University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
William & Mary Open
Spider XC Competes At Paul Short Invitational
10/06/2013 | Cross Country
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Richmond cross country continued its season Saturday at the 40th annual Paul Short Invitational. Despite the October heat the women managed to place 18th, while the men took 28th. Senior's Jason Skipper and Jill Prentice led the way for the Spiders.
“It was a challenging day to race,” said head women's coach Lori Taylor. “The conditions were extremely hot for an early Fall day in a competitive race that had almost 500 runners including many top 10 nationally ranked teams.”
On a day where seven races were cancelled due to heat, the Richmond women had three Spiders finish in the top 100, including Jill Prentice (44th, 21:21), Tara Hanley (52nd, 21:27) and Marisa Ruskan (79th, 21:39).
Elizabeth Schinksi, Taylor Clevinger, Molly Parsons and Emma Nowak also participated for the Spiders.
“Our top three women ran well but we continue to look for our No. 4 and No. 5 runner to close the gap of our scorers,” commented head women's coach Lori Taylor. “Our freshmen are gaining experience and we are getting runners healthy and back racing at the 6K distance. We have good momentum and continue to make progress. Our team knows we are working to put everything together when it matters most at the A-10 championships and the NCAA Regional championships.”
As a team, the Richmond women tallied 585 points, which left them 60 points behind the 17th-place finisher, University of Pennsylvania. Georgetown University won the race with 112 points.
The Spider Men were able to clock two top 100 finishers, Jason Skipper (48th, 24:49) and Mathew McKenna (89th, 25:20). Jordan Chavez, Andrew Valenski and Matthew Groff also competed for the Spiders.
“It was tough out there for everyone today,” commented head men's coach Steve Taylor. “It was the first 8k race of the season for us, on a really hot day so we learned quite a bit about where we are and what changes we need to address as we move forward. No question we'll need a couple good weeks of training before we compete again in two weeks in California.”
The Richmond men finished 28th with 775 points, 48 points behind 27th-place finisher, Dickinson College. Indiana University won the race with 89 points.
The Spiders return to action Saturday, Oct. 19 when they travel to Sunnyvale, Calif., for the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational. Start time is scheduled for 10 a.m.
Stay updated on all the latest Richmond Cross Country news on RichmondSpiders.com and by accessing Spider Athletics' mobile apps on your Smartphone or tablet. More in-depth coverage can be found by following Head CoachSteve Taylor on Twitter and by reading his blog. The Spiders also have their own Facebook page and have launched their own YouTube Channel as well.
Players Mentioned
