University of Richmond Athletics
Benford Makes U.S. Team; Lucking 2nd in U.S. Championship
08/04/2015 | Cross Country
BEND, Oregon - The University of Richmond was well represented in the 2015 U.S. and Collegiate Mountain Running National Championships held on the slopes of Mt. Bachelor Ski Area near Bend, Oregon on July 25th.
Richmond Alumni Andrew Benford (UR '11) placed fourth in the U.S. Championship race to earn an automatic berth to the 2015 U.S. Mountain Running Team (USMRT) for the 31st running of the World Mountain Running Championships to be held this September in Snowdonia, Wales.
As a Spider he earned NCAA DI All-America honors in the 3KSC in 2011 and was crowned Atlantic 10 Cross Country Champion in 2010 helping the Spiders advance to a 24th place finish in the 2010 NCAA DI Cross Country Championships. He was selected to the 2006 U.S. Junior (U20) Mountain Running Team (USMRT) and ran his way onto the 2009 USMRT. With his achievements he is the only U.S. athlete in history to make both the Junior (U20) and Senior Mountain Running Teams for the World Championships.
Current rising Spider sophomore, Alex Lucking ran his way to the runner-up position in the 2015 U.S. Junior U-20 National Championships while sophomore teammate Johnny Hogue, who narrowly missed the age cut-off to be eligible for the U20 competition, raced his way to 12th place in the 2015 Collegiate National Championship. Spider senior Jordan Chavez, who helped the U.S. team to a silver medal one week earlier at the NACAC Championships in BC, Canada succumbed to an injury during the race and did not finish.
“This was another great opportunity for our athletes to compete on the national stage against our nation's best athletes in this discipline of our sport,” said Spiders head men's coach Steve Taylor. “I'm excited for Johnny and Alex and their efforts today. As we look forward and rebuild our men's program we want to showcase what our program has to offer. As we look to the future as well as back to Jordan's performance last weekend, the NACAC Championships marked the 18th time since 2006 that a current Richmond team member has represented team USA in international competition. We place a large focus on our athletes not just competing at the highest levels of NCAA D1 athletics, but also helping guide them to opportunities to compete on the international stage through mountain, trail and road races in addition to the NCAA competitions. They are getting to see amazing parts of the World while wearing the red, white and blue of the USA. That's pretty awesome.”
The USATF event marked the second time in history that college students competed for the title of Collegiate Mountain Running National Champion. The race attracted the best mountain runners in the nation, crowning not only the College National Champion, but also the U.S. Mountain Running Champions with the top six men and top four women earning automatic berths to the 2015 U.S. Mountain Running Team (USMRT).
The race also offered $6,000 in prize money specifically reserved for college students and an additional $10,000 in prize money for the U.S. Mountain Running Championships. With a total of $16,000 in prize money, Collegiate and U.S. titles on the line and automatic berths to the U.S. Mountain Running Team collectively provided a recipe for fierce competition within the event and what experts described as the “deepest U.S. field” in mountain running championships history.
245 total participants (155 men, 90 women) from 29 US states and 56 current college students representing 47 colleges and universities were on hand for the Collegiate Running Association's Mountain Running National Championships. With relatively new NCAA legislation (August 2013) permitting varsity NCAA DI athletes to accept prize money to cover sport related expenses, the Collegiate Running Association provided $6,000 in prize money specifically reserved for college students who were enrolled in at least 1 college course at any level (undergraduate, graduate or post graduate) between January 1 and the day of the race. To mirror the World Championships race distances the women's race was 8K in length, consisting of two 4K laps while the men completed three laps of the 4K circuit for a 12K (~7 miles) up-down course. Each lap included over 800 vertical feet of elevation gain in the first half of the loop from the Mt. Bachelor Sunrise Lodge, which sits at just over 6,400 feet elevation, to the Summit Crossover which is at 7,300 feet elevation.
Cool temperatures of 50 degrees greeted runners at the start of the women's race, and as a result there was little hesitation among the field as the competitors attacked the uphill start from the beginning. The first mile included over 800 feet of vertical climb on what is best described as “jaw dropping” terrain.
“Our athletes performed well,” said coach Taylor. “Johnny really did a great job, as did Alex, and they indicated they enjoyed this competition even though it was so grueling. This racing is as pure as it gets. It's not about time, splits or how well the course is groomed. This race was about pure competitive spirit and the athlete's ability to push themselves when every part of their body was giving them reasons not to.”
Winning the Collegiate title was Patrick Smyth (University of Utah) who was also crowned the U.S. Champion.
For all the latest news and coverage on Richmond cross country and track & field, be sure to go to 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 and Instagram pages and have also launched their own YouTube Channel.
