DAYTON – The University of Dayton 2018 indoor track and field season starts this Friday, Jan. 5 at Ohio State's Buckeye Classic.

Flyer first-year track and field head coach Jason Ordway is coming off a cross country season in which both the men and women captured Atlantic 10 Championships, both finished the highest in program history at the Great Lakes NCAA Regional, and Ordway repeated as the A-10 Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year and was also selected as the A-10 Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year. Also, UD was selected as the 2017 Ohio Coaching Staff of the Year for both the men's and women's sides.

Ordway sat down to talk about the outlook of the Flyer track and field squad for the upcoming season and beyond.

Talk about the leadership of the team this year:  We've got a nice group of seniors this year that have grown a lot during their time here at Dayton. We've got five mid-distance and distance runners (Claire Attea, Brittany Fisher, Emily Leonard, Grace McDonald, and Nicole Steinbicker) who've already shown their leadership from the fall cross country season and that success. They're heading into spring very focused. Jenni Rossi is our lone senior thrower and she's our top thrower coming into this year. She'll be leading by actions as well as that voice on the team that keeps everyone doing things the right way. Sarah Sepanski (pentathlon) and Leah Frischmann (pole vault) are two great individuals. They've helped build up their event group and now we've got some younger student-athletes coming in behind them. Sarah and Leah are teaching them how to do things the right way so that they can carry the program into the future. I'm really excited to see what they all can do this year.
 
Last season the team took third place at the Atlantic 10 Indoor Championship. What are the expectations for this season?: Third place is not bad by any means, but we always want to do more. We want to be contending for the top spots. Last year it was a tight race and there was potential for us to finish higher. Stepping in here for my first year it's going to be a new challenge. We have a solid core of returners, and we have a lot of young, rising talent too. I see a greater impact in the seasons to come.

Talk about your coaching staff: I've surrounded myself with a really good staff that can take care of their event groups. The way we conduct ourselves on meet day is going to be a reflection of our professionalism. I'm excited for my first indoor season.

The sprinters, hurdlers and jumpers have a great group of young student-athletes coming through with some upperclassmen in there who are going to help take care of business with Keith Hopkins coaching that group. All of our multi-athletes are showing that they're really taking to Keith's training and that's been great to see.   

Kevin Gilhuly has been a great addition to the program and already the women are really responding. We've traditionally been very strong in the throws at the conference level, and this group will continue to build on that. He's laid a really good foundation with his training philosophies in the short time he's been here and the women are really excited about that.

The distance runners are showing that we're gelling well and they are developing well after the successful cross season. They are hoping to step up their influence of the indoor season.  There have been changes to the staff but we're adapting to it really well.

Throws: We have the seasoned vet, Jenni Rossi, who has had success in the past and won conference titles and been to NCAA Regionals, and we can count on her. Alyssa Ramstetter, we're asking her to step up her role and are expecting good things. Taylor Flight is our lone freshman. She's learning some new events and building on her general strength. The javelin throwers won't see any competition until outdoor season.
 
Sprinters: Sarah Sepanski is our returning leader on the sprints. We've got a whole slew of freshmen coming in including the Johnson twins (Gabriella Johnson and Malana Johnson), who will be very good for us. Jahmia Bridges-Butler has really stepped up in the short time she has been here. Our sprint crew is going to take a much more prominent role at the A-10s. They're hungry and they're excited to race. We've got the numbers now to support that.
 
Jumpers/Vaulters: We've got a lot of talent with our jumpers and we've really expanded in this area as well. Kimberly Spritzky is looking to place very high in the indoor pole vault. We've got our two returning high jumpers Marie Harla and Jamie Racheck. They are looking really strong, jumping really well in practice, and we'd like to see what they can do when they get into a competitive environment. Some of our multi-athletes will also be doubling back with the jump events. As a unit, our sprints, jumps and multis have taken a big step forward and I'm really excited to see what they can do.

Mid-distance: We have a pretty sizeable mid-distance crew this year. The addition of Emma Jankowski is going to be big for us. She is a very accomplished mid-distance runner that we have coming in. We have Brittany Fisher back, Victoria Stallkamp is excited to work on the shorter distances after getting more strength from the cross country season. Claire Attea is as fit and healthy as she has ever been and excited to get racing. There will be a group of five or six women to train together.

Distance: Our true distance squad is coming off one of the best cross country seasons in program history. They're confident and they're ready to race. Taylor Vernot is just very good. She is a solid athlete and looking to have a solid spring season as well. Having Chloe Flora and Emily Borchers both healthy and able to compete is going to be real big for us. They're going to have a chance to step up real big for us in conference this year.

Across the board we've got people who are stepping up in all areas and we're just excited to see how everything goes.