Sept. 30, 2007

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The Richmond men's and women's cross country teams each recorded fourth-place finishes in a tough field at the William & Mary Interregional in Williamsburg on Saturday afternoon. Junior Kylee Schuler and sophomore Matt Llano were the Spiders' top finishes in the meet.

The Spider women - ranked 13th in the region - got a 21:37.6 time from Schuler in the 6K race, which was good for a ninth-place showing. She, along with sophomore Amy Van Alstine and freshman Nicole Traynor finished in the meet's top 20.

Van Alstine was 12th in a time of 21:46.3 and Traynor was 17th in 21:11.7. Freshman Diana Filtz (23:12.9) was 31st, senior Shelby Faircloth (21:21.3) was 35th and junior Mary Bertram (23:28.1) was 39th.

Virginia Tech won the 10-team women's meet, followed by Georgetown, William & Mary, Richmond and Vanderbilt in the top five.

Five women's teams entered the meet ranked in the nation or the region, including the Spiders at 13th in the Southeast Region. Georgetown was ranked 20th and Virginia Tech 25th in the nation, while William & Mary was eighth in the region and Vanderbilt fifth in the South.

Llano's time of 25:06.2 in the men's 8K event was good for a 16th-place finish overall. Although he was the lone Spider in the top 20, a pack of runners behind him helped Richmond score enough points for a fourth-place finish in the ten-team meet.

Senior Jonathan Molz (25:34.9) finished in 27th, followed by junior Tom Davis (25:41.8) in 31st, senior Hunter Willis (25:48.2) in 36th and sophomore Jon Wilson (25:48.8) in 37th.

The men's event was won by Georgetown, with William & Mary, Virginia Tech, Richmond and Virginia rounding out the top five. The Hoyas entered the meet ranked 16th nationally and the Tribe was 13th. Tech was sixth in the Southeast Region.

The Spiders will have a week off before returning to action again Oct. 13 at the University of Arkansas Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival in Fayetteville, Ark.