University of Richmond Athletics
Spiders Headed To Charlotte For A-10 Outdoor Track & Field Championship
05/01/2009 | Women's Track & Field
May 1, 2009
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - The Richmond outdoor track & field team heads to Charlotte, N.C. this weekend to compete in the 13th Annual Atlantic 10 Championship, hosted by the 49ers at the Irwin-Bell Track & Field Center on the Charlotte campus.
The Spider women, who picked to finish fourth at this year's event by the A-10 coaches, are looking to improve on their fifth-place showing from 2008, while the men were an eighth-place selection by the coaches on the heels of their ninth-place finish last season.
The Championship commences Saturday morning in the Queen City and runs through Sunday evening. Stay tuned to RichmondSpiders.com throughout the weekend for complete coverage, and be sure to check out SpiderTV for a Championship Preview with junior Heather Roush and senior Garrett Graham.
For the third consecutive year, live audio and video streaming of the Championship will be available. The cost for the live video/audio streaming will be $7.95 per day.
The men, who are without talented distance runner Matt Llano (redshirting with an injury), will be aided by a handful of football players in the sprint events. In addition, junior Andrew Benford owns the A-10's fastest time this season in the 3,000m steeplechase (8:59.33), while senior Sean Welsh is seeded fourth in the 800m (1:52.03) and fifth in the 1,500m (3:51.68). Sophomore Tim Quinn owns the A-10's fourth-best time this season in the 10,000m 30:21.05.
In his first competition of the season, sophomore Seth Williams and senior Jordan Mitchell.
In the field events, junior Chris Eccleston has the A-10's second-best mark of the season in the javelin (194-10), while senior Pierre Turner has the league's fourth-best throw in the discus (155-8).
On the women's side, the distance runners will be key coming off the Spiders' A-10 Championship win during the cross country season. Sophomore Nicol Traynor, who will compete in both the 1,500m and the 5,000m, currently owns the NCAA's 21st-fastest 5,000m time this season (16:17.64). Traynor holds the school record in both the 5,000m and the 1,500m (4:33.64).
Traynor heads to Charlotte seeded first in the 5,000m and third in the 1,500m.
Freshman Katrina Spratford, who was tabbed the A-10 Rookie of the Week on April 20, owns the A-10's second-fastest time this season in the 10,000m (35:54.62).
The field events serve as another strength for Richmond, with junior Heather Roush holding the A-10's best mark of the season in the javelin (138-3) and the fifth-best discus mark (148-4). Sophomore Monica Howard is seeded second in the discus (154-6), while freshman Meagan McGovern is seeded fifth in the hammer throw (172-11).
In the jumps, junior Megan Ney has the A-10's fifth-best triple jump mark (38-4) and is eighth in the long jump (17-11 ¾).
Following the A-10 Championship, Traynor has already clinched a spot in the NCAA Regionals with her 5,000m time from the Mt. SAC Relay.
