The Collegian
Friday, March 29, 2024

Cross country teams run personal and team bests at Lehigh

Andrew Benford, '10, and Matt Llano, '10, are the leaders of the pack with Jon Wilson, '10 not too far behind
Andrew Benford, '10, and Matt Llano, '10, are the leaders of the pack with Jon Wilson, '10 not too far behind

The University of Richmond cross country team beat every conference and regional team at the Lehigh Paul Short Invitational Oct. 3 with the women's cross country team finishing eighth, and the men coming in 11th.

Sophomore Nicol Traynor finished first for the Spiders and 14th overall out of about 300 runners. She clocked in at 20 minutes 47 seconds during the 6-kilometer race.

Traynor was named the Atlantic 10 women's cross country performer of the week on Monday, the second time she has earned that recognition this season.

Junior Amy Van Alstine was the second Spider to cross the line, taking 26th place and finishing in 21:05.

Of the 43 teams competing in the women's race, those that beat the Spiders were all ranked in the top 30 in the country, women's coach Lori Taylor said.

"We're hoping to catch one of those teams," she said. "I think we're capable of that."

Freshmen Katie Spratford finished third of the Spiders and 66th overall during her first collegiate race. Senior Mary Bertram crossed at the same time as Spratford in 21:48, exactly one minute faster than she did her freshman year on the same course. Sophomore Diana Filtz finished 88th overall, clocking in at 22:01.

"It was the fastest 6K ever run for some of the girls, so I see us getting better," Taylor said. "Team-wise, we did exactly what we wanted to do."

The men's team, which finished 11th out of 45 teams, ran its fastest 8-kilometer team average ever at 24:53, men's coach Steve Taylor said.

"We still have people just getting healthy right now, but all in all, it was a good day," he said.

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Andrew Benford came in first place for the Spiders and 18th overall with a time of 24:15. Junior Matt Llano ran beside Benford for the entire race, placing 22nd overall with a time of 24:18.

"Our one-two punch was as good as anybody in the race," Taylor said.

Sophomore Tim Quinn came in 53rd overall, and freshman Levi Grandt, who ran his first collegiate 5-mile course, came in fourth for the Spiders and 140th overall. Junior Jon Wilson crossed in 25:35, 144th overall.

The top four Richmond runners had their best lifetime performances, but the team needed to close the time gap between the first and fifth runners, Taylor said.

"Our goal for the one-to-five split as far as time goes was to have that at 50 seconds instead of one minute and 20 seconds," Taylor said. "We don't need Matt and Andrew to slow down; we need the fourth and fifth men to pick it up a little bit."

Benford agreed.

"We wanted the top five closer together and packed up a little tighter," he said. "We didn't really put it together today. We need to work a little harder and run as a pack."

When that gap tightens, the Spiders will be in contention with the University of Massachusetts and Duquesne University, two conference teams that beat them at Lehigh, Taylor said.

Despite the disparity, the men's team finished 29th in the field when it ran in the Lehigh Paul Short Invitational three years ago.

"Placing 11th shows how much we've improved and how far they've come in that short time frame," Taylor said.

Benford said he still saw room for improvement.

"I ran 24:15, which is a huge personal best for me, but I was looking to run closer to 24 minutes or even under 24," he said. "There were a couple of guys in our conference ahead of me - one was one place in front and one was nine or 10 places in front - and I'd like to get up there with them.

"We've been training through the meets.We're going to start sharpening up, so when that happens, my legs will be under me a little more."

Contact staff writer Jenn Hoffman at jenn.hoffman@richmond.edu.

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