University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Iona College Meet of Champions
Spiders Men's and Women's XC Both Finish Fifth at Iona
09/19/2015 | Cross Country
BRONX, N.Y. – Richmond Men's and Women's Cross Country both finished in fifth place at the Iona College Meet of Champions on Saturday, September 19th at the Van Cortlandt Park.
In the Men's 8K race, Spider's top performer was senior Tim Gruber, who finished in eight place out of 115 runners with a time of 26:15.6. The second Spider to cross the finish line was senior Matt McKenna, finishing in 22nd with a time of 26:57.9.
“We were thin on the men's side today with only five men going to the start line," said coach Steve Taylor. "It was a solid effort overall with Tim Gruber running a very good race. At 6.5K he was in third place chasing the two Arkansas runners looking really strong. On Cemetery Hill there was a strong charge by Wisconsin to close the gap and catch Tim, but he held his position over the final 800M. We're looking forward to the coming weeks and pulling our top five split closer together.”
In the Women's 6K race, Richmond's best finisher was sophomore Kaelyn Heinicke, who finished in 15th place with a time of 23:02.7. The next two women for the Spiders to cross the finish line was Marisa Ruskan in 28th with a time of 23:28.7 and Colleen Carney in 30th crossing the finish line with a time of 23:29.0.
The Spider men's team finished in fifth out of 10 teams with 154 points and an average time of 27:28.2. Finishing in the top five for the men was sophomore Johnny Hogue, who finished 30th with a time of 27:23.9. In fourth for the Spiders was Jordan Chavez finishing 37th with a time of 27:42.0. In fifth for Richmond was junior Andrew Brennan, ending the race in 57th overall with a time of 29:01.5.
The women's side also finished in fifth place among 11 teams with a total of 154 points. Finishing in fourth for Richmond was sophomore Amanda Corbosiero, who crossed the line in 38th out of 135 competitors with a time of 23:38.2. In fifth for the Spider women was fellow sophomore Courtney Thompson finishing in 43rd and completing the race with a time of 23:49.6.
“We fell short of our team goals today," said head coach Lori Taylor. "We want this young team to compete confidently and test their abilities against top programs. Most importantly we must continue to work together collectively as a team when we are out there racing. We know the key to this team's success is for our stronger women up front to stick together and run as a pack-no matter what and for everyone else to work hard to close the gap. I like the team's attitude and our chemistry is coming together. We just need to continue to work hard and run together as a unit."
The Spiders raced against seven national ranked opponents on the men and women's side. The men's 8k race saw 10 teams compete. In first place was number four nationally ranked Wisconsin with 25 points and in second was No. 17 nationally-ranked Arkansas with 51 points.
The women's 6k saw number 10 in the nation Wisconsin finish in first with 26 combined points and Johns Hopkins finish in second with 59 points.
The Spiders will race again in two weeks when they travel to Kentucky to compete in the Greater Louisville Classic on October 3rd.
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.
Players Mentioned
