TIRANA,
Albania - University of Richmond cross country runners
Ryan Lee, Billy Fayette and Clare Moretz finished among the USA Junior team's
top three harriers at the 2011 World Mountain Running Championships on Sunday
in Tirana, Albania. Lee led the men's squad with an 11th-place finish, while
Fayette and Moretz each turned in top-30 showings.
"We couldn't be prouder of the efforts of these three
student-athletes," said head men's coach Steve Taylor. "Both Lori and I believe
this has been a tremendous opportunity, and each of them took advantage of the
experience. It's my opinion that in our country we are too often inundated with
information and stats, while seldom do we pause to comprehend achievements like
this. Let's realize that only 10 junior athletes in the world finished ahead of
Ryan today. Given Billy and Clare are just beginning their freshman year and
the way they handled the pressure to perform for Team USA, it's an exciting
achievement in our eyes as well."
Lee's performance ranks as the third-fastest individual finish for a
U.S. Junior in the 27-year history of the World Championships event. The
sophomore standout (Wilmington, Del./Archmere Academy) had established a goal
of a top-20 finish prior to the event, which he easily accomplished as the
national team's top male finisher.
Despite suffering a sprained ankle and a downhill fall early in the
race, Fayette (Clarendon Hills, Ill./Hinsdale) recovered to crossed the tape to
take 28th. He was the second male finisher behind Lee for the men's squad,
which finished 11th overall at the event.
Moretz (Madison, Va./Madison) became the first female runner in
program history selected to Team USA and certainly didn't disappoint on Sunday.
The rookie used excellent closing speed to secure a 30th-place finish as the
team's third finisher on the junior women's side.
The Spider trio is the latest in a long line of Richmond distance
runners to represent the United States at the World Championships, with Moretz
qualifying as the first women's runner in program history on the team. The race
will include athletes from 36 countries and be held in the mountains outside of
Tirana, the capitol city of Albania.
Stay updated on all the latest Spider
cross country news right here on RichmondSpiders.com. Additional news, notes
and quotes can also be found on Coach
Taylor's blog and on his official Twitter page, @SteveTaylor7.
More on the Spider Trio's Time at Junior Worlds:
• Coach
Taylor Blog (Day 1)
• Coach
Taylor Blog (Day 2)
• Coach
Taylor Blog (Day 3)
• Coach
Taylor Blog (Day 4)
• Coach
Taylor Blog (Day 5)
• Coach
Taylor on Twitter
• U.S. Mountain Running
Team (USMRT) Blog
• USMRT on
Twitter
• USMRT
on Facebook
