University of Richmond Athletics
Cross Country Opens Season With Spider Alumni Open
08/28/2014 | Cross Country
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - The University of Richmond men's and women's cross country teams will open the 2014 season on Friday when they host the Spider Alumni Open.
The 13th annual running of the event will be held at Mechanicsville's Pole Green Park in suburban Richmond.
This year, the event is more competitive than ever given that it is also serving at the USATF Virginia Association Championship. “This adds prestige to an already competitive meet and will likely attract some of the best open and post collegiate athletes in Virginia in addition to the college athletes competing for their schools”, said Richmond coach Steve Taylor.
The men's 5k race will begin at 6:00 p.m., with the women's two-mile race to follow at 6:30 p.m. In addition to current Spiders and a number of the program's alumni who will return for the race, Richmond will also welcome Chowan, Christopher Newport and William & Mary to Friday's event.
“This meet is a tradition for us and serves annually as the official start to the cross country season, said Spider coach Lori Taylor. “It's a great opportunity for us to see many of our Spider cross country and track & field alumni and watch our teams for the first time this season.”
Taylor continued, “The meet also provides us with our first look at the freshmen and how they respond to the race environment. Having the opportunity to see how the team races and the competitiveness they show is very important. The races provide us with a look at how we collectively perform. Are we a team or a group of individuals? Obviously, we want to be a cohesive team and our success as women's and men's teams will largely depend on how we collectively compete."
After finishing second at last year's Atlantic 10 Championship, the Richmond women were tabbed second in a preseason vote by the league's 13 head coaches.
Although the Spiders have lost standout Jill Prentice, they return sophomore Marisa Ruskan, the 2013 A-10 Rookie of the Year who finished eighth at the Atlantic 10 Championships.
The Richmond men, who were projected to finish eighth in the league, return redshirt senior Ryan Lee, who led the Spider men placing 21st overall in the A-10 Championships, and junior Jordan Chavez, who was the second Spider to cross the finish line, placing 31st.
Additionally, RichmondSpiders.com will be streaming the races live on Friday. Fans can watch the SpiderTV live video stream HERE.
As Coach Steve Taylor said, “It's really exciting and unique to have an event with such a large outdoor venue covered with live video for the viewing enjoyment of our alumni and fans who are unable to make it to Richmond on Friday afternoon to watch the races."
Stay updated on all the latest Richmond Cross Country news on RichmondSpiders.com.
More in-depth coverage can be found by following Head Coach Steve 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
