SAMFORD, Ala. - As the weather warms up, so do the Dayton Flyers.

UD shot a 316, its best team total of the 2007 spring season, in the first round of the Samford Intercollegiate.

The Flyers followed that up with a 302 in the second round and moved up from 15th to 11th after day one.

"We showed solid improvement from round one to round two by moving up four spots," said head coach Drew Tyrer. "Our guys showed a lot of grit down the stretch today. After spending nearly 11 hours on the course we finished very strong."

Leading the way for the Flyers were senior Sam Morton and sophomore Rob Chappell each firing a five over par 77 in round one. Morton and Chappell each rallied from a score of 40 on the front nine to finish with a 37 on the back.

Round two featured better results for Morton and Chappell. Chappell shot a par-72, while Morton tallied a two-over par 72.

"Rob Chappell is getting the swagger back in his game that he demonstrated in the fall," Tyrer said. "The rest of this spring season will be exciting to watch."

Senior John Zaller finished close behind Morton and Chappell with a 79. He shot a 41 on the front nine and rallied with a 38 in the latter half of the course.

In round two, Zaller kept pace with an 80, finishing third on the team.

Sophomore Nick Trubee started off strong with a 39 on the front nine, but couldn't keep the momentum going and finished the day with an 83.

Trubee rebounded with a stellar 80 in round two to finish the day with a 163 total.

Freshman Kenny Wittenberg showed improvement on the course scoring a 45 on the front nine and a 40 in the back to tally an 85.

Wittenberg continued the improvement with a 76 in round two to finish the day in fourth on the team.

"We need to focus our efforts on our short game and putting which I know will improve," Tyrer said. "After the third round tomorrow, we will stay in Birmingham the rest of the week to get in some quality practice."

The previous season best for the Flyers was a team total of 329 at the CSU Spring Kickoff.

Dayton will finish up play at the Samford Intercollegiate on Tuesday beginning at 9 a.m. EST.