COLUMBUS, Ohio – The University of Dayton women's track and field team opened up the 2015 season in Columbus at the Buckeye Classic.

With 97 total points, the Flyers finished in second place as a team behind host Ohio State. Dayton beat out the likes of Wright State, Ohio, Ashland, and Kentucky State.

"We had a great opening meet to start the 2015 season," said Head Coach Jason Francis. "We placed well in all of our events and had quite a few personal bests to start off the year. We look to build off the success we had today as we move through the season."

The Flyers had a loaded field in the weight throw with four student athletes competing. Senior and 2014 conference champion in this event Aly Weeman led the way for Dayton with a fourth place finish and a mark of 18.34m. Senior Miranda Nelson picked up valuable points as well with a toss of 15.52m, earning her seventh place. Freshmen Erin Reese and Jenni Rossi competed as well and finished 12^th and 15^th respectively.  Weeman and Nelson hold the top two spots in the Atlantic 10 after the first weekend.

Junior Sydney Riethman added more points to Dayton's total in the long jump, posting a mark of 5.27m and earning fourth place in the event. That tied a personal best for Riethman and was the fifth-best performance in school history.

In her first collegiate event, freshman Sarah Sepanski took seventh in the 60m hurdles prelims with a time of 9.48.

In the 400m dash, Chelsea VanHook finished first overall in an event the senior hadn't competed in since 2013.

The 3000m run was another packed event for Dayton with four more student athletes competing. Senior Megan Collins (10:57.55) and sophomore Kathleen Keene (11:07.58) combined for 11 points, finishing fifth and sixth respectively. Freshman Nicole Steinbicker had a strong debut, earning eighth place while Mary List took ninth overall.

Junior Paige Yaeger finished runner up in the 600m run while sophomore Maggie Pryslak was close behind in fifth place with a time of 1:45.49. Freshman Megan O'Kane started off her career with a seventh-place showing as the event added 14 more points to Dayton's total.

In the 4000m distance medley relay, Dayton's quartet finished second behind host Ohio State with a time of 12:40.28.

Rebecca Maj took second in the high jump with a mark of while former Dayton volleyball player and new member of the track team Isolde Hannan debuted with a fifth-place finish.

The pole vault has traditionally been a strength of the Dayton program and Friday night was no different as Flyers took first and second place overall. Senior Ashley DeMange opened her season with a height of 3.70m, earning her first place. Freshman Leah Frischman started off her career with a bang by hitting 3.55m and finishing runner up to her teammate. Fellow freshman Hayley Clark took eighth in her debut as well. DeMange and Frischman currently hold the top two marks in the Atlantic 10 this season.

Freshman Erin Reese also had an outstanding opening meet in the shot put, posting a distance of 13.84m. That was good enough for fourth place out of 19 competitors and his the top mark in the A-10 in the early stages of the season. Senior Miranda Nelson was right there with the freshman and finished fifth with a distance of 13.36m. Sepanski competed in her second event of the night and finished eighth with a shot put of 11.87m.

"All in all it was a very good meet for us," Francis continued. "The entire staff was very impressed with all of our athletes' performances. I was also impressed with all of the freshmen competed and handled themselves."

The Flyers will return to action next weekend at the Kentucky Invite on Friday and Saturday.