University of Richmond Athletics
Spiders Open 2006-07 Season At UNC-Wilmington
10/20/2006 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Oct. 20, 2006
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - After garnering its fifth-straight Atlantic 10 title and qualifying two swimmers in last season's NCAA Championships, Richmond's swimming and diving squad is set to open its 2006-07 season in Wilmington, N.C., Saturday. The Spiders, led by second-year head coach Matt Barany, will take on the UNC-Wilmington Seahawks and Duke Blue Devils at the Seahawk Natatorium beginning at 2 p.m., Oct. 21.
Richmond returns 13 members of its 2005-06 roster, including junior Jessica Witt and sophomore Lauren Beaudreau, both of whom qualified for the 2006 NCAA Championships. Witt went on to earn All-America honors in the 400 IM with a time of 4:16.15 to place her ninth overall. Beaudreau, Richmond's first-ever freshman to qualify for the NCAA Championships, swam in three events at the NCAA Finals and recorded a best of 17th place in the 200 IM with a mark of 2:00.92.
This past summer, Beaudreau, a native of Lafayette, Calif., logged Olympic Trial qualifying times in the 200 meter IM (2:18.38), the 200 meter breast (2:35.89) and the 400 meter IM (4:53.44). Those three times earned her a berth in the U.S. Olympic Trials in the summer of 2008 where she will compete to be part of the U.S. Olympic squad for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
In all the Spiders broke four Atlantic 10 marks last season, and now hold 11 records at the Atlantic 10 meet. The Spiders have won the conference meet five-straight times and have wracked up consecutive individual honors in the conference over the last five years.
After this weekend's meet against UNCW and the Blue Devils, the Spiders will return home for their only home meet of the season, Oct. 27. Richmond, which will celebrate its six seniors prior to the event, hosts NC State in the Robins Center Natatorium at 5 p.m. Admission will be free.
