University of Richmond Athletics
Cross Country Heads To NCAA Southeast Regional Championship Saturday
11/09/2007 | Cross Country
Nov. 9, 2007
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Fresh off a pair of second-place finishes at the Atlantic 10 Championships, the Richmond men's and women's cross country teams prepare for the NCAA Southeast Regional in Louisville, Ky. Saturday morning. The 10K men's race begins at 11 a.m. followed by the 6K women's race at 12:15 p.m.
All-Atlantic 10 performer Jonathan Molz, who finished third at the A-10 Championships in Philadelphia two weeks ago, leads the men into Derby City after the best finish in program history at the A-10 meet. On a sloppy course in a torrential downpour, Molz battled the elements and the field to post a 10K time of 25:45.
Andrew Benford (25:51) was sixth and Matt Llano (26:03) was 12th. The men's trio of Molz, Benford and Llano were the Spiders' top-three finishers against a tough, regional field on a similar course at the University of Arkansas the meet prior to the A-10 Championship.
"Our men are really looking forward to this weekend," said men's head coach Steve Taylor. "We compete in the biggest region with the largest number of teams and we feel our guys are ready. Our goal at the beginning of the season has been a Top-10 finish at this meet. We feel that the teams ranked from seven to 12 are very evenly matched. A couple of those have guys that will run at the very front of the race but they lack depth. We have five strong runners in Jonathan (Molz), Matt (Llano), Andrew (Benford), Jon (Wilson) and Hunter (Willis) that are nearly interchangeable on a given day.
With weather playing a big factor at the A-10 Championship in Philadelphia, more benign conditions and a flatter course could make for a much different meet in Louisville Saturday.
"The race has the potential to be fast based on the predicted weather and the course. The terrain at Tom Sawyer Park is mostly flat. Unlike our conference meet course which was hilly and also very muddy, this one should be firm and quick."
On the women's side, the Spiders are looking to build on their second-place finish at the A-10 Championship where Kylee Schuler and Nicol Traynor were Richmond's top two finishers.
Schuler ran the meet in 18:53 and Traynor in 19:13 with each earning All-Conference honors. Julie Rechel finished 17th overall in a time of 19:24. Amy Van Alstine, who was ill most of the week leading up to the A-10 meet, finished 20th (19:38).
"The women's team is also looking forward to the meet," said women's head coach Lori Taylor. "They move up to the 6K, which they are very familiar with since all but our conference meet have been held at distance. We have a goal of finishing in the Top-10 also, but believe with a great day we can be as high as eighth.
"Our region is one of the deepest and toughest in the nation, so we know what we will face on Saturday. The region should qualify five to six teams this year. As we look at our team we look at Kylee Schuler as our candidate to qualify to the NCAA Championships. She has been running very well all season, leading our team throughout. She handled the fast, early pace practically every weekend and our entire team will have to do that this weekend."
At this NCAA Regional last season on the same course, the women finished 16th and the men 19th in the 32-team field.
