Spider Sports Recap | Week of Oct. 23

Golf 

Oct. 22-23: Furman Intercollegiate 

The Spiders closed out their fall season with their first top-five team finish of the season. 

Junior Cole Ekert paved the way for the Spiders with an eighth place finish, shooting 2 under par, and first-year Quin Polin trailed behind closely with a 16th place finish. Sophomore Drew Carlin finished in 27th place, 3-over par. The team's Spring season will begin Feb. 5-6 with the Atlantic 10-MAC Match Play tournament in Jade City, Florida. 

Field Hockey 

Oct. 27: Loss 3-1 vs. Virginia Commonwealth University 

In a high stakes game with many alumni in the crowd, the Spiders weren’t quite up to the high pressure game against VCU. The first quarter was action packed for those watching in the crowd, as both VCU and the University of Richmond had goals within the first 10 minutes of the game. Junior midfielder Annie Nash scored the first goal with the help of first-year defender Freya MacKay and sophomore midfielder Jess McMeeking. The Rams broke the tie at the end of the second quarter, giving them a 2-1 lead at halftime. After  halftime, VCU shot 8 times and ultimately scored its last goal right at the end of the last quarter.  

Oct. 29th: Loss 3-0 vs. the College of William & Mary 

The field hockey team closed out its final regular season game at Crenshaw Field with a 3-0 loss to William & Mary. Finishing their season with a 8-11 record left them narrowly missing out on the playoff. Though UR was on the offensive in the first two quarters, with 8 attempted shots, William & Mary took control in the third quarter, putting UR on the defensive and ultimately putting the Tribe in the position to score its first and second goals just minutes apart. After the third quarter, UR struggled to regain the momentum that it had in the first half of the game, and William & Mary scored once again. 

Swimming and Diving:

Oct. 28:  Loss 185-107 vs. University of Pennsylvania 

In its third meet of the season, the swimming and diving team suffered its first loss of the season. The Spiders saw the majority of their success in the 400-yard freestyle relay, the 100-yard butterfly and the 200-yard backstroke. First-years Melissa Nwakalor, Erin Budde, and Sally Harrington emerged as strong additions to their teams, each ranking high in their respective competitions so early in the season. In just a few weeks, the Spiders will travel to George Mason University to compete in the Patriot Invite from Nov. 16-18. 

Men’s and Women’s Cross Country: 

UR's women's and men’s cross country teams headed to the University of Dayton for the Atlantic 10 Cross Country Championships. The women’s team competed in the 6K and placed third overall out of 15 teams present on Saturday. Seniors Elizabeth Stockman and Madison Trippett, and junior Laurel Kurtz each made the First Team All-Conference, in fourth, fifth, and 11th place, respectively. The George Washington University and Loyola University Chicago were the only two teams ahead of UR. The men’s cross country team competed in the 8K at 10 a.m. and finished 10th out of the 15 schools competing. Junior Jordan Bendura was the men’s top finisher, who placed 36th out of the 141 other athletes running. 

Football

Oct. 28: Win score vs. Campbell University 

In a thrilling showdown at the UR during Homecoming Weekend, the Spiders clashed with Campbell in a highly anticipated game, and won add score. The Spiders' defense, headed by redshirt senior linebacker Tristan Wheeler, put on a show with a dominant display of strength. His 12 tackles, sack and fumble recovery led to him being named Colonial Athletic Association’s Defensive Player of the Week. Despite Campbell opening the scoring, UR's resilient defense held the Camels to 13 points. The Spiders' quarterback tandem, redshirt sophomore Kyle Wickersham and first-year Camden Coleman, combined for a dynamic offensive display, propelling UR to score 44 points. With this impressive win, the Spiders will get ready for their next matchup against Elon University at 2 p.m. Nov. 11.

Contact sports writer Madeleine Brodeur @madeleine.brodeur@richmond.edu