The Flyer men are coming off a promising showing at the 2013 Indiana State Pre-National Invitational in Terre Haute, Ind. UD finished in 12th place in the 20-team race, but only four points separated them from a top-10 finish.

Out of the 12 Flyers that raced in Terre Haute, eight of them finished with personal best times, which give the team and its coach confidence heading into the A-10 Championship.

Another reason for the Flyers to feel good about themselves heading to Virginia is the fact that over the past five years, Dayton is the lone cross country-only team in the Atlantic 10 to finish in the top half of the A-10 Championships each year.  The other three schools without a men's track and field team are George Washington, St. Bonaventure, and Richmond, who is in its first year as a cross country-only program.

While Dayton has never before raced at Pole Green Park, Head Coach Rich Davis knows his team will be prepared.  

"Although we haven't been there before, I have seen videos of the course and it is very similar to what we have run on all semester long in metropolitan Dayton," said Davis.  "As a team that is comfortable running on grass, I expect our guys to do just fine on this course."

When asked of his team's mindset heading into this weekend's race, Coach Davis reflected on last year's A-10 Championships.  

"Last year, at the one mile mark, we were in tenth place, but we ended up in sixth," he recalled. "That is four-spot improvement over the final four miles, a leap that no other team made over that distance. This year, we will be in better than tenth place at the mile and have a pack that will be improving our team's position throughout the mid-segment of the 8-kilometer course."

Written by Connor Peck, UD Athletics Communication Student, Class of 2014