| Richmond Spiders | |
|---|---|
 | |
| University | University of Richmond |
| Conference | Atlantic 10 (primary) CAA (football) Patriot League (football in 2025) |
| NCAA | Division I (FCS) |
| Athletic director | John P. Hardt |
| Location | Richmond, Virginia |
| Varsity teams | 16 |
| Football stadium | E. Claiborne Robins Stadium |
| Basketball arena | Robins Center |
| Baseball stadium | Malcolm U. Pitt Field |
| Mascot | WebstUR |
| Nickname | Spiders |
| Colors | Blue and red[1] |
| Website | richmondspiders |
 | |
TheRichmond Spiders represent theUniversity of Richmond inRichmond,Virginia. The Spiders compete in theDivision IFCS of theNational Collegiate Athletic Association as a member of theAtlantic 10 Conference for most sports.[2]
From 1876 through the early 1890s, Richmond's sports teams were known as the "Colts", reportedly for their play as an "energetic group of young colts." At some point variously reported as 1892, 1893, or 1894, the school's athletic teams took on the "Spiders" name. The origins of the name are somewhat uncertain, an apocryphal version describes a baseball team composed of Richmond students and city residents that was said to have taken on the "Spiders" name after Ragland Chesterman of theRichmond Times-Dispatch used the term to refer to pitcher Puss Ellyson's lanky arms and stretching kick. This story is not true, as theRichmond Times-Dispatch did not exist until 1903. And while Ragland Chesterman did write for theRichmond Times, he wrote a society column, not sports news. It is most likely the team took the nickname from theCleveland Spiders who, at the time, were highly successful. To this day, Richmond is the only university in the United States with thespider as its official nickname.[3][4]
| Men's sports | Women's sports |
|---|---|
| Baseball | Basketball |
| Basketball | Cross country |
| Cross country | Field hockey |
| Football | Golf |
| Golf | Lacrosse |
| Lacrosse | Soccer |
| Tennis | Swimming and diving |
| Tennis | |
| Track and field1 | |
| 1 – includes both indoor and outdoor | |
The University of Richmond baseball team has been coached by formerMajor League Baseball playerTracy Woodson since 2013. The Spiders have qualified for the NCAA Tournament eight times, including a Super Regional appearance in 2002, with the last tournament appearance coming in 2003.[5]
The Spiders play their home games atMalcolm U. Pitt Field on campus.
UR'sbasketball program has developed a reputation as a "giant killer" in the NCAA tournament, defeating theCharles Barkley-ledAuburn Tigers in1984, reaching the Sweet Sixteen in1988 by defeating defending national championIndiana andGeorgia Tech, beating #3 seededSouth Carolina in1998, and becoming the first #15 seed to knock off a #2 seed when the Spiders defeatedSyracuse in1991.[6]
The University of Richmond women's basketball team is coached byAaron Roussell, who was hired in 2019 after seven seasons as head coach atBucknell University. Roussell succeededMichael Shafer, who had served as the Spiders' head coach for 15 seasons.
The Spiders have made theNCAA tournament three times (1990, 1991, 2005) and theWomen's National Invitation Tournament nine times (1989, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015).
The women's basketball team plays its home games in theRobins Center.
The Spiders men's cross country team is coached by Steve Taylor, who has been the head coach since 2001. Lori Taylor serves as the overall director of all of Richmond's cross country and track and field teams.
In 2010, the men's team won the Atlantic 10 Championship as a team for the first time ever. They went on to place fourth at the NCAA Southeast Regional meet to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA National Championship. Seeded in 28th place, the Richmond Spiders placed 24th at the NCAA National Championship, beating, among others, top-ranked Notre Dame, Texas, Louisville, Penn State, and Georgetown.[7]
Richmond previously sponsored men's indoor and outdoor track and field in addition to cross country, but the track and field programs were discontinued at the end of 2012–13 season as part of a realignment that also saw Richmond discontinue men's soccer and add men's lacrosse as varsity sports.[8] In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Richmond recruited several strong Kenyan runners, including three who qualified for Olympic teams:Sosthenes Bitok andEdwin Koech, who both competed in the1984 Summer Olympics, and Hillary Tuwei, who qualified for both the1976 and1980 Summer Olympics but was unable to compete due to boycotts.[9]
The Richmond Spiders women's cross country and track & field teams have been coached by Lori Taylor since 2001. The Spiders' cross country teams have won the Atlantic 10 conference championship six times under Taylor (2003, 2008, 2010, 2015, 2017, and 2018).[10]
The University of Richmond's women's field hockey team has been coached by Jamie Montgomery since 2018.[11] The Spiders are celebrating their 100th season of field hockey in 2019 and play their home games at Crenshaw Field, which has been upgraded for the 2019 season with a new support facility including team rooms, restrooms, a press box, filming positions, and a new entrance to the field.[12][13]
The Spiders have won seven Atlantic 10 regular season championships (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, and 2011) and eight Atlantic 10 tournament championships (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2011, and 2014). Each of those conference tournament championships earned the Spiders a bid to theNCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship.[14]
The University of Richmond's men's golf team has been coached by Adam Decker since 2005.[15] The Spiders' home course is Independence Golf Club in Midlothian, Virginia, and a new training facility for the Spiders was completed at the club in 2018.[16]
The Spiders have seen five golfers win individual conference tournament titles, and have won the Atlantic 10 team title twice. As a team, the Spiders have qualified for NCAA regionals five times (1999, 2000, 2001, 2006, and 2017) and advanced to theNCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships in 1999. In addition, Spider individual golfers have qualified for NCAA regionals three times (Daniel Walker in 2013, Danny Pizetoski in 2014, and Matthew Lowe in 2016), with Walker advancing to nationals in 2013.[17]
The University of Richmond's women's golf team has been coached by Calle Nielson since 2019 and has competed as a member of thePatriot League since the 2014-15 season.[18] The Spiders' home course is Independence Golf Club in Midlothian, Virginia.
