May 6, 2005

The University of Dayton women's track and field team will travel to Richmond, Virginia this weekend for the ninth annual Atlantic 10 Men's and Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The two-day event begins Saturday morning at Sports Backers Stadium in Richmond.

Dayton will be looking to improve on last season's seventh-place finish at the A-10 meet. The Flyers will be led by junior Kelly Pohlman (Versailles, OH), the defending champion in the shot put. Pohlman has the best mark in the A-10 this season by over seven feet (46-11), and also won the 2005 A-10 indoor title. She has already posted an NCAA qualifying mark in the shot. Pohlman will be hoping to extend a streak of a UD shot putter winning the A-10 gold to four straight seasons. Pohlman won in 2004, and Jodi Borges won it in 2003 and 2002.

Pohlman also enters the meet with the best numbers in the discus (141-11), and the fifth-best hammer throw (150-5) in the conference this season. Freshman Connie Fleming (Valrico, FL) comes into the meet rated third in the discus (133-10).

Other top performers for Dayton are senior Katie Clifford (Grafton, MA), who is second in the heptathlon (2,205); freshman Megan Sweeney, who is fourth in the high jump (5-3.75); senior Aftan Delaney (Bellbrook, OH), who is fifth in the 100m dash (12.43); sophomore Tara Hentgen (Fredrick, MD), who is fifth in the triple jump (34-11.25) and sophomore Candace McKinley (Helotes, TX), who is fifth in the javelin (121-1).

A complete schedule of events can be found on the Atlantic 10 web site (www.atlantic10.org/sports/otrack/champs.asp).