Flyers Cross Country triumphs at A-10 Championships
UD graduate Reilly Madsen cheers on senior Emily Sreenan at the Atlantic 10 Cross Country Championships. Photo courtesy of Robertson.
Taylor Robertson | Assistant Sports Editor
The University of Dayton hosted the Atlantic 10 Cross Country Championships this past Saturday morning for the first time in program history.
The Women’s team came in second place behind George Washington and the Men’s side came in fourth overall.
“We’ve established ourselves as one of the best distance squads in the conference with five different girls in the top 20,” said Head Coach Jason Ordway.
“We have put a lot of pieces together and now we just have to make sure we hit at the right times.”
Senior Emily Sreenan came out on top for the Flyers in the 5k, finishing in eighth out of 119 runners with a time of 17:58.3 seconds.
“Sreenan did a really good job going for it, she led the first 2k and was kind of right in that front group. She put herself out there on the spot,” Ordway said. “She is going to be back for a fifth year next year to take advantage of the Covid year so this was a great experience for her moving into the future.”
The next top two runners for the Flyers were junior Melissa Weidner and sophomore Zoe Chappelle. Weidner came in 14th with a time of 18:17.5 seconds and Chappelle placed 18th with a time of 18:27.6 seconds.
On the Men’s side, sophomore Sam Duncan led the pack for the Flyers in the 8k. Duncan ran a time of 25:05.3 seconds, placing him in 8th place. This was a huge jump for Duncan compared to his 30th place finish at the conference his freshman year.
“He really stepped up for us,” said Ordway. “We always talk about the sophomore bump, to try to get through that freshman year adjusting to being away from your parents, new classes and a new environment.
“He has been diligent in everything that he has done, it is kind of rare for someone to go wire to wire through your whole season being your number one.”
Junior Calan Gizelbach placed 11th with a time of 25:12.6 seconds and sophomore Matthew Sollenberger finished 25th overall.
After the race Sreenan stated that she could not be more proud of her team.
“I knew we were going to do something special today,” Screen said. “I feel incredibly grateful that I was able to contribute to our second place finish.”
Next up the Flyers are headed to the NCAA Great Lakes Regionals on Nov. 12 in Evansville, Indiana.
For more sports news like Flyer News on Facebook and follow us on Twitter (@FlyerNews & @FlyerNewsSports) and Instagram (@flyernews)