University of Richmond Athletics
Track & Field Opens 2012 at Dick Taylor Invite
01/12/2012 | Women's Track & Field
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - The Richmond men's and women's track & field teams will kick off 2012 at UNC's Dick Taylor Invitational on Friday in Chapel Hill, N.C. The two-day event will be held in the Tar Heels' Eddie Smith Field House.
SPIDER COACHING
STAFF
This weekend's meet marks head coaches Steve and Lori Taylor's 10th
season at the helm of Spider Track & Field. This fall they have also
brought on a pair of new full-time assistants in Greg Lambert and Jon Molz.
Lambert will spearhead sprints, jumps and hurdles, while Molz will assist in a
wide array of areas along with serving as the team's recruiting coordinator.
Furthermore, the hires of Lambert and Molz will be instrumental in helping the Spiders continue to build the program after recent successes in both track & field and cross country have raised expectations for the programs. Several volunteer coaches, including former Spider All-American Andrew Benford '11, will also step in to aid the Spider cause in 2012.
SETTING THE
STAGE FOR THE SEASON
The Spider women welcome back a talented corps in both the track and
field events this season. 2012 is expected to be a big year for senior leader Nicol
Traynor, who earned All-America honors and qualified for June's U.S. Olympic
Trials in the 3,000 steeplechase at last year's NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Traynor turned in a time of 10:02.94 in the event at
NCAAs to finish the year ranked 19th in U.S. Track & Field News' recent 2011
end-of-year national performance rankings.
Sophomore Jill Prentice now looks to carry the momentum of her first-place finish at October's A-10 Cross Country Championships into the indoor season. The distance standout has clearly only continued to develop since qualifying for the NCAA First Round in the 5,000 Meters a year ago.
Senior Amanda Caporelli has battled injury and returns as a contender in the jumps and sprints. Sophomore Meghan Hart begins her second season with the red and blue in multi and hurdles after making significant strides over the past year, while senior standout Meagan McGovern will lead the way in the field events after winning the hammer throw at last year's Penn Relays.
On the men's side, Coach Steve Taylor said it best in noting that "leadership is everything and performances will then follow." The Spiders will look to a crop of fresh faces to take the reins following the loss of a strong senior class that included both Benford and 2010 All-American Matt Llano.
If the cross country season is any indication, however, there will be no shortage of leadership, as the talented junior trio of Conor Phelan, Jason Skipper and Chris York stepped in to lead from the start this past fall.
The team also welcomes the return of sophomore Ryan Lee, who redshirted the cross country season and is expected to build on a terrific 2011 rookie campaign. Stepping off the track for a moment, senior Devin Cassels has proven himself a force in the pole vault and will lead the Spider charge in the field events in the months ahead.
MEET
RESULTS
A meet recap and complete results will be made available on
RichmondSpiders.com following each day of action. More immediate results and additional
in-depth coverage can also be found on Coach Taylor's blog and by following him on Twitter.
Players Mentioned
