University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Atlantic 10 Championships
Women's Cross Country Takes Second; Men Finish Fourth At Atlantic 10 Championships
10/28/2006 | Cross Country
Oct. 28, 2006
Women's Results
PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Richmond women's cross country team finished second out of 14 teams and the men's team took fourth out of 13 teams at the 2006 Atlantic 10 Championship on Saturday at Schenley Park.Richmond earned both of the meet's Outstanding Rookie Awards with freshman Amy Van Alstine taking fourth in the women's race and freshman Andrew Benford taking eighth to lead all rookies in the men's race.
The Richmond women's team took second behind La Salle, posting their sixth top-3 finish in as many Atlantic 10 Championship appearances. La Salle won the race with 26 points, while Richmond had 81 and Charlotte was third with 91 points.
"La Salle beat us pretty handily," Richmond women's coach Lori Taylor said. "I told the girls earlier in the week that we needed five in the top 12 to win. La Salle put five in the top 11. They ran incredibly, their coach said it was their best race of the season. You've got to be able to bring your A-plus game, and we just didn't. Team wise we probably had our worst race of this season. We knew it would be hard to get them, but I thought we had the opportunity."
Richmond's men finished fourth with 101 points, just two points behind third-place Massachusetts. La Salle also won the men's race with 52 points, while Duquesne was second (83).
"We met our team goal and to have three all-conference performers and the top two freshmen is great," Richmond head coach Steve Taylor. "Our goal all season was to finish in the top-5 and we were two points out of third. Our guys ran extremely well, we put it together."
Van Alstine led the Spider women's team for the third time in five races this fall, finishing the 6K course in 18:02.35. The Midland Park, N.J. native was the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week after all four of Richmond's regular-season races and now adds the conference's Rookie of the Year award to her accolades.
"Amy ran a great race, she did what she's worked on all season," Lori Taylor said. "She's run good to great races all season and she really had her best race today, which is what we needed out of everybody."
Richmond junior Amanda Russell finished ninth in 18:28.80 to join Van Alstine on the all-conference team. Junior Kylee Schuler took 21st in 18:56.75, junior Shelby Faircloth was 23rd in 18:58.00 and freshman Alyssa Mankin followed in 24th in 18:59.30. Sophomore Karen Guthrie took 28th in 19:07.90 and sophomore Mary Bertram was 34th in 19:24.70.
Andrew Benford led the Spiders with an eighth-place finish in the men's race.  |
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Benford, a two-time Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week, led the men's team with an eighth-place finish in a time of 25:44.50 on the 5-mile course.
"Andrew was 25th at the halfway point and moved all the way up to eighth over the last two miles," Steve Taylor said. "The last part of the race was uphill, he was in his element."
Fellow freshman Matt Llano was the second Spider to finish and the second freshman in the race to cross the line, taking 10th in a time of 25:50.55.
"We're excited to have the top two freshmen in the race for the men, that says a lot about the future of our program and where we are headed," Steve Taylor said. "Benford and Llano just kept moving through the race."
Junior Hunter Willis gave the Spiders three all-conference runners with a 13th-place finish in 25:57.85. Junior Jonathan Molz took 26th in 26:23.60. Freshman Jon Wilson finished 44th in 26:54.55, sophomore Sean Welsh took 64th in 27:18.80 and junior Peter Norquist was 74th in 27:34.30.
"Two years ago on the same course 15th place on same exact course under worse conditions would have placed you 40th," Taylor said. "The Atlantic 10 has just gotten better across the board. We ran incredibly well, if we can get a couple of key recruits we feel we can compete for the title in the next few years."
The Spider men and women's teams return to action on Nov. 11 at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships.
