Jason Ordway, who was a volunteer assistant last season, will take over as head coach of the University of Dayton men's cross country program, starting July 1. He will fill the shoes of Rich Davis, a Dayton Athletic Association Distance Running Hall of Fame member, who coached the Flyers for 18 seasons.

All of the 18 Flyer squads coached by Davis have been named as U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic Teams.  Under Davis' guidance, the Flyers have had six Atlantic 10 All-Conference team members, while four others have earned the A-10's Rookie of the Year award. He has also coached two Atlantic 10 Cross Country Student-Athletes of the Year. Davis will stay on as an assistant coach for the UD men's cross country team. 

Ordway was a four-time all-Ohio honoree at Holgate High School, where he was Valedictorian of his class and received the prestigious Chancellor's scholarship.

He was a four-year varsity letter winner in cross country, as well as indoor and outdoor track and field at Southern Illinois University from 2006-2010. He was the 2009 Missouri Valley Conference Champion in the steeplechase and owns the eighth fastest time in school history (9:00.8). He earned All-MVC honors in the steeplechase for three consecutive years (2008, 2009, 2010), and was also an All-MVC performer in cross country in 2007 and 2008. In addition he was an NCAA Nationals Prelims Qualifier in the Steeplechase in 2010 and an NCAA Regional Qualifier in the Steeplechase in 2009.

Post-collegiately, he qualified for the 2012 Olympic Trials in the Marathon in Houston where he finished in 60th place. He debuted at 44th in the nation in the marathon while qualifying for the Olympic Trials at age 22. His 5K, 10K, Half Marathon, and Marathon personal bests were all set after college and while self-coached. 

He earned a bachelor's degree in physiology with a minor in chemistry and a focus in pre-med at Southern Illinois. He recently graduated with his master's degree in exercise science from UD where he also served as an instructor in the Health and Sport Science department from 2013-2015. He is a member of the American College of Sports Medicine. 

We had the chance to ask the new coach about taking over men's cross country at the University of Dayton. 

Talk about your excitement of taking over the program.
Coach Ordway:  I am absolutely thrilled to be taking over as head coach for men's cross country for the 2015-2016 season at UD. I have been with the team for over a year and a half working with the guys as the assistant coach for Coach Rich Davis, and we have all clicked very well. During that time, I was able to get to know the team, develop their individualized training plans, and get my hands into some recruiting. In that short window we saw huge improvements in performance across the board (~42s per man at the 8K distance) and were able to lock down a solid class of incoming freshmen. We are a very young team, and I look forward to growing with them throughout our careers at the University of Dayton. Coaching changes are rarely easy; however, having been with the team prior to my appointment to head coach has made the transition rather seamless. Though I have different coaching philosophies, styles, and methods, I fully intend to advance the program to its greatest potential.

What are your goals for your first season as head coach?
Coach Ordway: My goals for the team are three-fold. First, and most importantly, I want to maintain the academic success we have earned in the past. We have some of the best and the brightest student-athletes on this team, including a slew of future engineers, business professionals, and scientists to name a few. I see no reason why we cannot maintain a cumulative team GPA above a 3.50 and maintain a ranking in the top 20 nationally in NCAA Division I, despite the labor-intensive majors our student-athletes have chosen to pursue. 

Next, I would like to foster an environment for athletic success. The young talent on our roster is palpable. They have bought into my training philosophy and are excited to compete as a team with a common goal. That singular goal is to become the best distance runner each individual can possibly be, to become the strongest team we can be, and to compete with the best teams in the nation.  When the kind of talent we have is pushed in the right way, the sky is the limit to what they can achieve. 

Which leads to the third goal; making a name for the University of Dayton within the state of Ohio, the Atlantic 10 Conference, and the Great Lakes Region.  Within my first few seasons I would like to see us become a consistent threat for the A-10 Conference title and move up into a Top 10 ranking in the Region. While these goals are somewhat aggressive, I firmly believe we should strive to reach the highest level of performance possible because we have the capability to do so. Having been there myself, I would love to share the experience with a team from a coaching standpoint. 

How valuable is it to have a resource such as former Head Coach Rich Davis on staff as an assistant?
Coach Ordway: Having Coach Davis as my assistant will be paramount to my early success as head coach. With close to 20 years of coaching experience, he knows the ins and outs of collegiate running. Being relatively new to the coaching scene, I will appreciate his guidance and experience to ensure I stay on top of all that goes into the behind-the-scenes of collegiate coaching, as well as managing our student-athletes physically and emotionally. It may take a village to raise a child, but it took Rich Davis to build the program into what is today. I am thankful he chose to assist me in this endeavor. 

Any final thoughts you'd like to share?
Coach Ordway: I would just like to thank all the former Flyers, University of Dayton alumni, faculty, and staff that have been supportive of me and the program during this process and throughout the history of the program. I appreciate the well wishes, and I encourage you to follow us throughout our upcoming seasons as big things are on the horizon.