Oct. 25, 2007

Philadelphia, PA - The University of Dayton men's and women's cross country programs are set travel to Philadelphia to participate in the 2007 Atlantic 10 Cross Country Championships this weekend. This year's race, hosted by Saint Joseph's University, will be held at Belmont Plateau just outside the downtown area Saturday morning.

The men's 8K race will commence at 10:00 a.m. ET followed by the women's 5K at 10:45 a.m. ET.

On the women's side, last year's team was anchored by two freshmen at the conference meet, but this year's line-up trumps the 2006 squad with a standout trio of freshmen. Rookie runners Maureen Bulgrin, Liz Coorey, and Brigitte Sherman have led Dayton in each meet this season.

Nevertheless, experience is not lacking for UD. Sophomore Alex Miles, who led the team at the 2006 A-10 Championships, will return looking to help Dayton to a better result than the ninth-place finish from a year ago.

On top of Miles, junior Sydney Hubbard and sophomore Kristin Terry each return having scored for Dayton at the 2006 meet. The women's team, while still young, has been consistent this year and should improve upon last season's ninth place finish.

"I am very excited about A-10's. The team has been improving at each meet and is running at its best at the right time of the season," said head women's coach Ann Alyanak.

"We should definitely improve on our finish from last season and I look for our freshmen to lead the way. Sophomore Kate Tejkl and junior Anne Oltman have been running really well and I look for them to move up significantly on their finishes from last year. We have a great pack that can work together for our fifth and seventh team spots which will be a tremendous boost for us."

After an eighth place performance in 2006, the men's squad is looking to regain an early season form which saw the team finish second and third in its first two meets.

The team will look to junior Matt Peters, who finished third for Dayton at the conference meet last season, for a veteran presence to complement freshmen Chris and Matt Lemon. The twin brothers have been early-season stalwarts, having each recorded an 8K freshman school record. Matt has led the team for the past three meets, notching A-10 Rookie of the Week honors twice. He also posted the current freshman 8K record (24:53) for UD at the Greater Louisville Classic on September 29.

As for the rest of team, senior Billy Przybyla put together a strong season, scoring in each meet thus far. Dayton will also look for contributions from junior Tim Kaelin who has scored in three of five competitions this year. Other scorers for Dayton this year have been: senior Daniel Sammons, sophomore Brad Boyd (two times), and freshman Ryan Shirley.