From The AD's Desk

Greetings Spiders!

Richmond Athletics is off and running in the 2022-23 academic year! Students have started classes, our fall sports teams have started competing, and Spiders from all over campus are excited for a fresh start in 2022. Whether they are returning to Richmond for a fourth (or fifth!) season or stepping foot on campus for the first time, all of our Spider student-athletes are eager and ready to begin a new year!

Hightower Joins Spider Student-Athletes at Leadership Dinner

To start the new academic year, the Spiders Performance and Development Program kicked off its 2022-23 Leadership Initiative last week with former Spider football standout Tim Hightower delivering the keynote address during our leadership dinner at the Queally Admissions Center (LINK). During this powerful session, Hightower shared the important role of leaders in our lives and necessity of working successfully as part of a team. He explained the importance of setting goals and not being deterred by life's many challenges. He also shared how lessons learned from his time as a Richmond Spider and an NFL running back have impacted his life after athletics. We're thankful to have a Spiders legend back on campus and know his message of teamwork and resilience will make an impact on our current student-athletes throughout the school year.

Spider Student-Athletes Kick-off the 2022-2023 Year

While we can still celebrate last year's successes illustrated in the 2021-22 Year in Review, we're already seeking new victories in 2022-23, as Spiders soccer and field hockey are in the midst of challenging non-conference schedules. Three more teams will open their seasons on Saturday. Men's and women's cross-country will host their annual Spider Alumni Open at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, Va. Spider football will open its 2022 campaign with a visit to Virginia, taking on the Cavaliers at 12:30 PM on MASN and other ACC Network regional partners. (LINK). The Spiders, who enter the season ranked in the top 25 of both national NCAA FCS polls, last played UVA in 2019 and beat the Cavaliers on the road in 2016. Richmond was picked fourth in the CAA preseason poll after closing last season on a four-game winning streak and the Spiders are looking to take that momentum with them on their short drive to Charlottesville this weekend!

Richmond Athletics Facilities Remain Amongst the Best in the Nation!

When football opens its home schedule at Robins Stadium on at 5:30 p.m. on September 10 vs. Saint Francis, the Spiders will sound better than ever. This season Robins Stadium features a brand new audio system to complement the state-of-the-art videoboard that was installed last year. At Pitt Field, the sounds of baseball have blended with the sounds of construction during UR's early-season practices, as work finishes up on the new right-field plaza and grand entrance and continues on the new indoor batting and pitching practice facility down the left field line.

In August, The Princeton Review ranked UR's athletics facilities fifth in the nation. We will continue to do everything we can to ensure that our Spiders have the very best venues to practice and play while they hone their athletic skills. Student-athletes at Richmond also have the chance to live on the nation's third-most beautiful campus, learn via the nation's eighth-best classroom experience, and enjoy the nation's ninth-best college food, according to the longtime evaluator of U.S. universities.

Welcoming Brandon Hodgins, Associate AD for Development

Providing our Spiders with the nation's best student-athlete experience requires continued investment from our fans and alumni, our coaches, and our staff. In that vein, we recently named Brandon Hodgins as our new Associate Athletics Director for Development. Brandon brings more than 10 years of experience in college advancement to his new role as head of the Spider Athletic Fund. He and his team will be charged with ensuring that Richmond Athletics has the resources needed to compete at a championship level.

Hodgins is one of a number of new faces to join Richmond Athletics during the summer. As we've welcomed new co-workers over the last few months we've made it a point of emphasis to spend time with one another and develop a rapport and shared sense of mission. With all of the on-going changes occurring in Division 1, we'll need all of Spider Nation working together as Richmond Athletics navigates an ever-shifting national landscape. That includes our fans, our families, our friends, our alumni, and everyone who supports the Spiders!

Please consider spending some time with the Spiders this fall. We'd love to see you at a game, a race, a tournament, a meet or a match. Your support is greatly appreciated and means so much to our Spiders! Thank you, and…. Go Spiders!!!

All the best,

John P. Hardt
Vice President & Director of Athletics
athleticdirector@richmond.edu

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