WHEN WOMEN’S SOCCER KICKED OFF AT ROBINS STADIUM on Sept. 25, 2001, it inaugurated a new era for Richmond Athletics. The game — a double-overtime win against George Washington — marked UR’s first time competing as full member of the Atlantic 10 conference. In the 25 years since, Spiders have celebrated 93 A-10 championships and countless memorable moments and successes.
As we reach the 25th anniversary, here’s a look at 25 top highlights in Spider A-10 history. Is there something you’d add? Let us know at magazine@richmond.edu.
Swimming and diving wins 17 of 25 championships
(2002-09, 2011-17, 2021, and 2026)
Athletics director John P. Hardt recently called Richmond swimming and diving “the most dominant Spider sports program of the 21st century.” It’s easy to see why. Richmond has won two-thirds of the conference championships over its 25 A-10 seasons, the most recent one this spring. During the 12-year stretch from 2003 to 2014, 11 of the 12 A-10 Most Outstanding Performers were Spiders, and Matt Barany has been Coach of the Year 11 times. Dominant, indeed.
Swimmer Mali Kobelja sets the gold standard at the Atlantic 10 championships
(2010-14)
For four seasons in the early 2010s, Mali Kobelja (right) was nearly unbeatable. The breaststroke specialist won gold 11 times across four events during her four seasons. In one event, the 200-yard individual medley, she was A-10 champion all four of her years. It’s no surprise that she was the A-10’s Most Outstanding Performer in her sophomore, junior, and senior seasons. On top of that, she broke new ground as the A-10’s only swimmer — and the only Spider in any sport — to be named A-10 Female Scholar-Athlete of the year, an honor she earned twice (in 2012 and 2014).
Richmond’s athletics facilities rank No. 7 in the country
(2025)
The Princeton Review’s top-10 national ranking for Richmond’s athletics facilities put it atop the A-10, the state of Virginia, and nearly every school in a power conference across the nation. Giving Spiders a high-quality home experience has been a priority throughout UR’s A-10 era. Highlights include the opening of Robins Stadium in 2010, major upgrades to the Robins Center in 2013-14, and the creation of the Queally Athletics Center in 2020. Crenshaw Field, home of field hockey, and Pitt Field, home to Spider baseball, have also received significant upgrades in recent years.
“Dominant indeed.”
Men’s lacrosse earns university’s first No. 1 ranking at highest level of NCAA competition
(2026)
The 2026 men’s lacrosse team played its entire season in the middle of discussions about who was the nation’s best. Along the way, they made Spider history.
They began the season ranked No. 10 by USA Lacrosse Magazine and rose quickly with wins over marquee programs. They were at No. 8 when they beat No. 13 Virginia, at No. 3 when they beat No. 5 Cornell, and at No. 2 when they beat No. 13 Georgetown. By the time they got to a 9-0 record, they ranked No. 1 in both the Inside Lacrosse and USA Lacrosse Magazine polls.
Men’s lacrosse inaugurates its Atlantic 10 era (April 1, 2023)
(April 1, 2023)
In the first conference game the Spiders played in the A-10, the team suffered a narrow loss to Saint Joseph’s. Foreshadowing? Hardly. Richmond has dominated ever since, winning two of the four regular season championships to date and three of the four tournament championships. In 2026, they won both. In the 2025 postseason, they beat North Carolina, earning the first NCAA tournament victory for both the program and the entire A-10.
Women’s lacrosse wins A-10 by knocking off the nine-time defending champs
(May 6, 2018)
Among the Spiders’ seven A-10 tournament championships, the most dramatic is the 2018 final. Massachusetts came in as the top seed and nine-time defending champion. Richmond was right with them that season, holding a share of the regular season championship and the No. 2 seed at tournament time. In the tournament final, the titans battled into overtime, when Offensive Player of the Year Kim Egizi scored the game-winning goal 35 seconds in. The victory gave the Spiders their 16th win, then a program record. It also announced the arrival of a new A-10 power. They’ve won three more conference tournaments since, the latest in 2024.
Women’s lacrosse notches its first NCAA Tournament win
(May 12, 2023)
When they entered the tournament in 2023, Spider women’s lacrosse had been among the nation’s top programs for years. Their resume was full of conference championships, all-Americans, and wins against nationally ranked opponents. One thing they didn’t have? An NCAA tournament win. They added that to their credentials when they romped over Marquette in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, running away with an 18-8 win. “They were ready to go,” coach Anne Harrington said after the game.
“They were ready to go.”
