Quinn, Ennis Lead Cross Country To Wins In Spider Alumni Open
09/05/2009 | Cross Country
Sept. 5, 2009
RICHMOND, Va. - The Richmond cross country teams opened their 2009 seasons with a pair of victories over William & Mary Saturday afternoon in the Spider Alumni Open at St. Catherine's Field in Richmond. Jenn Ennis led the women, while Tim Quinn paced the men.
Ennis led a Spider women's contingent that swept the eight spots in the women's two-mile event. She was clocked in a winning time of 11:23, followed by Julie Rechel in second (11:36), Kaitlyn Oliver in third (11:45), Beth Kelly in fourth (11:47), Carter Norbo in fifth (11:49), Emma Berry in sixth (11:52), Rachel Sykes in seventh (11:53) and Stephanie Paradis in eighth (11:59).
"I felt great and really strong," said Ennis following the race. "I'm excited to come off a great summer of training and to get out here and race."
"It's good to see everyone race today, especially our freshmen," said women's head coach Lori Taylor. "I felt we had a good pack of runners that pushed well throughout the last mile of the race. We also know where we can improve and look forward to a great year."
The men's 5k race was won by Quinn - his first collegiate victory - in a time of 15:24. The Tribe's Alex McGrath was second, but Levi Grant took third (15:46) and Garrett Graham was fourth (15:52) to help the Spider men take the event.
"I felt good out there throughout," said Quinn. "We moved really well as a team in the middle of the race. The race was controlled early and the 2nd mile I started pushing harder. I'm happy with the team win and to have a good day individually."
Freshman Chris York was seventh (15:54) and Kevin Romesser was 12th (16:16).
"This is a good start for our team," said men's head coach Steve Taylor. "We had an opportunity to see our new runners compete for the first time. We worked well as a team in the middle of the race and were able to keep our pack in tact for nearly the entire race. We'll take a look at the video of the race and talk about it as a team."
The Spiders return to action Sept. 19 at the Carolina Classic.