Richmond Sweeps Ukrop’s Maymont XC Festival

Sept. 26, 2003

RICHMOND, Va.--The University of Richmond men’s and women’s cross country teams both won the first annual Ukrop’s Maymont Invitational held today.  The women’s team scored a perfect 15 points.  Their nearest competition was Virginia Commonwealth University in 2^nd place with 94 points.  The Rams were followed in 3^rd by Marshall University (WV) with 107 points rounding out the top 3 teams.  On the men’s side the Spiders scored 31 points (7 athletes in the top 12 over-all) to easily outdistance 2^nd place Radford University with 81 points.

Richmond’s Men’s Head Coach Steve Taylor said, "Our men ran well on a tough course. The hills made them decide early what they wanted to do. Our men’s and women’s teams were determined to win the team titles and they both accomplished that goal. I'm happy for them.  We're enjoying watching them pull together and racing as a team. We're fortunate to have such an outstanding event in the city of Richmond and we are looking forward to this event growing. Ukrops and the Richmond Sports Backers can once again be commended for their support of events that bring people together in a healthy environment.  We knew the course would be slow, but I believe it’s a true cross country course.  Too often people want something as flat as the track…It’s not track season.  I believe this course calluses athletes and makes them tougher, especially this time of the season.  It takes more than just talent to get you through this course."

The men’s overall race was won by Goran Nava of Radford University who ran 26:37.50.  Nava is coming off a stellar track season where he ran 3:48.65 for the 1500M distance.  He was followed by Richmond freshman John Ciccarelli in second-place for the 8K race.  Nava, Ciccarelli, Richmond’s Tim Caramore, and Marshall University’s Craig Swisher went to the front at the start of the race.  After 2 miles it was Nava and Ciccarelli.  After a long climb through 3 miles Nava pulled away for victory with Ciccarelli (27:03.80), Swisher (27:09.70), and Caramore (27:25.20) rounding out the top 4 places.

The Richmond women are coming off their first meet of the season where they knocked off #20 Virginia and were a mere 2 points behind William & Mary.  The Spiders are loaded with a talented group of freshman and as the race got underway it was obvious the team was ready to go.  By 800M into the race the Spiders held 12 of the top 15 positions.  As the pace quickened at 1 mile the Spiders Amanda Russell (Freshman), Danielle Binns (Freshman), Lyndsey Webber- (Senior), Nicole Kurtain (Sophomore), Caitlin Smyth (Freshman), and Alison Belicose (Senior) lead the race and had distanced themselves from the remainder of the field.  The distance widened through the finish as the Spider rookies (Amanda Russell-19:03.70 and Danielle Binns-19:07.80) lead the 1-6 punch of Richmond.

Women's Head Coach Lori Taylor said,” I’m happy that our women won the meet, and that’s what we expected.  This was a nice opportunity to run as a team and for people in our community to see our athletes perform. One of our goals was to have 6 women under 20 minutes on this tough course and they did that.  We need to continue to work together as a team and get used to racing as a pack. In order for us to be competitive and have an opportunity to compete at the NCAA Championships we will need to tighten the distance between our number-1 through our number 5 runners. They are making progress; we need that to continue over the next four weeks."

The Ukrops Maymont Cross Country Festival attracted over 2000 athletes from as far away as New York. 

Richmond Women's Results:

Overall Place/Name/Year/Time

(1) Amanda Russell-Freshman                       19:03.70
(2) Danielle Binns-Freshman               19:07.80
(3) Lyndsey Webber-Senior                19:30.40
(4) Nicole Kurtain-Sophomore                         19:33.30
(5) Alison Belicose-Senior                   19:44.30
(6) Caitlin Smyth-Freshman                 19:54.70
(9) Jenna Downey-Freshman              20:30.80

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TEAM SCORES:

UNIVERSITY WOMEN-Team Scores


  1.     Richmond                                    15           

  2.    VCU                                              94  

  3.   Marshall University                      107            

  4.   Hampton University                     108               

  5.   Radford University                      147         

  6.   Longwood University                  197                 

  7.   Roanoke College                        202                      

  8.   Concord College                        243  

Richmond Men's Results:

Overall Place/Name/Year/Time
(2) John Ciccarelli-Freshman               27:03.80
(4) Tim Caramore-Senior                     27:25.20
(6) Pat Barkhuff-Sophomore                28:04.20
(9) Reynolds Chapman-Freshman      28:32.50
(10) Jon Lauder-Senior                                   28:43.00
(11) Charlie Ban-Junior                       28:50.20
(12) Andrew Gorby-Sophomore           29:03.90

UNIVERSITY MEN-Team Scores


  1.    Richmond                              31           

  2.    Radford University                 81               

  3.    Marshall University                97               

  4.    Roanoke College                   98                    

  5.    Concord College                 104                    

  6.   VCU                                     185  

  7.   Longwood University           203