Here’s a worthy cause. Get together with your basketball buddies for the Hoop Up the Arts tournament at the University of Richmond — to benefit Church Hill’s Robinson Community Arts Center.

EVENT DATE: Friday, November 27, 2009
LOCATION: Weinstein Center at University of Richmond
REGISTRATION: $100 per team (3-4 players)
DIVISIONS: Ages 13-15, 16-18, 19 & up, 30+
SPONSORSHIPS: Contact bhart@robinsontheater.org or 804.562.9133
BENEFITING: Robinson Theater Community Arts Center, Richmond VA
If you need assistance, contact bhart@robinsontheater.org or 804.562.9133

Congrats to the University of Richmond for overtaking James Madison University in UR’s only home swim meet.

Jimmy Young of the UR Collegian reports:

The Richmond swimming and diving team trumped James Madison University 167-127 Saturday in front of a raucous crowd at the Robins Center Natatorium, led by three seniors competing in their final home meet, and several freshmen swimming in their first.

The Spiders, who hope to capture their eighth consecutive Atlantic 10 Conference Championship Feb. 17 to 21 in Buffalo, N.Y., honored seniors Lauren Beaudreau, Cara Smaniotto and Julia Bizer before the meet. Coach Matt Barany spoke highly of all three athletes, praising them for their abilities and leadership.

Picture by Ben Weinstein/The Collegian – Freshman Michelle Johnson (left) finished fifth in the 200 butterfly in 2:14.12. She also finished fifth in the 1000 freestyle in 10:38.95.

University of Richmond senior pitcher Alex Hale was drafted Friday, taken by the reigning World Series Champion Boston Red Sox in the 30th-round of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft. Hale was the 922nd pick overall by Boston and represented the 16th Spider drafted in the last seven years.

[via CSTV]

The USA Triathlon Duathlon National Championships come to Richmond this weekend. If you are not racing, consider volunteering or being a spectator. This is a huge two-day format featuring off-road events on Saturday and on-road events on Sunday. The National Duathlon Festival has attracted a broad range of athletes from far and wide plus the opportunity to watch the winner of national championships cross the finish line. Here is the official schedule and the all important road closures.

Official Schedule

Saturday, April 26, 2008

7:30 a.m. Off-Road Youth Age Group Races (7-8, 9-10, 11-12) –1k run, 4k bike, 1k run 8:30 a.m. Off-Road Junior Age Group Races (13-15, 16-19) — 5k run, 10k bike, 2.5k run
Sport Race (non-championship) — 5k run, 10k bike, 2.5k run 10:30 a.m. Off-Road Championships –10k run, 30k bike, 5k run

Sunday, April 27, 2008

7 a.m. Age Group Races — 10k run, 40k bike, 5k run 9:30 a.m. Elite Races –10k run, 40k bike, 5k run – Draft Legal 11:30 a.m. Youth Nationals (7-8, 9-10 and 11-12) — 1k run, 5k bike, 1k run 12 Noon Junior Nationals (13-15 and 16-19) — 5k run, 20k bike, 2.5k run – Draft Legal 1 p.m. Sport Race (non-championship) –5k run, 20k bike, 2.5k run

Road Closures for Friday, April 25th
2nd Street from Byrd Street to Lee Bridge closed – 7:00 p.m. Friday through 1:00 p.m. Sunday

Road Closures for Saturday, April 26th
2nd Street from Byrd Street to Lee Bridge closed – all day.
Byrd Street between 2nd Street and 3rd Streets closed – all day.

Road Closures for Sunday, April 27th
2nd Street from Byrd Street to Lee Bridge closed – Until 1:00 p.m.
Byrd Street between 2nd Street and 3rd Streets closed – Until 1:00 p.m.
The curb lane of the Lee Bridge closed in both directions — 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Riverside Drive closed from Lee Bridge access ramps to 42nd Street — 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
42nd Street from Riverside Drive to Springhill Avenue partially closed, police present to monitor and control — 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Parking on both sides of 42nd Street prohibited — 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Julie Rechel, age 20, of the University of Richmond, finished as the first place female at the Twenty-12 Talent Identification Triathlon in Tuscaloosa, Alabama this weekend. She won the race with at time of 1:06:57.
Sunday’s race was a chance for USA Triathlon or USAT officials to scout and develop talent for the Olympic Games in 2012 or 2016.

