University of Richmond Athletics
Spiders Set For Indoor Championship Meet
02/14/2013 | Women's Track & Field
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va.- The Richmond women's and men's track and field team travels north this weekend for the Atlantic 10 Indoor Championship in Kingston, R.I. The two day meet, hosted by University of Rhode Island, is schedule to begin on Saturday at 9:00 a.m. at the Mackal Field House. Day two action is slated to begin at 9:00 a.m. with field events.
Two-time Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week, Mary Allen, will lead the Spiders on the women's side in the sprint events. Allen broke the school record in the 300m with a time of 40.01. She recorded a 57.57 split in the 400m, the fastest performance time of the Spiders this season.
Allen joined with Jade Gregory, Amber Young, and Deborah Fajuyigbe in the 4x400 meter relay where the squad broke the school record at the Virginia Tech Invitational (3:52.06). Then two weeks later shave more time off the record at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational with a time of 3:50.27.
In middle distance, Alyson McGonigle was named A-10 Performer of the Week after clocking in at 2:12.82 in the 800 meter for a first place finish in the 800m. She returns to the track in the 800m this weekend.
The Spider women have garnered a lot of success in distance events during the indoor season. Senior Stephanie Paradis took first in the mile and came close to breaking the five-minute mark (5:00.54) at the Liberty Quad.
Jill Prentice will be a strong presence for the Spiders in the 3000m. Prentice placed second in the 3000m at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational with a time of 9:40.28.
Pentathlon record holder, Meghan Hart, is gearing up for the pentathlon this upcoming weekend. Last season she earned 3,196 points shattering the previous school record, held by Cathleen Campbell. Teammates Ann O'Toole and Amanda Thatcher will also be competing in the pentathlon.
In field events, Grace Gibson seeks to break her school record for a second time this season. At the Liberty Quad, Gibson cleared the 3.45m mark to break her own record.
Janel Francis is slated to compete in the long jump and triple jump for the Spiders. Francis' top mark of the season in the long jump is 10.68m and 5.39m in the long jump.
Distance events have been the men's team strength this indoor season. Matthew Groff leads the Spiders with the team's top season time of 2:29.45 in the 1000m. Teammate Justin Keefe boasted a time of 2:32.97 in the event, earning him a third place finish at the highly competitive Patriot Games.
In addition to the 1000m, Groff exceled in the mile with a season top time of 4:16.26 and second place finish at the Liberty Quad. Teammate Jason Skipper earned first in the mile at the quad finishing a little under a second ahead of Groff (4:15.69).
In the 3000m the Spiders earned a one-two finish at the New Balance Collegiate. Adam Owens took first, clocking in at 8:35.46. Teammate and freshman Matthew Barudin posted a time of 8:38.42 for a second place finish in the event. The duo strives to repeat their success up in Rhode Island this weekend.
Richard Arnett will represent the team in the 400m while Thomas Smail is anticipated to compete in the 800m. Last time out he clocked in at 1:10.36.
The women's team finished sixth at the 2012 conference meet while the men earned ninth place during last seasons conference meet.
Stay updated on this weekend's conference meet and all the latest Spider Track & Field news and notes here on RichmondSpiders.com. While a recap can be found after each day of action, live results will also be provided following the conclusion of each event. More in-depth coverage can be found on Coach Taylor's blog and by following him on Twitter.
Players Mentioned
