OAK RIDGE, Tenn. - For the first time in the program’s history, the University of Dayton Women’s Rowing team will compete at the NCAA South/Central Region Championships.

The event runs from May 15-16 and will take place at Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The South/Central Sprints will be the fastest meet on the Flyers’ schedule.

The top teams will then move on to the NCAA Championships on May 28-30.

The Flyers are coming off a seventh-place finish at the 2010 Atlantic 10 Women’s Rowing Championship. Senior Lydia Caldwell earned a First Team All-Atlantic 10 selection as she helped Dayton capture nine of the team’s 19 points in the Varsity 8 Petite heat.

Speaking of Caldwell, her and Katherine Bruening were also selected to the 2010 Atlantic 10 Rowing All-Academic Team on May 3.

Dayton will compete in the Varsity 8 and the Open 4. The Varsity 8 boat will feature only two seniors, Caldwell and Cydne Mason, giving the Flyers one of the youngest squads at the event. The Open 4 features all freshmen and sophomores for UD.

Competing in the Varsity 8 for the Flyers will be Kristin Dormish at coxswain, Caldwell on the stroke, Mason, Clare Hubbard, Grace Doepker, Michele Baeder, Sadie Wonders, Erin Quinn and Bruening.

On the Open 4 boat, the Flyers will have Katie Hocin as the coxswain, Nicole Baeder on stroke, as well as Sierra Schmitt, Kerri Kramer and Lauren Jabir.

This will be the second time this season the Flyers will venture down to Oak Ridge. UD went on their spring break training trip in February.

Melton Hill Lake is known as one of the best rowing venues in the United States. The venue, which is protected by hills on each side, which limits wind problems, also features a sheltered embayment with multiple docks for easy launching during events. The 2000-meter rowing course provides seven straight lanes fully buoyed.