Rechel, a student at the University of Richmond, said she didn’t expect to be out front on the bike in the women’s race. “I just held on and brought it home on the run,” she said.

[via]

The University of Richmond will hold two public meetings to update the community on plans to expand First Market Stadium, the campus multipurpose stadium.
The first will take place April 1 at 7 p.m. at Jepson Hall, Room 118. The second will be held April 29 at 7 p.m. at Weinstein Hall in the Brown-Alley Room.
To register to attend the sessions or for more information, call (804) 289-8694. For information about the stadium project, visit the First Market Stadium Expansion Info Center online .

[via]

I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks the University of Richmond is crazy for thinking that Three Chopt Road could handle all of the traffic of a real university football stadium and run it through their petite entrances on extremely narrow streets. This week, Style Weekly writes about the big players involved.

While the University of Richmond moves forward with pre-season deals to expand its on-campus football stadium, neighbors have made an aggressive draft pick to help voice their traffic concerns.

Anticipating ongoing negotiations with the city and the university, the Three Chopt Road Civic Association has retained Ralph “Bill” Axselle Jr. — an attorney who parlayed his 16 years of service in the House of Delegates into a career as a powerful lobbyist.

“We’re confident the city will, at the end of the day, impose the appropriate conditions,” says Axselle, who received his law degree from UR.

For years the university has wanted to move its Spider football team home from the old, hard-to-fill 22,000-seat city stadium south of Carytown. In January, UR announced that a $5 million donation from the Robins Foundation had pushed it over the $25 million fundraising goal line. The school filed for a special-use permit with the city Feb. 20 seeking clearance to enlarge the existing on-campus First Market Stadium from 3,000 seats to 8,700 seats.

Three Chopt Road Civic Association’s president, William Berry, says he’ll monitor modifications to the sound and lighting scheme, but neighbors are worried most about the traffic.

“We’re not opposed to the stadium; we just want them to do it right,” says Berry, former president of Dominion Resources and a UR alumnus. He says the university needs to consider adding an additional entrance or exit to the stadium to keep traffic from clogging Three Chopt Road.

Adding another entrance or exit could get tricky. The backside of the property touches Henrico County. Tuckahoe District Supervisor Pat O’Bannon says residents along Horsepen Road are also wary of traffic and are opposed to a proposed new road connecting Horsepen to the university.

John McCulla, UR’s community relations director, says the university has brainstormed ideas to stem the traffic: reserving the lots nearest the field for vehicles with four or more fans, installing more bike racks, providing an internal shuttle system to make inconvenient parking less so and launching a campaign to make visitors more aware of other campus entrances.

He says the indoor basketball arena next to the stadium, the Robins Center, seats just more than 9,000, and the university has responsibly managed traffic from the season’s 15 home games for years.

The specter of those extra few days of heavy traffic may provide an opening for the neighbors to address the situation.

“If you come up with another entrance and exit,” Berry says, “then you’ve solved a problem for football, but you’ve also solved it for the Robins Center and the rest of the university. It’s a three-fer.”

City residents can register their children to play spring soccer at the Richmond Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Faculties’ Humphrey Calder Community Center between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. March 3 through April 4.

• Registration for non-city residents will be held at the same times beginning on March 10.
• Teams will be formed for boys and girls ages 6 through 15 on a first-come, first-served basis.
• Registration is $25 for city residents and $45 for non-city residents, and a birth certificate is required for registration. A $20 uniform fee is also required.
• Teams practice on week nights and games are played on Friday evenings or Saturday mornings.
• The Humphrey Calder Community Center is located at 414 N. Thompson Street beside the fire station at the corner of Patterson Avenue. For more information, call 646-1780.