University of Richmond Athletics
Chavez Selected To 2013 U.S. Mountain Running Team
07/31/2013 | Cross Country
UNIVERSITY of RICHMOND, Va. – University of Richmond's rising sophomore Jordan Chavez has been selected to the 2013 USATF Junior (under 20) Mountain Running Team and will compete at the 29th World Mountain Running Championships Sunday, September 8 in Krynica – Zdroj, Poland.
“I am very excited and grateful to be apart of the mountain running team again this year,” said Chavez. “It is awesome to be able to follow in the footsteps of excellent Spider runners such as Andew Benford, Chris York and Ryan Lee. This race is a great platform for a successful cross country season and I know I can live up to the expectation Coach Taylor has for me in Poland.”
Chavez continues a Spider tradition that dates back to 2006 when Andrew Benford led the U.S. Junior team with his 12th-place finish in the World Mountain Running Championships. Benford went on to a storied career culminating with his All-American performance in the NCAA 3K Steeplecase his senior campaign. Since his initial performance, the University of Richmond has been represented 12 times on the U.S. Mountain Running Team.
“As a staff, we are really excited for Jordan and his selection to the national team for the second year,” said head men's cross country coach Steve Taylor. “He has been a focused athlete and has been training in Colorado this summer as he prepares for the 2013 cross country season and now the World Mountain Running Championships. He is one of a long line of mountain runners to be part of our program and makes the 12th U.S. National Team representative our program has had in the past eight years. We have seen successful cross country and track athletes make the transition into mountain running as part of their regular training cycle during the years and look forward to more of our athletes making mountain running a focal point of their yearly cycle of training and racing.”
The course will run through the Jaworzyna Mountain near Krynica – Zdroj, Poland starting downhill and running through the mountain terrain. Jaworzyna Mountain is located in the heart of the Poprad Landscape Park and it is the highest peak in the eastern part of Beskid Sadecki mountain massif. With both junior and senior categories participating, 37 countries are slated to compete.
