University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
NCAA Southeast Regional
Llano Clinches NCAA Championship Spot, Men and Women Finish Eighth
11/15/2008 | Cross Country
Nov. 15, 2008
Men's Results | Women's Results
CLEMMONS, N.C. - Junior Matt Llano became the first Richmond men's runner in 29 years to clinch a spot in the NCAA National Championship, thanks to his seventh-place finish Saturday at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championship. Both the men and women collected eighth-place team finishes.
Llano raced to the finish in 30:28.5 in the 10K race at Tanglewood Park in Clemmons, N.C. The junior from Arnold, Md. was the top A-10 finisher in the meet, besting A-10 Champion Dentamo Adu, who finished 14th in 31:01.0
Llano, who was named the A-10 Student of the Year on Monday, was the runner-up to Adu at the A-10 meet.
"This has been a goal of mine since high school," said Llano. "I had the personal goal of a top-10 finish going in to the meet. I just tried to stay with the lead pack, things kept breaking and people kept dropping. I was seventh with about 2K left and knew it was time to finish it out strong."
Junior Andrew Benford was 29th in 31:37.1, freshman Levi Grandt was 53rd (32:14.8), sophomore Tim Quinn was 60th (32:23.5), junior Jon Wilson was 62nd (32:28,4), freshman Tim Smith was 105th (33:20.5) and senior Sean Welsh was 127th (33:48.8).
"This was a tremendous day for our team," said head men's coach Steve Taylor. "Our team ran very well - especially Matt. We had a goal of a top-ten finish going in and knew this would be a great position for us."
The Spiders, who entered the meet ranked 10th in the Southeast Region, finished eighth - which was better than regional foes Louisville (ninth), Charlotte (10th), North Carolina (11th) and Charlotte (12th).
William & Mary was the men's champion, followed by Virginia, NC State, Duke and Liberty in the top-five.
On the women's side, sophomore led the way Nicol Traynor with her 14th-place in a time of 21:29.1. Freshman Katie Spratford ran a 21:53.4, good enough for 33rd place.
"We had the goal of a top-six finish, so we came up a little short," said head women's coach Lori Taylor. "We were just four points behind Virginia Tech and just nine back of Louisville. Nicol ran a great race for us and Katrina turned in a solid freshman performance. It looks like Nicol will fall just two or three places out of spot in the NCAA Championship."
The Spiders finished eighth overall in the team rankings with an average time of 22:07.42.
Junior Alyssa Mankin finished 57th in 22:22.3, sophomore Diana Filtz was 59th (22:23.9), senior Mary Bertram crossed the line in 67th in 22:28.4, junior Amy Van Alstine came in 85th with 22:49.2 and sophomore Erin Lunny finished 109th with a time of 23:11.7.
Virginia won the meet, followed by Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke and William & Mary in the top five.
