University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Atlantic 10 Championship
Spider Women Capture Atlantic 10 Cross Country Title; Men Take Third
11/01/2008 | Cross Country
Nov. 1, 2008
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The Richmond women's cross country team captured the program's second A-10 Championship Saturday in Charlotte, N.C. Sophomore Nicol Traynor was third overall to lead the women, while junior Matt Llano was the runner-up to lift the Spider men to a third-place finish.
With four runners in the top-11 places, led by the third-place finish from Traynor, the fifth-place showing from junior Amy Van Alstine and the sixth-place from freshman Katrina Spratford, the women ran away with the title with 48 points - 19 better than second-place Charlotte.
The title for the women is the second in program history (2003) and breaks the streaks of two consecutive runner-up finishes for the Spiders and four consecutive titles by La Salle.
"We're excited about the win and bringing the title back to Richmond," said Lori Taylor, who was awarded the A-10 Women's Coach of the Year for the second time in her career. "I'm so proud of girls and the way the season has gone so far. This has been a constant focus for our team all season."
Traynor finished the 5K meet in 17:48.1, with Van Alstine (18:17.0) and Spratford (18:15.4) right behind the sophomore. Senior Mary Bertram was 11th (18:34.1) to complete the list of three Spiders that earned All-Conference honors. As the top freshmen finisher, Spratford earned the Rookie of the Year Award - two years after Van Alstine captured the honor.
"Nicol and Amy got out hard and set the tone of the race," said Taylor. "Although they couldn't hold the lead at the end, they did what they needed to do and we got a great race from Katrina to earn the Rookie of the Year honor and an incredible effort from Mary Bertram - our lone senior."
Also for the Spiders, sophomore Diana Filtz was 23rd (18:49.1), freshman Carter Norbo was 33rd (19:02.2), junior Jenn Ennis was 35th (19:03.9), junior Alyssa Mankin was 44th (19:16.0), freshman Emma Berry was 50th (19:21.0), sophomore Julie Rechel was 56th (19:25.5) and freshman Beth Kelly was 67th (19:42.5).
Chartlotte's Amanda Goeschius (17:37.7) won the individual title, helping the host 49ers to second place. Dayton was third (103 points), Xavier was fourth (108) and Duquesne was fifth (151) to round out the top five.
The men, which entered the meet as the fifth-ranked team in the A-10, surpassed their ranking for the second-consecutive season with a third-place finish in the hotly-contented 8K race. Llano's runner-up finish (24:05.2) paced the Spiders, with fellow junior Andrew Benford taking fourth (24:13.7).
"The men ran really well," said head men's coach Steve Taylor. "This was without question our best meet of the season and I'm proud of the fact our training has paid off and we came together as a team at the right time."
Llano finished less then four seconds behind the winner - Charlotte's Adu Dentamo - who posted the fastest time in A-10 Championship history and the third-fastest time ever in the conference (24:01.9).
"It was my belief going in that this would be the best men's race in conference history and it was," said Taylor. "This league has a tremendous amount of talent and depth and Matt and Andrew ran brilliantly. It was Adu, Matt and Andrew throughout the meet, but Andrew was just picked off at the end."
Sophomore Tim Quinn finished 35th (25:12.4), junior Jon Wilson was 36th (25:12.6), freshman Levi Grandt was 40th (25:17.1), freshman Tim Smith was 62nd (26:06.5), sophomore Kevin Rommesser was 73rd (26:27.5), senior Jeff Strojny was 85th (26:48.0), senior Sean Welsh was 93rd (26:56.2), junior Garrett Graham was 100th (27:07.2) and sophomore Calvin Virgilio was 126th (27:57.8).
Massachusetts (75 points) just edged out Duquesne (76 points) for the team title, while the Spiders (111) were followed by Charlotte (115) and La Salle (122) to comprise the top five.
The Spiders are scheduled to compete next weekend at the Virginia Invitational in Charlottesville, and in two weekends will run in Winston-Salem, N.C. at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championship.
Spiders on the 2008 Atlantic 10 All-Conference Teams
Men:
Matt Llano - Junior
Andrew Benford - Junior
Women:
Nicol Traynor - Sophomore
Amy Van Alstine - Junior
Katrina Spratford - Freshman (Most Outstanding Rookie Performer)
Mary Bertram - Senior
Coach of the Year: Lori Taylor - Richmond