Women’s basketball wins its first NCAA tournament game
(March 21, 2025)
The fifth time was a charm. After knocking on the door in four previous tries, including back-to-back appearances in 2004 and 2005, women’s basketball cruised to its first NCAA tournament victory over Georgia Tech 74-49. The 25-point margin of victory was the largest for any program in its first NCAA Tournament win since 2012. The Spiders followed up their historic win with a program record third-straight tournament appearance in 2026.
Maggie Doogan scores 48 points in a single game
(Jan. 10, 2026)
For 30 minutes of play, the matchup against Davidson seemed like a typical January conference game. After the first three quarters, Spider women’s basketball narrowly led 43-42, and Maggie Doogan had a solid 18 points. What happened next amazed everyone there who saw it. In a heart-attack fourth quarter and three overtimes, Doogan willed a Spider win by dropping another 30 points. Her 48-point total shattered Richmond’s single-game record, set a new A-10 record, and was the highest total for any Division I player in the 2025–26 season. Surrounded by talented teammates like Addie Budnik, Rachel Ullstrom, and Ally Sweeney throughout her career, Doogan finished as the No. 2 scorer in program history and back-to-back A-10 Player of the Year.
Men’s basketball wins the A-10 tournament championship as a No. 6 seed
(March 13, 2022)
To be the best, you have to beat the best. At the 2022 A-10 tournament, the Spiders did, running through the three top seeds (Davidson, Dayton, and VCU) to earn the program’s 10th NCAA Tournament bid. The giant-killing continued there when Richmond, as a No. 12 seed, beat Big Ten champion Iowa. The win marked Richmond’s ninth victory as a 12th seed or lower, extending its own NCAA record.
“To be the best, you have to beat the best. The Spiders did.”
Jacob Gilyard sets NCAA Division I career steals record
(Dec. 5, 2021)
Record-setting steal No. 386 came on a December afternoon at Northern Iowa, close enough to Jacob Gilyard’s hometown of Kansas City, Missouri, that more than 15 of his family members and friends were there to see it. By the end of his storied Spider career, Gilyard nabbed 466 career steals, 81 more than any other player in NCAA Division I history. (SLAM broke down what made him so good at it here.) He also left Richmond as the school’s career leader in assists (782, also the most in A-10 history) and three-pointers (332, also the fifth-most in A-10 history).
Men’s basketball suits up for the Sweet 16
(March 25, 2011)
The 2011 appearance marked the second time in program history that the Spiders made it to the tournament in back-to-back seasons. They made the most of it, competing as a No. 12 seed and the only team in NCAA Tournament history with wins at seeds 12, 13, 14, and 15. In the first two rounds, they knocked off No. 5 seed Vanderbilt and No. 13 seed Morehead State before falling to No. 1 seed Kansas. (Video of the full game is available here.) The team finished the season with a program-record 29 wins. After it, the Cleveland Cavaliers drafted senior Justin Harper with the 32nd pick, the second-highest selection of a Spider in the NBA draft (after Johnny Newman, R’86).
Women’s tennis wins nine of 11 A-10 championships
(2002-2012)
When Spider women’s tennis transitioned from the Colonial Athletic Association to the Atlantic 10 in 2001, it had a powerful advantage no other team had: coach Mark Wesselink. Under his leadership, women’s tennis dominated the A-10 in its first decade, winning nine championships and making nine NCAA appearances in 11 years. Twice in that span, the Spiders won four titles in a row, and Wesselink earned Coach of the Year seven times.
Men’s tennis threepeats as champions
(2004-06)
For three consecutive seasons in the mid-2000s, the Spiders left little doubt they were the best team in the A-10, winning 22 of the 27 singles and doubles matches in the A-10 championship finals those years. Is the team poised for a new run? After a 20-year drought, they took home the 2026 A-10 championship and headed back to the NCAA Tournament in May.
Richmond places in the nation’s top 10 for Graduation Success Rate
(2024, 2025)
When it comes to earning their degrees or transferring in good academic standing, Spider student-athletes are among the nation’s very best. In 2024, UR’s graduation success rate, or GSR, was 98%, sixth-highest among all Division I institutions. Spider Athletics repeated the 98% rate in 2025, this time ranking ninth.
Football wins its third A-10 championship, finishes ranked No. 8 nationally
(2005)
Football paved the way for Richmond’s entry into the A-10, playing as an affiliate member starting in the 1997 season. Three times over their 10 A-10 seasons, Richmond won the championship, made the playoffs, and finished in the nation’s top 10. The final A-10 championship run, in 2005, continued the program’s standard of excellence as it built toward the team’s 2008 national championship, which it played as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association.
