Oct. 26, 2005

DAYTON, OH - The University of Dayton cross country team is rolling into Philadelphia for the Atlantic 10 Championships on October 29. The men are coming off of their first win in two years at the Falcon Invitational in Bowling Green, OH, and are led by freshman Mike Andersen, winner of the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week honors for the last two weeks and owner of the fourth fastest Atlantic 10 rookie time this season heading into the championships. The women are coming off of a 10th place finish at the NCAA Pre-Nationals in Terre Haute, IN.

Andersen (Milford, MI), has been the first Flyer across the finish line in each of his first five collegiate starts. He also won his first event last week, the Bowling Green Falcon Invitational, with a time of 25:33. He rose to fourth place on UD's Harrier Heroes list, which is the top 35 all-time personal best 5-mile times with his time at the Falcon Invitational. He also holds the 5th, 28th and 37th spot on the all-time top 50 best 5-mile times list.

Along with Andersen, other young Flyers have taken giant leaps this year and are already contributors on the varsity level. Freshman Matt Peters (West Chester, OH) has been a standout, finishing in the top seven runners in every race he has run in. Also proving himself well this year is freshman Tommy Middleton (Beavercreek, OH). Middleton has been in the top 7 for the Flyers twice in five races and is coming off of his best time to date, running a 26:55 at the Falcon Invitational, finishing as fifth Flyer.

Another young gun who is earning his stripes this year is sophomore Billy Przybyla (Centerville, OH). He is also coming off of his best time of the year of 26:41, which he hit at the Falcon Invitational and the National Catholic Invitational. He is joined by sophomores Michael Connolly (Strongsville, OH) and Daniel Sammons (Johnstown, OH). Sammons has finished in the top 7 runners for UD 3 times and Connolly is turning it on as of late, running a personal season best time of 27:05 at the Falcon Invitational.

Also turning it on as of late are juniors Matt Manning (Canton, OH), who ran the fifth fastest Flyer time at the All-Ohio Championships and Matt Danis (Beavercreek, OH), who ran his fastest time of the year at the Falcon Invitational last week. Also running their best times of 2005 at the last event were sophomore Dan Thompson (Pittsburgh, PA), junior Eriksen VanEtten (Novelty, OH) and freshman Tim Kaelin (Seven Hills, OH), to go along with Andersen, Przybyla, Middleton and Connolly.

VanEtten (28:30), Andersen (25:33), Middleton (26:55), Kaelin (27:26) and Thompson (29:57) all ran the best times of their career during their last outing.

Helping guide these youngsters through the early part of their careers is junior Eric Contreras (Centerville, OH). He has been a model of consistency, scoring in the top seven runners in every race this season and has finished second for UD three times this season. Contreras also holds spot 12 on the Harrier Heroes list with his personal best time of 26:05 this year at the Greater Louisville Classic.

Leading the women into Philadelphia will be freshman Amy Kempf (Ft. Wayne, IN), who has been a standout for UD since donning the red and blue. She has finished as one of the top two runners for the Flyers in each of her five collegiate starts. She has also been named Atlantic 10 rookie of the week for her third place performance at the Flyer 5K Challenge in early September.

Another newcomer who has earned her stripes this season is junior Dianne Striebel (Centerville, OH). When not off winning the Dayton River Corridor Half Marathon, Striebel has been one of the strongest runners on UD's team. She was the first runner across for the Flyers twice, and her time of 18:44 at the National Catholic Invitational is the fastest time run by a Flyer this year.

Other Flyer young guns that are making an impact include sophomore Corey Fullenkamp (Versailles, OH) and freshmen Anne Oltman (Clarkston, MI) and Jacqueline Jaworek (Cincinnati, OH). Fullenkamp has run three of the fastest 15 times this year for the Flyers and Jaworek and Oltman have each run two of the fastest 15 times. Freshman Ellen Nienhaus has also run well, finishing in the top seven runners for UD twice in her first five college starts. Sisters Amanda Tucker and Elizabeth Tucker (Dublin, OH) have also been running well. Both are juniors, with Amanda scoring her best time (20:02) at the Greater Louisville Classic and Elizabeth running her best time (21:15) at the National Catholic Invitational. With young runners like these, the program is in good hands for years to come.

Veteran leadership is what has allowed these Flyers to flourish, and there is no shortage of upperclassmen leaders. Junior Meg Watkins (Belair, MD) has finished in the top seven runners for UD in four of her five races this season. Her best time of the year came at the National Catholic Invitational where she ran a 19:37. Also running well for the Flyers is senior Sarah Kessler (Reynoldsburg, OH). Kessler has finished in the top seven for the Flyers three times and her fastest time of the year was a 19:35 also at the National Catholic Invitational.

More leadership is provided by junior Emily Haas (Chesterton, IN) and senior Kate Mone (Cleveland, OH). Haas has been a scoring runner for the Flyers twice and Mone has an average time of 21:42. Haas' best time of the year is a 19:36 at the National Catholic Invitational and Mone's is a 21:30 at the same event.

After the Atlantic 10 Championships on October 29, Coach Ann Alyanak and her women will join the men's squad under the direction of Rich Davis at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional in Bloomington, IN on November 12.