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Rich Davis, a Dayton Athletic Association "Running Hall of Fame" member, will begin his 13th season coaching the men's cross country team in 2009. The previous twelve Flyer squads coached by Davis have a combined overall winning percentage of .595 and each has been named as an Academic All-American Team. Under his guidance, the UD individual 8K record has been re-set eight times. Davis was named as the Division I Coach of the Year for 2008 by the Ohio Collegiate Cross Country Coaches Association. Davis has coached the five Flyers to be named Atlantic 10 All-Conference and three Flyers have earned the A-10's Rookie of the Year award in the 28-year history of the program. Rick Heitkamp in 1998 and Dan Moroney in 1999 finished in 7th and 5th places, respectively, at the Atlantic-10 Championships to earn All-Conference recognition. Mike Andersen earned both All-Conference and Rookie of the Year awards by placing ninth in the 2005 A-10 Championships. Andersen earned additional All-Conference honors by placing third in 2006 and fifth in 2008. Matt Lemon was also an All-Conference and Rookie of the Year by placing eighth in 2007. Matt repeated in eight place in 2008 with Chris Lemon leading the team in third place. In 2000, Kevin Tscholl was the top freshman finisher and was named as the Atlantic 10's Top Rookie. Eric Contreras was named the Atlantic 10's Student-Athlete of the Year in both 2005 and 2006. UD Flyer runners coached by Davis over the past twelve years hold 46 of the top 50 all-time five-mile performances, which include the top 28 best-ever times. Currently, twenty-eight Davis coached runners are listed as UD Harrier Heroes. These are runners who hold the top 35 all-time personal best five-mile times in UD Cross Country history. The 2002 Flyer squad finished in fourth place overall in the Atlantic 10 championship, the program's highest placing in thirteen years of A-10 competition. Flyer teams coached by Davis have twice won the Cross Country Only National Championships in as many appearances. In 2008 Chris and Matt Lemon became the first Flyers ever to qualify and compete in the NCAA Division I National Championships. A native of western Pennsylvania, Davis has lived in the Dayton area since graduating from Cedarville College in 1967, where he captained the track team and earned MVP honors in cross country. He is retired from a 30-year career of teaching and coaching in the Centerville City Schools and the Sugarcreek Local Schools in Bellbrook. His 1976 high school team remains to date as the only team from Bellbrook to qualify for the Ohio High School Athletic Association's State Cross Country Championships. Davis and his wife Doris, who is also retired from a 30-year teaching career, live in Washington Township. A lifetime runner, Davis has been an USA Track and Field Masters All-American at both 10,000 and 5,000-meters in 3 different age groups and represented the United States in two World Veterans Championships. In the year prior to becoming the Flyers Head Coach, he was the USATF Masters National 8K Cross Country bronze medallist, silver medallist at 10,000 meters in the USATF Masters National Track & Field Championships, and the USATF National Champion at 12K on the roads in the fifty and over age group. A veteran road racer, he has completed 35 marathons, which include seven finishes in the Boston Marathon. Coach Davis By the Numbers
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