Becca Wann wins FIFA World Cup gold
(Sept. 8, 2012)
In the summer after her sophomore year, Spider soccer forward Becca Wann (right, No. 11) won gold as one of 23 victorious Team USA players at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Japan. Richmond’s star was surrounded by future international stars. Her teammates included Crystal Dunn, Sam Mewis, Morgan Brian (now Gautrat), and Julie Johnston (now Ertz), all of whom made their marks with the senior U.S. Women’s National Team. The big takeaway, Wann later told ESPN, was “knowing I could hang, that I was part of this team that won a World Cup.” (Here’s one of her blog posts about the experience.)
Soccer plays in the Sweet 16
(Nov. 24, 2002)
The 2002 team made Spider history when it reached the NCAA tournament’s Sweet 16 for the first time. They arrived as A-10 champions and then earned hard-fought 1-0 victories over No. 15 Clemson and James Madison. In the Sweet 16, they finally fell against Portland, that year’s eventual national champion. Two-time captain Meghan Ogilvie was the A-10’s Most Outstanding Player that season, and Edda Gardarsdottir earned all-American honors.
Pitcher Tim Stauffer drafted fourth overall
(June 3, 2003)
When the San Diego Padres selected Tim Stauffer in the 2003 MLB draft, he was the first Spider and A-10 player ever chosen in the first round. He was one of a record five Spiders drafted that year, and he remains Richmond’s highest draft pick. Stauffer pitched for 10 years at the major league level, most of them in San Diego. During the A-10 era, major league teams have drafted 31 Spiders, according to baseball-reference.com.
Baseball earns an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament
(2002)
The 2002 Spiders started the season with 10 wins, tying the 1942 team for the best start in program history. Over the remaining games, they did even better, amassing a school-record 53 wins. The result earned them an at-large bid that they nearly rode to the College World Series. In Game 2 of the Super Regional against Nebraska, with a trip to the CWS on the line, first baseman Vito Chiaravalloti launched a dramatic walk-off grand slam to force a decisive third game. “I knew that if he threw a strike that I was going to be in good shape,” he said after the game. “I just got it up in the air.” Though they fell in Game 3, the run set up the 2003 campaign when they repeated as A-10 regular season champs and won the A-10 tournament.
“Words will not do justice to how happy I am for our teams.”
Men’s and women’s cross country sweep A-10 championships on the same day
(Oct. 30, 2010)
For one day in Pittsburgh, no one ran the championship course faster than the Spiders. For the women, it was their second title in three years. Five of them finished inside the top 15. On the men’s side, it was their first A-10 championship, and Andrew Benford won the individual title and set a new course record. “Words will not do justice to how happy I am for our teams,” said men’s head coach Steve Taylor.
Five Spiders compete in the NCAA track and field national championships
(June 8–11, 2011)
The 2011 outdoor track and field teams were stacked with talent that was coalescing together. That year, 11 Spiders qualified for the first round of the NCAA championship competition. Five — Andrew Benford (3,000 -meter steeplechase), Matt Llano (10,000-meter), Heather Roush (javelin), Nicol Traynor (3,000 steeplechase), Amy Van Alstine (5,000) — made it to the national championship, with Llano, Traynor, and Van Alstine finishing in the national top 20.
Spiders win every A-10 women’s golf championship
(2025-26)
To the question “Who is the A-10’s women’s golf champion?” there has only ever been one answer: the Spiders. Women’s golf has been an A-10 sport for two seasons, and in each of them, the Spiders won both the team and individual championships (Hannah Lydic in 2025 and Maya Beasley in 2026). The 2026 championship was a tour de force, as all five Spiders competing finished in the top five of the individual standings. Collectively, they were 28 shots ahead of the runner-up team.
“The 2026 A-10 women’s golf championship was a tour de force as all five Spiders competing finished in the top five of the individual standings.”
Daniel Walker competes in the NCAA nationals
(May 28–June 2, 2013)
Spider golfer Daniel Walker had a sensational senior season, averaging 72.26 strokes per round, then a school record. It earned him an at-large bid to the NCAA Super Regional, where he tied for second place. With that finish, he became the first Spider individual golfer to advance to the NCAA men’s golf national championship. There, he shot 74-71-71, earning a top-100 finish. During the A-10 era, men’s golf has won the Atlantic 10 title twice (2017, 2026), and two Spiders have been individual champions (Danny Pizetoski in 2014 and Lucas Rizo-Patron in April). The 2026 team championship was particularly sweet, as three Spiders finished in the top four.
Field hockey wins five straight A-10 titles
(2002–06)
If the standard is regular season and tournament championships, the Spiders are the A-10’s most successful field hockey program of the last 25 years. The Spiders have won 18 regular season and conference tournament championships over that span. For five straight years in the early aughts, no one got the better of them. After a recent drought, Richmond was back on top in 2025 as the A-10 regular season champion.