Andrew Benford Class: Senior Hometown: Ravenswood, W.Va. High School: Ravenswood Event: Distance

2008-09:
Cross Country: Andrew Benford captured first at the Spider Alumni open with a record time of 15:03.20... Captured third at the Navy Invitational with a time of 24:55.30... Was named A-10 Performer of the Week on Sept. 3... Recorded a time of 24:15 at the Paul Short Invitational capturing 18th place... Placed 10th at the Penn State Nationals with a time of 25:28... Placed fourth at the A-10 conference championship with a time of 24:13.7 and was named an All-Conference performer... Captured 29th place at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championship with a time of 31:37.1.
Indoor: Redshirted.
Outdoor: Academic All-Atlantic 10 selection... USTFCCA Scholar Athlete... Became the first-ever Spider to be named the A-10 Championship Outdoor Track & Field Most Outstanding Performer thanks to his gold-medal performance at the A-10 Championship in the 3,000m steeplechase in 8:52.41 - a time that ranked among the 25 fastest in the NCAA... Benford also was the A-10's individual champion in the 5,000m (14:34.23 -- the fourth-fastest winning time in A-10 Championship history)... Competed at the NCAA East Regional in the 3,000m steeple and was eighth overall in a time of 8:56.29.

2007-08:
Cross Country: Led the Spiders to a runner-up finish at the A-10 Championships, finishing sixth overall to earn All-Conference honors... Finished 52nd at the prestigious Arkansas Chile Pepper Festival... At the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships, he took 67th overall as the Spiders were 13th as a team.

Indoor: Won the silver in the 3,000m at the A-10 Championship... The second-place finish led to All-Conference honors... Teamed with Matt Llano, Sean Welsh and Jeff Strojny on the Spiders' DMR to take third at the Maryland Invitational. Indoor - Won the silver in the 3,000m at the A-10 Championship... The second-place finish led to All-Conference honors... Teamed with Matt Llano, Sean Welsh and Jeff Strojny on the Spiders' DMR to take third at the Maryland Invitational.

Outdoor: Earned NCAA Regional qualifying standards in two events -- the 3,000m steeplechase and the 5,000m... Ran an 8:59.11 in the steeple at the Penn Relays to finish ninth in the college championship division... Won the silver medal in the Mt. SAC Relays in the 5,000m in a time of 14:09.01... Third in the steeple at the A-10 Championship (9:04.35) leading to All-Conference honors... Was ninth in the NCAA Regional in the steeple with a time of 9:00.85 to win his heat...Won the 3,000m at the Duke Invitational with a time of 8:19.60.

2006-07
Cross Country: Represented the United States at the World Mountain Running Championships in Bursa, Turkey where he placed 12th overall which is the highest ever placing for a US Junior (under 20)... Also led Team USA to their highest ever team finish... Named Atlantic 10 Conference Rookie of the Year and led the Spiders at the Championships with a eighth-place finish to earn All-Conference honors... Placed fifth in the Spider Alumni Open 5K... At the Winthrop Fall Classic he placed seventh... Named Co-Rookie of the Year for the Spiders program.

Indoor: First ever indoor season... Placed 3rd in the 3000M at the Atlantic 10 Championships (8:35.59)... Finished second at Mid-Atlantic Track Clash 3,000 race (8:43.13) in his first collegiate race... Named the Rookie of the Year for the Spiders indoor program.

Outdoor: Took ninth in the 3,000 at the Duke Invitational (8:28.62)... Lapped the field at the Legacy Invitational in Baltimore, Md. in the 5K (14:46.42) to win the event... Won the 5,000 a the Georgia Tech Invitational with a time of 14:50.68... Named Rookie of the Year for the Spiders during the outdoor season making it a clean sweep over the three seasons.

High School
Capped a stellar prep career with the coveted High Point Trophy for the AA classification at the West Virginia State Track & Field Championships ... defended his state titles in the 3,200 (9:30.47) and 1,600 (4:29.52), placed second in the 800 and ran on the championship 4x400 relay team scoring 28 points for his team ... has personal best marks of 9:30.47 (3,200), 4:26.20 (1,600) and 1:59.97 (800) ... won the 2005 and 2004 AAA WVSSAS State Cross Country titles and placed second in 2003 to his brother ... while a member of the Red Devils team they won four consecutive state cross country championship titles ... he was also a starter for the boys' basketball team that won the 2006 WVSSAC State Basketball Championship.