference championship.
"Both Rhode Island and Charlotte have very well-rounded teams, they're not just strong in distances and middle distances," Steve Taylor said. "We feel like we have well-rounded teams too."