The Spiders have won three Patriot League tournament championships (2016, 2017, and 2018), advancing to NCAA Regionals each of the three years. In addition, Sophie DiPetrillo captured the 2018 individual Patriot League title.[19]
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The Richmond men's lacrosse team has been coached by Dan Chemotti since it began play as a varsity program in 2014, with the team playing its home games atE. Claiborne Robins Stadium.[20] The Spiders played their first season as associate members of the Atlantic Sun Conference, now known as theASUN Conference, before a cooperative agreement between the Atlantic Sun and theSouthern Conference (SoCon) saw sponsorship of men's lacrosse shift to the SoCon following the 2014 season.[21] UR remained in SoCon men's lacrosse until the A-10 established a men's lacrosse league, with play starting in the 2023 season.
The Spiders have won at least a share of the Southern Conference title four times and have qualified for theNCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship four times (2014, 2018, 2019 and 2022).[22]
The University of Richmond's women's lacrosse team has been coached by Allison Kwolek since 2012, and the Spiders' home field isE. Claiborne Robins Stadium.[23]
The Spiders have won six Atlantic 10 regular season championships (2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2018, and 2019) and five Atlantic 10 conference tournaments (2005, 2006, 2007, 2018, and 2019). Each of those five conference tournaments championships earned the Spiders a berth in theNCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship.[24]
The history of the program dates to 1996, and the Spiders have won the Atlantic 10 conference regular season title once (2000) and the conference tournament title once (2002). The Spiders advanced to theNCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship in 2000 and 2002, including an appearance in the Sweet Sixteen of the2002 tournament where the Spiders fell to theUniversity of Portland, the eventual national champion.[25]
Marty Beall was named head coach of the Spiders in 2017, and the team's home field is Presidents Field on the University of Richmond campus.[26]
The University of Richmond's women's swimming and diving team was established in 1965 and has been led by Matt Barany since 2005, with Nathan Parker serving as head dive coach since 2018.[27][28] Since joining the Atlantic 10 in 2001, the Spiders have captured 15 of a possible 18 Atlantic 10 championships.[29]
The Richmond men's tennis team has been coached by Houston Barrick since 2017, and the team has won four A-10 tournament titles (2002, 2004, 2005, and 2006), advancing to theNCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championship in each of those four seasons.[30][31]
The Richmond women's tennis team has been coached by Mark Wesselink since 1991, and the Spiders have won nine Atlantic 10 championships during his tenure (2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012).[32] The Spiders have made 11 appearances in theNCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championship (1997, 1998, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012).[33]
The men's track and field program was one of the oldest sport teams at the University of Richmond. Initially, in the late nineteenth century, the only sports at Richmond College were baseball, football, and basketball. A field day was also held in the spring when various track and field events were staged. In 1906, an official track and field team was first organized. It was discontinued in April 2013.[43]
The men's swimming team was established in the fall of 1948 under Coach William Lumpkin with practices at theMosque Theater swimming pool.[44] After one season, however, the team was discontinued.
The team was restarted in the fall of 1972 under the direction of Coach Norris Eastman with practices at Crenshaw Pool on the Westhampton side of campus. The team's first meet was againstEast Carolina University in December 1972.[45] The sport was downgraded from the varsity level to the club level in spring 1999.[46]
The men's water polo team was established by Coach Norris Eastman in the fall of 1971 and was downgraded to the club level in spring 1999.[47]
The history of the program dates to 1975, and the Spiders won or shared three conference titles and advanced to threeNCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship tournaments (1990,1998, and2002). The final permanent head coach of the Spiders wasClint Peay, who led the team from 2009 to 2012, withLeigh Cowlishaw leading the team on an interim basis in its final season. Notable alumni of the Spider program includeToronto FC general managerTim Bezbatchenko, defenderCraig Ziadie, who was selected 28th overall byD.C. United in the2001 MLS SuperDraft, and formerVirginia Tech head coachOliver Weiss.
The program played its final game on November 2, 2012, a 3–3 draw against crosstown rival VCU.[48]
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